This morning, there was a dead mouse in the boys’ bedroom.
First, I wanted to get the boys out of that room without them seeing it. I got them out, then my mind began racing with different thoughts:
Was it Chance or Aroe? Did the murder take place during the night in the presence of the kids? All of the bacteria/parasites that were on the mouse have probably dispersed all over the carpet/toys/clothes…that room is contaminated! I should get the vacuum. Bentley was lingering in the room…maybe he was the one who had transported the poor thing from wherever the cats did the deed to the bedroom. I could see teeth marks on the body of the mouse. How it must have suffered because of a member of my family! I should be happy that my cats are controlling the mouse problem! Who can be happy with death? I was a little annoyed. Annoyed that Israel had to be gone TODAY out of all days (-and for the week for that matter). This isn’t the first time I had to take care of a dead mouse. And he knows how I feel about animals and how I’d probably be in mourning for the next month thinking about the possibility that that mouse was somebody’s mother. If he were here, he’d take care of it no problem and forget about it. I could call Alanna…but she is in class…and why would I bother her and have her come all the way here when I can just do it? A church member? JUDY, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF. (But if we still lived in Ypsi, I could just ask Greg, our neighbor. Wait, he’s probably at work. I could have waited til he gets home from work…)
I had to take care of the situation whether I liked it or not.
I went into the room and looked by the heater. The mouse was GONE. I knew Bentley wasn’t in the room and so I angrily called, “AROE” and began looking under the crib. Chance, for sure, wasn’t in the room. I was not about to fight my cat for the disposal of a mouse. There was no Aroe. But the dead mouse was under Micah’s crib. I was on my hands and knees trying to figure out how in the world the dead mouse moved from the heater to under the crib…when all of a sudden, the mouse hobbled a few steps. I could not believe it. The dead mouse was alive! But badly injured. It was hobbling around with its eyes closed. I then could not believe that I was going to have to somehow take care of this half-dead mouse. I was not feeling too fond of my cruel cats at this moment. So I waited and it hobbled around some more but it was getting closer to some of the kids’ toys. I went over there to move them and the mouse hopped into Imanuel’s house slipper (-the one he got for his birthday). As I came closer, the mouse opened its eyes very widely. This made me feel mixed emotions. He appeared not as hurt as I thought. I was glad I wouldn’t need to face the dilemna of whether or not I should take it out of its misery…or if I should let the cats finish their work. It would survive (for now)! But I started freaking out because how was I supposed to transport a living mouse to the outdoors?! I emptied the boys’ trash bin quickly and came back. The mouse was still in Imanuel’s house slipper.
I gained courage (believe it or not) thinking of Ralph S. Mouse – one of my favorite childhood books. He was nice. And people have pet mice all the time! This is just a nice animal…that one of my cats almost killed…that is wild…and may carry some horrible disease…
I managed to stick the slipper with the mouse into the trash bin and slowly took it outside. I wasn’t sure where to let him go. I went out the front because the cats usually hang out by the deck in the back. But there was no shelter in the front. And it is still cold with snow on the ground and it probably wouldn’t survive with its injuries. So, I ended up walking around all the way to the back and finally letting him go under our deck.
I keep going back and forth on this. I appreciate the fact that my cats help keep the mouse population in the house down, but when I see a mouse in danger with hope of living, I can’t help but want to save it. (This isn’t the first mouse that I have “saved” from my cats.)
I recounted this story (without so much inner details) to Imanuel. I explained to him for the first time that our cats kill mice. He seemed a bit shocked. I recalled the story, “When God Washed the World” which talks about how animals and people turned wicked after sin. Then he exclaimed, “But tigers don’t kill turtles…they’re friends!” I have no idea where that came from. Anyway, he just doesn’t understand the concept of death. But what I do want him to understand is that no matter how common and “natural” death is (-particularly in nature), that’s not how it’s supposed to be. Namely, I shouldn’t be struggling with whether I’d like my cats to eliminate our mice problem or if I don’t want the mice to suffer and die!
