Special Friends

I have loved animals all my life, once was driven to become a veterinarian, but didn't. I fill my life now with mice and a budgie. I am touched by the love between animal and man, like these sentiments expressed recently on a mouse list I belong to...

I have had many, many mice since College Mouse passed on, but he remains the most extraordinary mouse I ever owned. None of my other beauties approached him in intelligence and human-like personality, but after him I have been crazy about mice. It is now very hard to get mice in my state, and I guess I will have to drive to Chicago, Pennsylvania, or Maryland to get my next batch.

Life has become a little more complicated in my household - my adult daughter had to move in with us, and she brought her...er...cat. The cat is restless and needs to be given the run of the house, so I have to keep my mice rotated between the extra bedroom and the master bedroom (always locked, of course!) The cat thinks she is at one of those Chinese restaurants where you get to point out which fish or lobster you would like for your dinner from the tank.

I am sure you remember your famous Digger the Wild fondly. Hardly a day goes by when I don't think of College Mouse sitting expectantly on my desk at work waiting for a bite of my salad, or running back and forth with a jumbo paper clip in his mouse. We had some very special pets!

Mabel becomes a 'Cover Girl'... 

[I didn't have the heart to tell them that Mabel is a boy...besides, he IS adorable as they said!]

Gang of Five

An online human acquaintance from a mouse group I belong to posted a very cute post this morning about his mice:

Well, I spent a lousy week in hospital with medical problems irrelevant to this group, but during my absence my friend Elspeth filled in admirably as mouse mother, so all's well that ends well. All mice are named, and here's the run down for the gang of five:

Roan is known as "*Jesus, Mouse! The Silver Streak.
She is the smallest, albeit not the youngest, at the
bottom of the totem, and the first to come to the
outstretched hand of the master. She's adventurous
and explorative to the max, which makes her fun.
Having established her position -- or lack thereof --
she seems quite well adjusted all in all. *Jesus, Mouse!
jumped headlong into a near empty small tea cup
and then tried the same trick again 20 minutes
later when the teacup was full. One third soaked,
and none the worse for wear.

Genie is known as "Billy Ruben Leek" She's the biggest,
albeit not the oldest, as dumb as a box of rocks,
but 100 percent lovable. And middle mouse on the
totem as far as I can see. She seems to have more
loose skin than the others -- fur is sleek and bright --
so I wonder if she's gonna be really big.

"Anthocite Annie," the black mouse of the bunch,
achieves outage by crawling up the back of my
hand and up my arm, even when nearly
a 90 degree angle to the cage floor. This is real
odd because the only other mouse I'd ever had that
did this was also the only other black mouse I'd
ever owned. Annie has been known to treat my
finger as a mouse that needs discipline, but she
always realizes her mistake rather quickly, and has
never gotten more than an aggressive squeeze in.
I think this is due to the fact that she and "Gen Mai
Cha" are still contesting first place.

Alpha Mouse of the moment, Siamese known as
"Gen Mai Cha," is a poor excuse for a Siamese,
having points but a white (fox) belly and some
dark spots here and there on her back; definitely
"pet" quality, but who cares? She's an I'll do what
I want and I'll do it right now kind of a mouse, the
kind of mouse you can man handle without causing
any hurt mouse feelings, a mouse secure in herself...
I think. Every once in awhile she gets tremendously
over-bossy and includes me in the disciplinary process,
which, like Annie, she quickly acknowledges as a bad
mistake.

"Chakravartin" is a yellow-brown beauty, but I worry
about her. First, she's not as tame as the others, and
I've seen her sleeping alone, although usually she
has at least one and often two sleeping fellows. I hear
her make mouse noises on occasion -- the purposeful
kind, not the sort of noise that would indicate respiratory
infection. But, I'm watching her carefully. I need to go
out of my way to scoop her up. The others love out.
BTW, I usually put mice *very* close to my ear to try
to hear those noises that mean trouble.

Annie taught Elspeth to run the tip of her finger around
a table and up and down her arm. Annie rewards Elspeth
for successful finger moving by following quickly
wherever the finger leads. They are both most amused.

Hamsters in Hats

These little guys were so sweet, I had to share them with loyal readers of this blog. They belong to Heather, who loves to Crochet, as you can tell. Her hamsters are the "lucky" recipients of her handiwork. I wrote Heather to ask if she can make mouse-sized hats. I can just imagine Mabel now, muttering away...!!

Silly Cats

I'm sure the mice would think these cats quite silly, but I think they're adorable. Ah, I'm getting itchy fingers for a kitty again. Oh dear, one of these days I think I will succumb to the temptation. Who knows what feline(s) await me?

Oh, bother...

Mouses muttering:
~he's doing it again.
~hey! we're busy.
~yah! we're sleeping.
~and busy.
~big mean man hand is coming into the nest again.
~why does he do that?
~he's mean!
~yes, mean.
~I wonder if he's got treats?
*PERK*
~out of my way!
~yes, run away!
~yes, run to big mean man hand and treats.
~oh, I hate it when he picks me up.
~yah, me too.
~yah, especially when he has treats.