Here There and Everywhere

Cat and Mouse

Just the weekend I read an article about watching for mice and rats seeking shelter in nice, warm, food filled locations – like houses. Any seaport city has its share of rats; you can’t have enough cats to control a rat population, it takes professionals to wipe out the nests and discourage rats from choosing your house.

A rat can sort of re-organize his bones and internal organs and slip into spaces given the width of a quarter (like maybe 1/8 inch) and a mouse needs even less. They squeeze themselves under your doors, or through a tiny gap in the outdoor faucet. Once inside, they make nests, and make more rats and mice! They nibble on wires, causing electrical outages, and worse, house fires. They leave their calling cards (droppings) on your floors.

We have three indoor cats. We never intended to have three, and we have to have a “Berlin Wall” between the two males and the ferocious female. We don’t worry about mice or rats inside, but we watch for signs in our attic or walls. We know the signs.

As a backup, we also have two outdoor cats we never intended to have, but they have made it clear we are their people, and we have submitted. Our monthly cat food bill is about what we used to pay for diapers.

So, just as I became aware that this is the season when rodents seek a comfortable shelter for the cold months to come, I found this in our driveway this morning – a mouse. No sign of blood, no torn-out throat, no teeth marks that I can see, but he is very dead. I also heard owls this morning, so it is possible one dropped him off, and maybe he died of shock. I don’t know.

I had two very calm big male cats to feed at oh-dark-thirty as I went out for my first steps, and that is when I spotted the mouse, so I feel fairly confident one of them was involved. AdventureMan wonders if the mouse was poisoned, and if that is why the cats did not eat him. I believe it’s feudal; my big, proud outdoor males consider themselves tenants, not serfs, and are providing us proof of service.

November 10, 2026 Posted by intlxpatr | Circle of Life and Death, Living Conditions, Pets | Leave a comment