This world is so “naturally” filled with competition, aggression, indifference, fear, rotting, and death. I trust that in this sin-sickened world, the way that the Lord allows nature to play out in the “circle of life” is the best way. But I don’t think we should ever forget the way it is supposed to be. I want to instill in my kids to love and appreciate nature, and to always be reminded that death (even of animals and plants) is a sad result of sin. But that should motivate us to live faithfully to hasten His soon return.
What an experience! Not pleasant at all. Just another reason why I don’t like Israel being away!
Ralph S. Mouse! Yeah, that’s how I feel when I work with the mice in my lab! It makes me want to take a ping-pong ball, cut it in half, and put it on their head! I admire your compassion, Judy, but I hate to break it to you, the cats probably broke its neck and it won’t survive for long. At least it will die a more dignified death.
@jpnamm – Oppa, you are just filled with party-pooping remarks aren’t you?! HAHA. You’re probably right, though. I was just trying to give myself some hope. 🙁
wow Jude. I am always impressed by your compassion towards animals. I don’t remember much about Ralph S. Mouse, but there are a couple of mouse stories I remember. like one about a mouse and a motorcycle. and Mighty Mouse (“Here I come, to save the daaay!”) Yeah, the mouse might not make it, but at least it was not just lying around. I think I would’ve died if I saw that the mouse was still alive. I don’t know if I could’ve dealt with it as well as you did. Personally, I would’ve preferred it to be dead… you were quite brave, Jude, quite brave. Even now I am sweating a little as I think about what I would do if I saw a mouse (living or half dead) in my room. I might just leave and never come back. (going to the UP early!) Don’t get any ideas.
@rAmOsEs – sorry. let me rephrase my last comment. if you hadn’t intervened on the mouse’s behalf, it would have surely died. but after what you did, you gave it a 0.1% chance of surviving its injuries and enjoying the rest of its life. there are few people who would have done that for a healthy mouse let alone an injured one. and Jen, the mouse on the motorcycle IS Ralph S. Mouse (aka Runaway Ralph) the best mouse motorcycle diaries ever written. 🙂
@jensa07 and @jpnamm – Okay, you guys obviously have not read the entire Ralph S. Mouse trilogy. There are 3 books – Ralph S. Mouse, Runaway Ralph, and The Mouse and the Motorcycle! You guys must be getting old…
@jensa07 – Oh, and Jen, it was horrible. I don’t think I was ever more terrified in my life. I mean, the mouse, when it was in the room was hobbling around all dead-looking with its eyes closed for crying out loud! It looked like it should have been a part of a horror movie or something! But it happened in real life….to me!!! If I didn’t have kids, I probably would have just left it in that room, locked the door, and waited until Israel came back.
@rAmOsEs – @jpnamm – ahoy! yes. Ralph S. Mouse. And the motorcycle. My life has suddenly become clearer. It’s like the clouds are breaking and the sun is shining through in all it’s Beverly Cleary brightness… thanks guys. thanks a lot. For some reason, the Indian in the Cupboard is coming to mind now too. Cool. can’t help this one: Reminds me of Romans 5:6-8. You know, like how you saved a dying mouse when few would save a live one. God is good, huh? =)@rAmOsEs – Jude, it must be something strange because this time, I just laughed. It’s almost comical. But at the same time it’s terrible. Really, I don’t know what I would’ve done. This is what my kids are for. If I had a mouse in my room, I’d tell one of my workers that it was their job to get rid of it. Humanely. Ah… makes me want to get up in the morning to see them! =D g’night!
uhhh…. Jukes, the second time was better for the overall audience. Drs. like you and me can handle the plain details of the loss of life, but not everyone is built like we are. Jen…love your little pics on the side of your posts. Judy, when you told me to read this, I was thinking something more along the lines of a happy ending. Remember, this isn’t a korean drama. We can be happy at the end. :)But I miss you and the boys and can’t wait back to get home.
=]
you know… i have a lot of mouse stories. i remember that at our old centry-old michigan farmhouse, there was lump under the rug which my aunt thought it was us kids leaving our socks everywhere. she had this thing about putting all socks in the hamper. angrily reached under and grabbed it and pulled out a mouse. that one got away as she chucked it across the room but there were many that were caught. i disposed a lot of them by cremation in the fireplace.but did you know glue traps are the least humane method of catching mice? it was my mom’s preferred method of termination as other methods like mouse traps always left mice guts spashed around as the trap sprung and snapped the mouse in half. anyways, once this mouse got stuck in the glue trap face down on the side of his face. when later i approached it, it squealed and then tried to run off the glue trap. except in its hurry, when it twitched trying to get out of the glue, it left its eyeball stuck in the glue. in its effort to run away, it lost an eyeball.once a mouse even skinned itself to get out. i think this one mouse saw one of the Saw movies. it must’ve gnawed through its skin and skinned its leg because when i checked on the glue trap in the morning, there was a slightly bloody patch of skin with the fur side still stuck in the glue and remains of what looked like a foot. I didn’t examine it too close because it looked gross.at any rate, manu & micah are having THE ultimate childhood experience right now catching mice in their own rooms. they’ll grow up to be tough guys :)P.S. there was a pond near the entrace to our driveway (to the farm, of course) that a lot of noisy frogs and turtles lived in. people would drive 60~70mph on this road as it was unpoliced and one of the few good backroads that led to I-94 (towards chicago). anyways, you would always see squished turtles and their shattered shells that got ran over cars during their migration across the road and though I never saw any tigers eating turtles, i saw a lot of stray animals and birds eating turtle pies 🙂 — why did the turtle cross the road? oh wait… they weren’t fast enough and got ran over by cars!
@xjohnyoon – John, your comment did not help at all.About mouse traps, we did purchase the most humane mouse traps in the world. (But I’m not sure if it really works because we never caught any.) It is like a black cartridge and you put food in it and when the mouse goes in, it snaps shut, kills the mouse instantly, but all of the guts etc. are all trapped inside. There is even a little sign that appears if a mouse is inside. Then you just toss the cartridge away. You should buy some for your mom and aunt…and every Korean adult for that matter!
(wow, xanga has changed!)Judy!!! Your thought process is very much like what mine would’ve been in your situation! I’m at work and I gasped out loud at the part where you saw that the mouse was alive! I even get that way with insects… like just now out of nowhere this little bug came crawling on my desk and right before I squished it w/ my napkin I saw it curl up to protect itself and as nonsensical as it might be I feel sad imagining it sensing any fear. Insects I have to kill but I could never kill a mouse… even the nyc rats look cute to me!… from far away hahagreat storytelling by the way – I was totally engrossed! the skills that come w/ being a mommy :)miss you guys and hope your’e doing well!
oh my!!! what a story!!!I am sorry you had to deal with it… but I can tell you that you did much better than I would have… :-/I really like your conclusion and it is encouraging to think of how things will be much better!@John…bro. come on this is a family blog! such gruesome comments should be banned!
@JeannieK – Thanks, Jeannie! For sure when it comes to animals, we are kindred spirits. You would absolutely LOVE the U.P. (I think). We’ve seen moose, bald eagles, hawks, coyotes, a porcupine, skunks, foxes, and more! And Bentley and cats love it up here. Anyway, this was such a traumatic experience. One horribly bad side to living in the country! Hope you’re doing well! We miss you too!@threemendez – I honestly cannot wait until Heaven. No dead-mouse collecting! (We’ve had to dispose of at least 10 mice since we’ve moved up here! I think they’re too smart for the traps…but not for our cats! 🙂
I am so proud of you Judy! 🙂 great story! share more soon! 🙂
Chester and I were cracking up reading this during the board meeting…