I thought I had a rough day.
My husband and I stumble into our home early this evening, tired, just finished work and getting the groceries; wanting nothing more than to eat a bit of supper and relax the rest of the night. While I am still fussing over groceries in the kitchen, my husband heads into the living room to draw the patio curtains closed and get ready to take a shower. However, when he gets there, I hear him give a startled yell.
“Hey!” he says. “I think there’s a mouse outside!”
I come over to investigate. He points to where the mouse darted off to, believing it gone. I peer outside, not seeing anything. My husband herds the cats into the bedroom so I can go outside and inspect for meeces. I step out into the cold, dark rain, and spot a glimpse of white in some taller grass on the side of the house.
I ask my husband to get me a bit of cheese. Oh,* I don’t know*, that’s just what they always ate in cartoons! So he goes off to get me some cheese. The mouse doesn’t run. It is small and white with pink eyes. It is certainly someone’s pet. Right? It’s not afraid of me, so I get closer, making what I think to be mouse noises. It probably thinks I’m a hulking retard, but whatever. My husband brings me some cheese, and a huge tupperware dish. I gently coax the mouse into the dish with the cheese, and bring him inside.
My husband made an emergency run to the nearby pet store. I cut up a bit of apple and gave it to the mouse, who eagerly ate it. My husband came back with a well-ventilated plastic “tank”, a water bottle, a couple of dishes, generic “mouse food” and some bedding, telling the clerks at the store what was up. He first asked them if they would take the mouse in, but because they had no way of knowing if it was wild/diseased/whatever, they couldn’t risk putting him in with the other mice. So, Mr. Stasaeon bought the supplies and brought them home. He said they were very pleased that we had rescued the mouse, and wished us luck.
We set everything up, and threw in some of the cat’s toys that they never cared for in there, as well as a cardboard tube. We are calling around to all our neighbours, and all of block, to see if anyone owns him, but so far, no dice.
I’ve named him Ralph. My husband said he thought about naming him Lucky, so his name is now Lucky Ralph. Ralph for short.
The cats haven’t noticed him yet, being self-absorbed and more concerned with making us pay more attention to them rather than why we’re not paying attention to them. Ralph is pretty secure in his cool new home, and seems to have settled in quite nicely. He’s situated on my desk, next to my monitor, where I can keep a close eye on his health over the next few days. We have no way of knowing how long he was outside, or how long he was without food.
He was ravenous, and ate a lot for such a little guy. He also drank a lot. He seems to like the little cat jingle balls we put in there for him, making them jingle a lot, and also the cardboard tube, which he runs in and out of, and all around. He finally, finally, just fell asleep, digging himself a little bed/nest in the corner. Poor little fella seems pooped.
So, mouse-owning Dopers, have you any tips for me? If he hangs in there, our next purchase will likely be a mineral block. It seems most things around the house are handy for chewing on, as long as they are non-toxic. We didn’t pick up too many “special” things for him, thinking we were just going to put him up for a night or two, until someone claimed him. We’re still going to put our feelers out, in case he’s someone’s darling pet gone missing, but in the meantime, we’re kind of attached to the little guy. My husband has never been a rodent person, and has no interest whatsoever in touching/handling Ralph, but he’s pretty smitten by the little feller.
What else should we know or do for our new little friend?