Mother Nature apparently heard of my appreciation for Shelley keeping me company, and was kind enough to send another new friend. Mousey Brown is a field mouse I saw running across my floor yesterday. I jumped a bit, of course, not like the way people jump on a table and scream, but just a sudden action because of surprise. This scared Mousey Brown under the fridge, where I hoped very strongly she would not find Shelley. I set up a little makeshift hopeful trap, but because of my limited resources at hand, it was one for which I had to actually be present to make it function as a trap and not just a snack bar. I patiently sat very still and waited from a slight distance, and she did come out once and grabbed some bread and ran back under the fridge. I sat and waited, very still, for some time more, but she did not come out again.

I left at this time to go visit the Fort with some friends (alas, I forgot my camera) and when I returned that evening (have I mentioned it gets very dark here very early?) I performed a fairly thorough search for her to re-evaluate my trap needs. She was not to be found. I did see that the socks I was using to block the "back door" (quotation marks quite intentional) had been pushed aside, and I could only assume this was how she had got in and hopefully got back out.

I didn't bother putting up my trap just yet because that would involve energy, so it was still there when I came home from work this evening (since this morning was a roll out of bed and hit the streets type due to department watch), but all the bread was gone. So I think Mousey Brown is still here.

Since I used to have gerbils (oh, so many!), I am not afraid of Mousey Brown as some might be. Cautious, yes, and aware that she is probably carrying some germs for which my system would not be quite ready, but not afraid. However, it's a bit disconcerting thinking she could be anywhere in this house while I sleep.

I have my fitness test tomorrow, though, and since my one sofa-crash-pad-hosting friend has gone already, and the others have recently drifted off into the world of Notaround, I will be sleeping restlessly here I'm sure. Well, here's hoping Mousey is as shy as she is cute, as reclusive as she is sneaky.