Wordless Wednesday
Mouse
NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING…
Except for This Stupid Mouse!
This mouse was not harmed during a long play session. Dad Tom released him in the yard, and he ran away.
OUR MICE BUCKET CHALLENGE AND COMMENT-A-THON
A while back our dad was asked to take the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS. He started shivering just thinking about it; even though, our mom offered to douse him while he was submersed in the heated swimming pool. Having a friend with ALS and being a generous sort, our dad made a donation to ALS. Right around the same time lots of our kitty furiends started taking the Mice Bucket Challenge on their blogs. We started batting that idea around at the same time we were batting all our mousies around the house. Mom didn’t know we were trying to hide them from her!
We decided we would let our humans dump a bucketful of mice on at least one of us and have a comment-a-thon so one of our readers (selected using Random.org) could choose a 501(c)(3) shelter or rescue to receive some green papers from Mom. But yesterday, we decided to give half the green papers raised to ALS. Here’s why…
We want to introduce you to our humans’ friend, Dock Atkinson. He and our dad used to play volleyball together before our dad became old and decrepit and Dock developed ALS (12 years ago). Yesterday Mom and Dad participated in the local ALS Walk on Dock’s Team. The hilly course was approximately 3.5 miles in length. The day was grey and rainy. By the time Mom and Dad finished the walk, they were soaked to the skin but still smiling as you can see.
Mom found and gathered up all our mice, including some she had squirreled away (wait, did somebody say squirrel?) for future gifts for us and our furiends. She told us that she was taking all those back when we completed the challenge. We didn’t think she’d know which ones they were and that we’d get to keep them, but darn if she didn’t pick them right out and the end, put them in a ziploc bag and right back into the catchall drawer.
Oh, yeah, for each comment we receive on this post between now and next Saturday, October 18, by 5 p.m. EDT, Mom is going to be putting up one-half green paper for ALS and the same amount for the winning shelter/rescue. If you have the time and inclination, purrlease share with all your Twitter and Facebook friends.
Finally for the first one to correctly guess how many mice were in our bucket, Mom will donate one green paper (for each mouse) plus one to the 501(c)(3) rescue/shelter of their choice. She is adding one buck to the amount as she realized she missed putting one of our mice in the bucket.
Now pull up a chair and watch our videos. We had three bucket dumps. Yep…three! Our Mom is an over-achiever! If you do not want to hear Mom’s whiney voice, turn down your volume.
We challenge any of our furiends who haven’t had a bucket of mice dumped on them to take the Mice Bucket Challenge and make a donation to your favorite rescue or shelter. And for all the humans, here is a tip on how to get your kitties interested and willing to pawticipate: Liberally sprinkle catnip atop all those mice! Our mommy is so sneaky!
Some Reminders
If you have not entered a comment for an opportunity to win a copy of the book, Purr Therapy by Kathy McCoy, PhD, you can do so until 8 p.m. this evening by clicking here.
If you have a couple of extra green papers and haven’t had the opportunity to drop off a little something to help Mom Audra, Dezi and Lexi (Dezizworld) to replace some items damaged by two separate floodings to their apartment, purrlease click on the YouCaring badge in our sidebar. The fundraising effort has stalled out the last few days. They do have the new chair they needed so badly. Mom Audra ordered it special, and it has lots of bells and whistles to meet her specific needs. Click here to read all about it.
Finally, thank you to all who pawticipated in our Sunday Selfies Blog Hop. Keep in mind for next week that this offers an excellent opportunity to share about kitties and woofies awaiting adoption.
Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
THANKFUL THURSDAY: GOT MICE?
Got Mice? is the slogan for Barn Cat Buddies (the TNR/Rescue group for which Mom volunteers). Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette were all adopted from BCB. And Astrid has taken mouse hunting and catching as her personal responsibility. If you have not been following our Mouse in the House posts, you can do so by clicking on these links: Wordless Wednesday: Mouse in the House, Mouse in the House Part 2 and Mouse in the House Part 3.
The humans are extremely thankful that she is so diligent in her duties. After deading the large mouse that had taunted her and the rest of us, the humans thought the house was without a mouse. So imagine their surprise when they noticed Astrid standing on her hind legs juggling a mouse above her head. As Dad jumped up to grab a paper towel and then the mouse, Mom demanded he get some photos first. Of course, he missed the juggling, and the photos he did get weren’t great, but here’s the proof of Astrid’s pawsome mousing skills.
Mauricio, Astrid and The Mouse.
Mauricio inspects the prey. You can see the mouse tail to the right of his nose.
When Dad picked up the mousey, he discovered that the little fellow was not dead and so deposited it outside. Hope that little mousey learned his lesson and doesn’t try to sneak in again. We don’t think he will be so lucky next time.
None of us, including our humans, have any idea where Astrid is finding these mice. We’re delighted ’cause we think it is great fun to stalk and tease mousies. The humans are glad to have such a dedicated mouser in the house.
Now that the weather is warming up, we suspect we won’t see any more critters until next winter, but we feel certain that Astrid will remain on alert nonetheless.
Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
THE MOUSE IN THE HOUSE: THE FINAL CHAPTER
When the bags of Cat Chow left the house, we thought the mouse had as well and that “The Mouse in the House” saga had come to an end.
But then what to our wondering eyes should appear but a poor little mouse who’d lost his life so dear. And it took the smallest cat in the house to bring him down.
“Look Mommy, I deaded it for you!”
And so the tale ends…the mouse in the house is no more!
To see the three previous “The Mouse in the House” posts, click on the Mouse tag below.
MOUSE IN THE HOUSE PART 3
Remember this little fellow? The kitties were quite surprised to find this adorable little squeaker in the house a couple of weeks ago. But no more surprised than we were. With eight cats, we normally don’t get too many mousies venturing onto our premises. In fact, we couldn’t figure out the attraction, until Tom found the bag and a half of Purina Cat Chow I had stored in the pantry and forgotten all about. If you missed our mouse posts, click here to read Part 1 and here to read Part 2.
When Lisbeth was having her urinary problems, Dr. Neel prescribed Hill’s CD formula, which we have been feeding ever since. When we switched over, I stowed the Cat Chow in the pantry just to get it out of the way. Though we keep our dry food in sealed containers, this food was in the bags as we weren’t using it.
And so now you know why we had a mouse in the house. The mystery remains as to what happened to him.
The bags have been sealed with my extra special Hello Kitty duct tape and will be delivered tomorrow to Barn Cat Buddies (the TNR/Rescue group for which I volunteer) to either feed fosters or one of the feral colonies. I am quite sure none of those kitties will mind that a couple small holes were chewed into the bags.
MOUSE IN THE HOUSE PART 2
Remember this adorably furry intruder? He doesn’t even look real, does he? If I hadn’t seen him scampering through the house, I would have thought he was an animatronic creation.
Comments abounded from our kitty friends as well as other four-leggers asking what had happened to the “Mouse in the House.” Some were cheering for the cats, others for the mousey.
Truth be told, none of us know…not even the cats.
They spent hours hot on his trail, and Calista Jo even had him in her mouth. Unfortunately, that’s when the camera battery went dead. When enlarging one of the photos I used on Wednesday’s post I could see blood in the little guy’s fur. I presume it was from Calista’s teeth.
They had him trapped under the china cupboard, the desk, behind the radiator and hall butler as well as behind the cookbooks in the kitchen bookcase and under the stove. That’s the last place any of us (cats and humans) saw him before retiring for the night.
It’s not hard for a field mouse to find its way into our house. The house is 101 years old and has any number of small holes that mice have used to gain entrance through the years. As I have found no dismembered mouse parts or a decomposing carcass anywhere in the house, I suspect this fellow found his way out by the same way he came in.
Usually, a mouse doesn’t have a chance around here with eight cats in residence. Normally the kitties will terrorize and bat it around until it keels over dead from stress. But this little chap was particularly adept and finding hiding places where he was just out of reach.
And I didn’t really mind his presence. He was darn cute and it kept the clan busy and quiet in their cooperation of hot pursuit for several hours!
So that’s the entire story of “The Mouse in the House.”
If you have the CB Calendar and hadn’t noticed, Lisbeth is featured this weekend.
AND THE WINNER IS…
Sammy
Sammy from onespoiledcat!
Calista was so beyond herself with excitement when she read his guess. Sam is one of our favorite kitties. Like us, he lives in Virginia, just a few hours north.
Sam’s gift is a kitty food/water bowl that was hand-painted by our mom as well as three catnip pillow toys, also made by Mom.
Sammy’s Prize for correctly guessing a dead mousey.
Just in case you didn’t see yesterday’s post, “It’s My Birthday,” or read any of the Comments, Sam’s guess was a dead mousey! Mauricio brought us a rather large, as mouses go, field mouse a couple of days ago. It was about three inches long excluding its tail, which Mom saw hanging from Mauricio’s mouth. Several of the other kitties were standing around staring at him, which usually means something is going on or all of them want what he has.
Mom had planned to get a photo of the mouse after she got Mauricio to drop it, but Dad swooped in so quickly with the paper towel to scoop it up, the only photo she got was of his hand.
C.J. plays with plastic bag in which catnip mice were packaged.
Calista received two catnip mice* as her birthday gift. They were from Viva Le Chat on Etsy. The exterior of the mice are knit and come in a variety of color combinations. C.J. got mice resembling a watermelon and a candy corn. Of course, like all human and kitty children, she was more interested in the bag they came in.
Mauricio is a blur as he plays with the “watermelon” catnip mouse.
Mauricio, however, was all over the “watermelon” mouse, rubbing it against his cheeks as well as juggling and bunny-kicking it.
Calista and her meowmates had a great day and want to thank all of you who stopped by to wish her a Happy Birthday and indulge in a little nip.
Unfortunately, no home was found for her sisfurs, Ellie and DeeDee.
* C.J. would like to apologize to Sammy that he won’t be receiving fancy catnip mice like she did. However, she promises that his toys are over-stuffed with dried, extra-strong, home-grown catnip!
Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette
