We humans are funny about our pets, even animals that aren't quite pets.
This morning, after a very long weekend, I go into my sister's room for something and notice something small, and fuzzy in the corner of her closet. Curious I investigate and notice that it's a mouse and this mouse is quite young and had a booboo on her nose from a cat. Great. I figured I had a dying mouse on my hands. The silly thing seemed to crave human contact and didn't really want to go into the box I put her in to keep her safe from the cats.
About this time my sister gets a frantic call from a good friend whose daughter found a 2 day old kitten who seemed to have been abandoned. She hopped into the car and went down there to help them feed and care for it. She was there all day alternating who gets to feed this teeny, tiny, black 2 day old kitten.
And there I am trying to get a very young but seemingly fully grown mouse to eat or drink something- which she stubbornly has refused to do. I would put her back into her box and put her box into a drawer in the kitchen to keep her safe from the cats. Then an hour later I'd check on her and she would crawl into my hand.
And there my sister would be posting pictures of the kitten they were taking care of.
At the same time a lady in our guild was posting updates on a four month old puppy she was puppy-sitting. A different lady in our guild adopted the terrier/chihuahua mix from the SPCA just the day before when they were at the faire trying to get dogs adopted.
All day pictures and updates on these three animals have been on FB. Whether one cares or not, they're there. Three very different lives are changed because someone cared. It makes me think of the goodness of people that we sometimes forget. The lady who adopted the puppy could have waited, could have taken the time to think about it, to decide if a puppy- that puppy was really right for their family. Instead she called her husband, sent him a picture and he wanted to know when she was going to bring the puppy home. A life changed forever because of the goodness of one person.
It might be a small life, but she's already adored by dozens of people.
And then there's the kitten. It would have been so easy for this friend to tell her daughter that the mama kitty would come for it. And indeed, after two hours, the mama kitty never did and so mother and daughter brought the young one home. They're going to have some very long nights in which they wake up every 2 hours to feed the kitten. But it was a choice they made and not one they had to make. Sometimes nature is harsh and cruel. But a life is changed, thanks to the goodness of people.
And that brings me to this silly mouse.
She's been in her box most of the day, reveling in human contact. Mom supposes that she just really likes being close to another mammal. It makes sense I suppose. For most of the day her eyes have been half shut in pain. Though she has wounds on her nose I couldn't tell if she had any internal injuries. About 4 ish she began to move around more than she was earlier and she even made some noises- rodents don't make those kinds of noises unless they're happy.
I kept telling her that if she fights to live I'll help her survive, once she's back in nature the rest will be up to her.
But she has made it very clear that she wants to be next to me and so I put her down my shirt, a safe haven and a warm bower for her to curl up and rest from her traumatic experience. She was there, resting for over an hour, no different than she had been doing all day when all of a sudden she woke up and crawled out to see the world. I got her to take a sip of water and even eat some peanut butter. Her eyes are bright and alert and she is moving with alacrity- though she is still not showing any indication that she is a wild animal wanting to return to nature. Methinks she quite enjoys her bower.
I showed her to mom and she replied that I was going to want to make a pet out of her now that she was better. I responded that that was ridiculous, Thumbalina isn't going to be a pet.
Maybe it's a good thing Mom has a terrarium in her classroom.
I don't know what fate awaits Thumbalina or the kitten, though I am pretty sure that Skylar the dog is going to be very spoiled and very happy in her new forever home. But I do know that we silly humans will continue to do our best to take care of these creatures who somehow manage to find their way into our lives.
As for Thumbalina right now she is in a box with food and water. And over that box is a laundry basket turned upside down, all of which is in a corner of my closet of which the doors are closed. She might escape but I'm going to give her a fighting chance to hide away from the cats and the dog before I have the chance of finding a more suitable home for her.
Not because I have to but because I want to. And no, cooper, you can't have my mouse.
This morning, after a very long weekend, I go into my sister's room for something and notice something small, and fuzzy in the corner of her closet. Curious I investigate and notice that it's a mouse and this mouse is quite young and had a booboo on her nose from a cat. Great. I figured I had a dying mouse on my hands. The silly thing seemed to crave human contact and didn't really want to go into the box I put her in to keep her safe from the cats.
About this time my sister gets a frantic call from a good friend whose daughter found a 2 day old kitten who seemed to have been abandoned. She hopped into the car and went down there to help them feed and care for it. She was there all day alternating who gets to feed this teeny, tiny, black 2 day old kitten.
And there I am trying to get a very young but seemingly fully grown mouse to eat or drink something- which she stubbornly has refused to do. I would put her back into her box and put her box into a drawer in the kitchen to keep her safe from the cats. Then an hour later I'd check on her and she would crawl into my hand.
And there my sister would be posting pictures of the kitten they were taking care of.
At the same time a lady in our guild was posting updates on a four month old puppy she was puppy-sitting. A different lady in our guild adopted the terrier/chihuahua mix from the SPCA just the day before when they were at the faire trying to get dogs adopted.
All day pictures and updates on these three animals have been on FB. Whether one cares or not, they're there. Three very different lives are changed because someone cared. It makes me think of the goodness of people that we sometimes forget. The lady who adopted the puppy could have waited, could have taken the time to think about it, to decide if a puppy- that puppy was really right for their family. Instead she called her husband, sent him a picture and he wanted to know when she was going to bring the puppy home. A life changed forever because of the goodness of one person.
It might be a small life, but she's already adored by dozens of people.
And then there's the kitten. It would have been so easy for this friend to tell her daughter that the mama kitty would come for it. And indeed, after two hours, the mama kitty never did and so mother and daughter brought the young one home. They're going to have some very long nights in which they wake up every 2 hours to feed the kitten. But it was a choice they made and not one they had to make. Sometimes nature is harsh and cruel. But a life is changed, thanks to the goodness of people.
And that brings me to this silly mouse.
She's been in her box most of the day, reveling in human contact. Mom supposes that she just really likes being close to another mammal. It makes sense I suppose. For most of the day her eyes have been half shut in pain. Though she has wounds on her nose I couldn't tell if she had any internal injuries. About 4 ish she began to move around more than she was earlier and she even made some noises- rodents don't make those kinds of noises unless they're happy.
I kept telling her that if she fights to live I'll help her survive, once she's back in nature the rest will be up to her.
But she has made it very clear that she wants to be next to me and so I put her down my shirt, a safe haven and a warm bower for her to curl up and rest from her traumatic experience. She was there, resting for over an hour, no different than she had been doing all day when all of a sudden she woke up and crawled out to see the world. I got her to take a sip of water and even eat some peanut butter. Her eyes are bright and alert and she is moving with alacrity- though she is still not showing any indication that she is a wild animal wanting to return to nature. Methinks she quite enjoys her bower.
I showed her to mom and she replied that I was going to want to make a pet out of her now that she was better. I responded that that was ridiculous, Thumbalina isn't going to be a pet.
Maybe it's a good thing Mom has a terrarium in her classroom.
I don't know what fate awaits Thumbalina or the kitten, though I am pretty sure that Skylar the dog is going to be very spoiled and very happy in her new forever home. But I do know that we silly humans will continue to do our best to take care of these creatures who somehow manage to find their way into our lives.
As for Thumbalina right now she is in a box with food and water. And over that box is a laundry basket turned upside down, all of which is in a corner of my closet of which the doors are closed. She might escape but I'm going to give her a fighting chance to hide away from the cats and the dog before I have the chance of finding a more suitable home for her.
Not because I have to but because I want to. And no, cooper, you can't have my mouse.
