Apparently, this Monday morning, I don’t have anything better to do than to play cat and mouse. Literally: I am the cat. I have a mouse. I have been stalking a mouse for a couple of days now. I don’t know why this is so entertaining. Armed with my camera, I have been determined to shoot this mouse. Preferably as he rests under a green pepper plant leaf. I am a world class photographer and that is what we do. (Not really, but it sure sounded good.)
Last week, the patio door was open while the kids were napping and I heard a scratching on the dog’s dish. The mouse was stealing dog food! It was a hefty load for a mouse of his size. Then yesterday, my husband told me that we needed to put the dog food back inside because the WHOLE bowl, filled up the night before, and was gone. That would have been an all night heist for my tiny little friend. I am assuming that it is the lazy neighbor cat that stalks my birds under the feeder in the back yard. I don’t know what is up with that cat. That was a bowl of expensive dog food. The least it could do is top it off with a side of mouse.
As I was on my conference call this morning, I glanced out to see the brazen little mouse leisurely strolling about my patio like he owned it. What’s worse, he’s been exploring the patio for about an hour and half now. With no fear! He runs and hides in my pepper plants that are still growing next to the house. He’s really not cool like Ralph, he doesn’t have a motorcycle. And he doesn’t seem to be a vegetarian, because he rejected peppers and the tomato that was on the ground. He really liked that dog food. This isn’t a surprise, because it is one of the best foods for small dogs. They tell you this at the store. Its twenty bucks for a tiny bag, but the returns are great. Well, minimal I should say.
So after observing the brazen mouse, I decided to sic Lewis on it. Because you know, he IS a Chihuahua/Rat Terrier kind of dog. Isn’t that what they do? I put the dog out. Anxiously I waited for the great hunt to begin, only to see Lewis walk out to the grass, spin three times, do his duty and then scratch at the door to come in. Whoa! Are you kidding me? Lewis made it abundantly clear that hunting is a lost art in his family tree. They have no function except to wear cute sweaters and curl up on your lap.
Next, I went for the photo op. You know, how fun! Cute little mouse in the garden. Very Beatrix Potter-esque, right? It does have cute ears: round ones. When it hunches it up, it is almost adorable. But I am really not sure how I feel about this creature. You’ve seen Ratatouille! Where there is one, there are millions. I waited and took a few pictures from behind the sliding glass door. It ran off into my garden bed after seeing the movement. Then it stepped out, did a cruise around to see if maybe he’d missed the food dish by chance. It was getting pretty bold coming up to the carpet next to the door, really scrounging for some crumbs or something. I decided to really go for it and stepped out the door.
After chasing it back into the garden bed, I willed it to pose. I had my pink camera clutched in my tight little hand. I realized in a panic that I had left the door open to the house. I dashed across the patio, confounded at my stupidity in leaving the door wide open! The mouse is outside! That’s a great place for it! It was about that time that I realized that. Even though leaving the door wide open wasn’t my brightest idea; neither was playing real life cat and mouse with a mouse.When I came up with the Facebook status: "Note to self: when stalking said mouse, for crying out loud SHUT THE DOOR! Mouse: outside: good." I recognized this had gone a little far.It’s been about two hours of stalking this mouse, taking its picture like paparazzi. I think that it’s time to give it a rest. Coffee hour has really changed, but it still is entertaining.
