The Tail of the Small Mouse

They had plans. He was to pick her up at the dome. When He arrived, She was having a time with the mice. Because of the cold, they were coming in to the dome. There was an infestation, everywhere you looked there was the signs of mice. There were mouse dropping in the drawers. In the cabinets the flour was gnawed, the crackers and even the cereal. Anything packaged in paper was gnawed. She said, "I wish they'd decide what they wanted instead of sampling everything". She would set live traps for them so not to hurt them. She just didn't want them in the dome. When She caught one, She'd put it in a small animal carrier and take it down to the old steam shovel several miles down the road. She would let it go where there was shelter. That night She set the traps, and they headed for the movie in town.

On the way home they talked about the movie and the mouse problem. Arriving at the dome, She went into the kitchen while He stopped to take off his boots. As He followed her to the kitchen, She met him with a distressed look on her face "Can you help him?" She said. He had no idea. "I'll show you", He followed her to the double sink in the kitchen. He looked down and saw that one side was dry, but in the other side there was a couple inches of water. In the water was a small mouse. The water was too deep to stand on the bottom, the sides were too steep to climb. The mouse was swimming in circles with it's teeny nose just above the water. There was no hope that the mouse could escape, but with desperation and determine it didn't give up. He picked up a glass and scooped the mouse up and quickly drained the water and mouse into the dry side. He knew that on dry ground, the mouse would quickly disappear.

As the mouse slid into the dry sink, and the water drained away. The mouse, with all his remaining strength, collapsed. It lay on it's side with its little feet curled up and its fur all matted down. You could see that its little body was about an inch long and a quarter inch wide. She grabbed a towel and tried to dry it off, but it was too small. She placed it in her hand and covered it with the other hand, trying to warm it up. It was no use, the mouse just lay there. You could see it was breathing, not very hard, and that was all. She than placed the mouse on the towel, trying to keep it warm. "I don't think he'll make it. I should have drained the water out of him". She was very worried. "You can't give artificial respiration to a mouse" He said, "We'll just have to see if he makes it on his own". She placed a dry cloth in the carrier and than the mouse. She set a cap full of water and a piece of English muffin in the carrier in case the mouse came around and needed nourishment. She than placed the carrier on a windowsill above the heater, to keep it warm. He sat with her for two hours, waiting. Still the mouse just lay there with its little feet curled up. "I know it won't make it" She said. "We'll just have to see. I need to head home, I'll call you in the morning".

Just then the mouse started to kick. "He can't get up." She said "He'll kick himself onto his back". Finally the mouse managed to turn over and get on its feet. Its fur was still all matted and it was so shaky, it looked like a newborn. Slowly the mouse dragged himself into a corner, sat up and proceeded to clean his face with his front paws. He then sat down and started to shake in the corner. The mouse didn't look very good at all, but at least it was right side up. "Well I have to head home, I'll call later to see how he's doing". He started home and She went to bed, worrying about the mouse.

In the morning He called to ask about the mouse. He was concerned because He had called about other sick animals and She would sadly say "Oh, he's gone", "Did he get better and leave?", "No, he's gone". When She answered, He asked "How's the mouse?", "Oh, he's better. He dried himself off and is all fluffy. He was sitting up looking at me as if to say 'Where's my breakfast, Mom?' ". He was quite relieved.

Later he headed to the dome. She had put the mouse into a fish tank that had been used for pet mice in the past. The mouse was brown on top and white underneath and very small even for a mouse. "He was so brave" She said "He swam and swam with his little nose just above the water and wouldn't give up. I named him Poseidon because he swam the sea and wouldn't give up". She bought him a block with holes drilled big enough for a mouse to hide in. She bought him a wheel. Remarkably this wild mouse knew just what the wheel was for. Unfortunately this mouse was nocturnal. All night long he would run on the wheel. "I wish he'd run in the daytime. All night long that wheel is squeaking". Since the wild mouse liked the wheel so much, He suggested that they do away with the traps and just get another wheel. "When you hear the wheel squeak you can sneak out and see all the mice lined up, each waiting to take his turn. This could lead to the better mouse trap".

TO BE CONTINUED?