Cooperative Living February 2017 - 6

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MOUSE COLUMN RECALLED
UNSETTLING EXPERIENCE
Having read Margo Oxendine's October
Rural Living column about living with
mice in the country, I am reminded of an
experience of my own with a mouse a
couple of years ago. This is an absolutely
true story - every word. It so much
impressed me that I wrote about it at
the time.
Tombstone, Arizona, bills itself as
" the town too tough to die. " It was my
misfortune to meet a mouse with that
same brand of toughness. I found that
mouse caught in a spring-loaded trap in
my garage. The spring was across the neck
with the head held sideways underneath it.
I felt sorry for the little animal but did
not want the critter running loose in my
garage. I thought that it must have just
been caught since it was alive and a mouse
in a trap can't live long. I did not want to
watch it die. I went back into the house.
About an hour later I returned thinking
I'd remove a dead mouse. Instead it was
alive and actively rolled sideways with the
trap in order to evade me. I left again. This
time I was feeling admiration for the
endurance of that small animal.
I returned again about two hours later
only to find that mouse still alive in the
trap and having rolled a good 20 feet away
from where it had been. What a mouse!
I wanted it dead but I did not want to
torture it. Why won't it die??!!
The Romans of old would sometimes
reward a gladiator who had fought well
and hard but still lost the fight. They
would let him live. I thought
of doing the same for that
valiant mouse - let it go in
the woods behind the house,
but I had become afraid of
such a strong mouse and did
not know how to open the
trap without possibly getting
bitten myself. So the visits
continued. I hoped to find a
dead mouse each time and it
continued to frantically roll
with the trap to get away from me.
Finally, I just had to do something
I hoped would be humane. I got a shovel
and a broom and used the broom to
push the animal with the trap on to the
shovel. The mouse was scrabbling to resist
every inch of the way. I left it at the edge of
the forest thinking some animal would
come along and put it out of misery. I
would come back the next morning to
retrieve the trap.
The next morning, the mouse was
gone but THE TRAP WAS GONE
ALSO. Now I can never know what
happened to it. In my imagination, I think
two things. One was that a black snake
came along and ate it, trap and all, and is
now slithering around out there with a
rectangular shape where the trap is. The
second possible solution is much
scarier. That little mouse joined up with
others in his tribe and is out there getting
stronger and stronger and hating me with
every fiber of his stout little heart. Someday
they will come for me!!!!! WHERE CAN
I HIDE??!!
All this from one little mouse ... caught
in a trap.
- Sara Brower, Sandy Level
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'THE FAST & THE FURRIEST' PHOTO
CUTE BUT DANGEROUS
While I love fun photos of various
animals, in your January 2017 issue, there
is a photo titled " Baaad to the Bone " that
shows a dog named Moose with his head
hanging out of the open window of a
moving vehicle.
Two points:
1. The dog should be wearing a safety
harness (seat belt!); and
2. Allowing dogs to ride with their heads
hanging out of an open window while
the vehicle is in motion is an extremely
dangerous practice! Countless eye
injuries occur because of this " cute "
practice; some dogs get so excited, they
actually either jump out or fall out of
the window of the moving vehicle!
This goes for people hauling horses as
well. Horses have been killed by tree
branches and the driver didn't even know
until he arrived at his destination. Most
horse trailers are fitted with screens or
bars. Use them!
Happy New Year!
- B. Jane Divine, via email
WhatzIt?
Make your best guess at this photo of a
familiar but unidentified object. Send it in
writing with your name, address and phone
number to WhatzIt?, c/o Cooperat ive Living,
P.O. Box 2340, Glen Allen, VA 23058-2340;
or guess online at www.co-opliving.com
under " Contests. " Dead line for entries is
Feb. 17, 2017. All correct entries will be put
into a drawing and a winner announced in
the May 2017 issue. The winner will re ceive
a check for $25. 
4 | Cooperative Living | February 2017
The NovemberDecember
2016
WhatzIt? shows
poinsettia bracts
and leaves.
Reader Sandra
Wrenn of
Emporia was our
$25 winner.
 DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?
Congratulations,
Sandra!
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Cooperative Living February 2017

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