Sunday, June 16, 2013

Tempo Was Too Quick

Tempo is/was the name of our mouse.

"Tempo" is short for "Temporary," as in probably not a permanent pet, but since we caught him in a live trap at the violin store it also seemed like an appropriately musical name.

The kids loved Tempo and we got him a tank and a wheel.  Mona made him a little duct tape house.

He's been happy in his tank since late April, running in his wheel all night long, snacking on almonds and seeds.  Then the kids decided we really should clean his tank.  Like an idiot I tried to dump Tempo from his little house into the live trap and SPROING!  Out popped Tempo onto the window seat, down to the floor, and into a grate.  Just like Ian told the kids would happen if they tried to do such a thing.
So now the mouse is on the loose and the live trap is set with almonds again.  His tank awaits, but I'm not hopeful.  Our house is much bigger than the violin store and his options for finding food on his own are much greater.  Most days he was actually my favorite pet because the fish is boring and the dog is high maintenance, and there is something endlessly entertaining for all involved when the mouse runs in his wheel.  (How is it a wild mouse knows what to do with the wheel?)

Oh well.  At least Tempo is now probably Allegro in both senses of the term.

4 comments:

  1. Your punny-ness has me chuckling. The loss of a family pet, however, is not funny in the least. I'm terribly sorry Tempo has dashed off. Now that it's warmer outside, my guess is he's off for the summer. :oS

    But, you never can tell. Tempo led quite the cushy life for a wild rodent and he may come to miss all those nummy almonds. I look forward to reading of Tempo's return. :o)

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    1. You are so kind, but "loss of a family pet" is probably pushing it here. When the fish dies there will be much grieving and weeping by the nine-year-old for who knows how long, but the mouse? Eh, the mouse is still around we just don't get to see him now. My kids all went, "Oh no!" and then got back to doing whatever they were doing. I'm the one who gets to feels stupid for letting him go. And "he" will probably turn out to be a "she" who has a million babies and they will chew through our wiring and burn the house down. (Not that I've over thought this or anything.)

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  2. I'm happy to read of someone else who keeps the mice they find as temporary pets. We have done this too --in fact, not too long ago my husband and daughter rescued two tiny baby jumping field mice from a window well, and they were the most adorable pets for a few weeks. Once it warmed up, we let them go outside --Emma actually created a very comfortable little house in an old tree stump, lined with moss and seeds heads from garden flowers. I'm sure they stayed in it all of 5 seconds, but she enjoyed the idea :-) Here are a few pictures of them: http://badatbeingmom.blogspot.com/2013/04/mice.html

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    1. Cute photos! We are not as generous to all the mice. The others we've caught at the violin store we've released in the park, and in the house we use regular traps. Of course now with Tempo on the loose we had to pull up all the snap traps and the live one is back out. And the kids put out the wheel in case the mouse gets the urge to spin loop-de-loops in the night.

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