One crisis after another strikes your correspondent's household. Last night, Castor once more performed his magical disappearance trick. And, during the same night, in a presumably unrelated development, Pollux brought a mouse upstairs to toy with in my bedroom.
Castor's disappearance remains unresolved. All I can say is that he's done an identical trick two or three times in the past. He never reappears during daylight hours -- as it still is at this moment -- probably because he's in a bit of a jam and needs the cover of darkness to squirm his way out. But, at least in past episodes, he has reappeared no later than 2 a.m. the second night. I.e., tonight.
I can only wait and hope.
But that brings us to the mouse. I can't stand to witness carnage -- especially drawn out carnage -- and especially not feline induced carnage, while I'm trying to sleep. I evicted Pollux from my bedroom, and left the mouse (who, so far as I knew, may have been dead or terminally injured) for future consideration.
I heard various noises, off and on, during my remaining hours of fitful sleep, but didn't see Mr. Mouse in person for the remaining hours of darkness, or throughout the morning. After lunch, I walked upstairs and found our rodent friend stretched out on the floor, eyes open but not moving. I gathered some useful utensils, and approached the possible corpse in the hopes of scooping him up and removing him from the premises. He suddenly awoke to my intentions, however, and scurried off into areas of clutter on the bedroom floor.
What to do, what to do? I couldn't kill him, even if I could catch him. To be honest, he was just too cute. Unlike rats, who also have their charms but who seem somewhat sneaky and underhanded, a mouse in captivity looks sad, childlike, and innocent.
Suddenly, I remembered a rat trap that I had ordered for an earlier infestation of rats, but had never had to use. To my surprise, I was eventually able to locate it. I baited it with peanut butter, set the device in trapping mode, placed it close to a wall where mice are wont to scurry, and left for a two hour walk.
I know that mice and rats prefer to sleep by day and investigate their surroundings by night, so I didn't expect to find any results when I arrived home.
But ... lo and behold ... Mr. Mouse was in the cage, looking anguished. He became frantic as I picked up his cage and carried it downstairs and out the back door. I opened the cage, and he was out like a flash, disappearing into the tall grass and brush at the back of my property.
I'm glad I remembered the cage. I hate Reign of Terror mouse traps that break the little guys' necks.
Will he return? Maybe. Online gurus say a mouse or rat should be released at least two miles from your home, or they will find their way back. But this guy has never lived in my house, any more than alleged terrorists "live" in Guantanamo. I suspect Pollux came upon him outside, and brought him in simply for recreational and bragging purposes. The mouse sees no happy connection between my house and a former life of comfort and ample food.
Can he survive in the wild? I don't know. I've given him back his life. From now on, it's up to him, and to the implacable and often cruel laws of Nature. If he succeeds in building a happy life, I just hope it's in the house of one of my neighbors, not in mine.
Now -- where is that Castor?
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6/17/22 - Castor reappeared, right on schedule, at 2:05 a.m.
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