ODE TO A WILD LOOKING MOUSE

My father and I shaped a piece of timber (some type of greenish looking wood that my dad didn’t recognise) to replace the hardboard bottom shelf of the pantry in the kitchen that belongs to my current home. My property manager referred to this crafted piece of timber as a “plank”. Quaint and also dismissive. Reason being was that some type of rodent had chewed through one of the corners and though I had pushed a bottle through the hole there was evidence of recent activity, an attempted entry.

The previous tenant had left one of those big rat traps, so I assumed the rodent was a rat, or three. That was a while ago now, but this week I started to hear noises in the cupboard under the sink. A rustling of plastic bags. My friend, foiled for a time, was back. Something was in the cupboard eating my plastic bags and leaving a mess. So I set that old trap up. I wondered if anything would happen to be honest. It’s kind of like fishing.

So I came back from work yesterday and there was a familiar rustling coming out from under the sink. I was thinking he was pretty brave making a plastic bag raid in the middle of the day as I checked under the sink. Nothing was in the trap. I closed the door and the rustling started again. Actually, I kicked the cupboard door first because I didn’t want him escaping into the house and hoped he’d get the hint. Anyway cautiously I opened the cupboard again and began to take the plastic bags out and wondered what was going on. I looked at the empty trap and saw there was the edge of a bag caught in the trap. I looked closer. It was then that I noticed the tip of a tail sticking out. The intruder had twisted himself up in a plastic bag and that was why I hadn’t seen him at first.

He started screaming when I began cutting him free. He didn’t want the food I offered him. He was so wild looking with a dark coat and feverish black eyes. I decided to let him go free. Also it was possible he was a she, and had spring babies somewhere. I blame Richard Adams. If he was a rat I would have captured him and released him near my enemy’s house by the way. He was one very freaked out and wild looking mouse. When I lifted the trap off his tail, following a short incident, he slipped down a 4mm gap at the back of the cupboard. The end…