Well, it’s a new year and it’s a lovely to watch the stars that shine so brightly on these cold winter nights.
Each day becomes a little longer and I hear the song of more and more birds who are beginning to sing, along with sound of the endless drip, drip, dripping. It’s been such a wet year and now the ground is totally sodden and simply unable to hold any more water. Ditches and river levels are high and yet still it rains…I do worry what effect this is having on our wildlife. The rescue is still eerily quiet re wildlife admittance’s and those few creatures that are brought in rarely survive the night.
Finally, on the 1st of January hubs and I managed a LONG walk, delicious it was! As soon as we went out we spotted a huge rainbow which was a lovely beginning to the new year, not to mention how nice it was to have the fresh air blow away a few cobwebs.
Talking of water, one of our drains blocked up over Christmas and overflowed all over the courtyard. Annie, being the menace she is at times, decided she would dig it out for us. Then she came rushing in, all triumphant and licked me heartily!!!! Arrrrghhhhh….I smelt like a drain for a week….and she pulled that trick more than once……only to me you understand, not on hubs or anyone else, No….the pleasure was all mine….forced me to fix the damn thing fast I can tell you! I must have one heck of an immune system….
An-y-way…I digress.
Now I know a lot of you are not…erm…how shall I say it……not overly fond of mice? but I REALLY like the wee beasties! So, as it’s been so quiet at the rescue, we’ve taken to doing a spot of cleaning which dislodges the mice that breed all over the place.
This time around I’ve noticed what good parents mice are. As I pulled the grain bins out, I uncovered and ruined lots of nests with new born mice in. Not wishing to be cruel I devised a system in which I made new nests by putting some hay into small bowls. I then put the baby mice into the center of each bowl. Then I put the bowls back where the nests had been. In EVERY single case mummy mouse braved all the activity and removed her pinkies one by one and took them to a new site outside the unit! Impressive eh?
Which brings me to a story I’d love to tell you, about my experience of mice as a child.
When I was seven, my parents bought me two mice. A male and a female called Aurthur and Ethel. Of course they bred like wildfire and soon chewed through their plastic cage. Then they all instantly disappeared into the rambling old house we lived in and promptly bred with the wild mice. In a few months the house was over-run with mice.
Now this IS a true story. In this old house, we had a huge walk in larder and my Mum would go into it each day and sing” You made me love you”. Instantly a line of mice would walk out, one by one, and my Mum would feed them. My job was trying to catch them, something I became very adept at. I learnt that the best way to catch them was by grabbing them half way up their tails, that way they can’t bite as easily. Eventually most of them were caught and re-homed.
The strangest part of this story happened when we moved house. Suddenly, Aurthur popped out of our sofa! We knew it was him as he had a kink in his tail …so he was bought a brand new steel cage and ended up living to a grand old age!
It was so funny in that old house though, every time you put your foot in a shoe there would be a mouse in it, and during the evenings they would actually come out and box with each other!!! My Aunt was terrified of mice and simply refused to visit for years!
Well, I seem to be rambling on here so I’ll skim the rest!
Yesterday, I went for a bike ride and a crazy motorist knocked me clean off my bike into a busy road where cars were bearing down on me. Broke my bike he did and didn’t even stop! I must have an angel looking out for me as remarkably, apart from being stiff and bruised I’m unhurt.
And finally, poor hubs is also in the wars. As he was putting the decorations back in the triffid loft, a saxophone fell on his head. All weak and wobbly he went, he hates blood and even though it was only a graze he nearly passed out. A lot of tlc was needed to sort him out. Ahhhhh bless him…..He’s ok today and has a little colour back in his cheeks!
SO! I am not ALONE!…there is a “mouse story” in my TWEETS somewhere in last 2 wks;probably impossible to find;ANYWAY…Am catching mice in live trap;putting them in a custom,heated BOX, I constructed, which is in GARAGE;( I cannot LOOK in box however without taking it apart ,so do not know if mice stay ) am averaging 1 per day for last 7 weeks;thats a lotta mice;Darlene thinks they are coming back into house; MAYBE;I will keep up this little game of “carousel” until SPRING; when they will go out into the forest at back of property. ALL THE BEST! IVAN lotsacatsndogs(I should add)nmice
Lol….Yes there was a mouse story in your tweets!!! Thanks for your comment Ivan.xxxxx
The ‘instantly a line of mice would walk out….’ is a wonderful image! As if they were waiting in the wings and expecting her and all ready and up for it! Amazing! Makes me think of those 1920s films with millions of syncronised diving into swimming pools and so on!
Hope hubs head mends soon…. I bet you laughed…. 😉
How awful that you got knocked off your bike into a busy road… so glad you are alright……
You take care!! xxxx
Lol…I know exactly what you mean! I thing the mice were actually waiting for Mum to come and feed them, lurking in the shadows they were. She had a real gift with animals, dogs, cats and horses would follow her.
