Okay, so this thing in my cupboard wasn't a mouse...or was it?

Factual Questions
1

So there I am, getting ready for bed and switching off lights when I hear a soft thump and then another one. I do some slow, quiet walking around trying to figure out where it was coming from when I realize that it’s the over-stove microwave!

But I can see in there and there’s nothing.

So, I open the cabinets above the microwave and I see some black eyes looking back at me. This thing looks to be about the size of a largish mouse, and my first thought is “Oh fuck, this is going to cost me.” I go to get some gloves, put them on, and try to lure it out where I can reach it - the problem is that he’s right by the hole in the bottom of the cabinet - the hole is for the power cord for the microwave. The cord comes up that hole and to an outlet inside the cabinet.

So, I manage to coax him out a bit, but nowhere near where I can easily grab him, when he spooks and goes back into the hole.

The thing is, he had a hairy tail. Nothing like the bare skin tail I’ve seen on rats, gerbils, and mice. It wasn’t bushy like a squirrel’s, it was hairy and flat.

Man, this one is tricky to describe. I mean to say that the tail hair wasn’t…cylindrical like a squirrel. It was like if the tail were running north to south the hairs would be sticking straight east and west up along the sides of the tail.

What is this strange beast?

(Location is Mississippi, southern USA)

-Joe

2

Deer mouse?

3

A dormouse, perhaps?

4

That does seem match the OP’s description.

5

The dormouse looks more promising than the deer, but all of those looked like their dur was laying flat along their tails (north/south if you will). This guy had the hair sticking straight out away from the tail.

I think he might have fallen in my stove vent and now he’s trying ro get back up to the roof.

Damned sure isn’t quiet as a dormouse…

-joe

6

I suggest you feed its head, then.

7

I have a rodent phobia and I still think that’s about the cutest thing I’ve seen today.

8

Maybe a Mole or aVole?

9

I know – hard to think that the Ancient Romans thought it quite a culinary treat!

10

♪ Chipmunks roasting on an open fire… ♪

11

Well, still nothing in this thread that fits.

The adventure continuums… (and if anyone knows the source of that joke…!)

Sit there reading and listening. Eventually, it becomes clear that I was totally right. I’ll hear some scrabbling from inside the vent, then a thump, a short pause, more scrabbling, another thump.

Eventually I put the gloves back on and wait. My little friend climbs out and comes right to the edge of the cabinet. I stand still but there’s no doubt he can see me.

So I crushed him to death.

Nah, just joking. I’m practically a Buddhist. He didn’t even try to dodge, he just stretched himself over the edge of the cabinet and let me pick him up. In the interest of science I took put him in a clear bowl and took some pictures of him with my phone.

Then I took the bowl outside, and the guy was either starving or not all that afraid of me because he just sat there eating the peanut butter and string cheese I’d put in the bowl. That’s where I got the first set of pictures. So, I decided to forget the phone pictures.

Eventually he decided to freak out, ran to the corner of the house by the door, and kept trying to climb up the brick. That’s where I got the other half of the pictures. He’d make it about a foot before falling. Once I started to walk past him he took off down the patio.

So, I go inside satisfied with a job well done…and then I hear more noise.

There’s another one. This one was right out in the cabinet, smaller and a lot more fidgety. I block the hole, put on the second glove, and eventually grab ahold of as she struggles the whole way. I drop her in the same bowl and take her outside too. She took off right away.

I’m going to guess they’re a mated pair that fell down the vent together. I assume it’s because he refused to ask for directions. At least I’m sure that’s the story she’ll tell their friends.

Still, looking at the pictures, what are they? Look at the tail!

My furry little visitors

-Joe

12

Wow, that’s weird looking. Like a miniature chipmunk.

13

Flying squirrel

Given your location, it’s certainly the Southern Flying Squirrel Glaucomys volans.

The comparatively large head of the one in the photo suggests to me these might be youngsters.

14

Well son of a bitch. I had no idea they were around here.

-Joe

15

Could be a flying squirrel. The picture looked to me like a chinchilla.

No. See, his doctor told him he had a “brain cloud”, but a rich raccoon offered him a luxurious trip to the roof because the orange-soda-loving sparrows needed someone to sacrifice…

Oh, never mind.

16

Definitely not a chinchilla; the ears aren’t right among other things. They also wouldn’t occur in the area unless they were escaped pets.

17

That’s the cutest little pest I’ve ever seen!

18

Totally concur!

And thanks for the pics!!!

19

You realize this prolly means there’s a moose hiding somewhere in your house too?

CMC fnord!

20

Hey Rocky watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.