Now would I laugh at hubs…the wimp! I howled laughing…he needs to get a grip! lol xxxxx
What a wonderful post… everything; great pictures and wonderful mouse stories I only had one mouse… all my life, because I always lived with cats, and that keeps the mice away. And while I had that mouse, I had to be his bodyguard… it was terrible. But the relationship didn’t end in a tragedy. How fortunate that you survived the maniac, and your dear husband, the sax. I was hit by a sax, audibly, many years ago… and was changed for life. But that is a very different sort of story. Thank you so much for your charming story.
Thanks Shimon. I’m glad your mouse lived to it’s natural end, fascinating little creatures aren’t they?
I wouldn’t like to try and keep a cat and a mouse apart! It’s bad enough trying to keep Curly cat away from the dogs, twice now Sam has come a cropper after a chance encounter with her.
I love to hear a sax played too, hubs is getting quite good playing it, he put it away over the Christmas period to make room for the Christmas tree, I bet he wishes he didn’t now! xxxxx
What a pair you are – talk about accident prone! Glad neither of you were hurt too badly.
Lol, I don’t think we should be allowed out on our own! xxxxx
A ‘busy’ post with interesting photos. Thank goodness that you were both okay after your mishaps.
Take care! xx
Thanks Flighty. I’m determined to have no more mishaps, I think the run is over….says she crossing her fingers and toes…xxxxx
In some instances, it is not a good idea to have a festive break, (meaning holiday) is it. Head bumping of any sort, is not a great idea. Hope hubs feels better soon.
Yup, there has been a massive amount of rainfall. Let’s hope the ground will have some time to dry out a little during 2013 and give those poor people who have been flooded out of their homes a chance to recover.
It sounds like you need a wee period to recover your resources in preparation for the rescue of all sorts of beasties of all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Happy New Year! 🙂
I tend to agree Menhir, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.
The rainfall is worrying and I have a horrible feeling that this is our new climate. The people who have had their homes flooded must be going through hell, water does such awful damage and the insurance companies can take years to pay out.
We all feel that it’s the calm before the storm at the rescue, we’re full but hardly anything is coming in which is MOST unusual.
A very happy New Year to you and yours.xxxxx
Good gracious, what a wonderful tale about the marching, boxing mice that were sung to.
I’m glad to hear you are both well, that accident on the bike could have been nasty. He really should have stopped, outrageous.
Lol, thanks Dessie….
All is now well, we’re a little older and wiser! I agree, he should have stopped, but he saw me jump up so I suppose he knew I was ok.xxxxx
Oh dear my poor poor Dad – you two are really in the wars at the moment aren’t you, what with his head injuries, getting knocking into the road and let’s not forget the eye incident! I love the story of the mice, I wish there was a video of it! xx
Lol….yes like a couple of kids we are at the moment. Hopefully the run is over now!
I often wish I had video of things from the past….xxxxx
Boxer mice 😀 Very funny D, and Oh, poor hubs 🙁 Hope the saxophone’s OK 😉 By the way, oooyyyyyyyyyy happy my birthday, hahaha :)xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lol, thanks Vahid. Hubs is fine but he sure dented the saxophone!
Happy birthday, may you get all you dream of and more.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fascinating tale ‘Of Mice and Men’…..more correctly….’Mice and Women’…;) Had me smiling at the ‘Marching Mice’…..:roll:
Ouch!!!!! Hope you’re OK…after that ‘fall’…..
We’ll have to be more careful….won’t we? Hugs! ;)xxx
Lol, thanks Ell, yes The tail of mice and women! The marching mice were a sight to behold, if only we’d had video then eh?
We’re all doing fine now, I’ll have to get my bike sorted though!xxxxx
Oh, goodness, your posts jolly-up my heart and make me ready for anything. Thank you so much! I love mice and so enjoyed these stories. My poor mother couldn’t even see a mouse on the television without feeling frightened.
Sorry for the bike accident and very happy you weren’t hurt: goodness’ sake! And your poor husband! Hope he’ll practice safe sax from now on! 🙂 Thank you again for your wonderful joy! Loved the photos!
Hahahahahahha…LOVE the safe sax comment! Brilliant!
Thanks Catherine, your mum wouldn’t have lasted long in that house but it certainly taught me a lot about mice! xxxxx
:)) oh you do make me laugh. She SANG to the mice???????????? They came out in line????????????????????? They BOXED with each other?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? oh stop it, my ribs are hurting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But seriously, poor you being knocked off your bike – how scary is that, and very scary for all your friends and family too. Very glad your guardian angel was on duty … and your poor hubs. Hope you both feel hugely better very soon!
By the way, took our family to Buckfast Abbey the other day. They have an amazing herb garden, which you approach under a yew arch. And we watched a mouse scampering over the arch, and disappearing into the greenery … they even have POISONOUS plants, which are put in the middle of water, so nobody can get at them! Those monks know a thing or two ….
Lol….yes Gilly, hand on heart my dear Mama SANG to the mice and they came out!
And Yes…they actually boxed! Now you know why I’m such an odd bod, I had a very strange childhood! Feral child me growing up! We also had a donkey that sat in front of the stove in the kitchen but that’s another story!
Hubs and I fine today….good old guardian angel!
Wow….yes the monks of old new their stuff. Often churches and graveyards have yew planted in them, legend said the yew enabled people to speak with the dead!xxxxx