As a kid if I wasn't surrounding myself with pencils, paints and paper I was usually outside playing in the grass, water or trees and finding new little critters to take home. I've had ice cream buckets with cool little water bugs, hurt little birds, and the usual stray dog or cat in my room. Just ask my mom....
Not much has changed for me in my adulthood, I am still surrounded by art supplies and still trying to save all the little lost creatures of the world. All of my doggies and cats that have come into my life have all found me in one way or another and I truly believe it was meant to be, as if a higher force lead them to my heart. So I wasn't really surprised when the other day I was walking toward my cabin studio to inspect any damage from the torrential downpour we had the day before, and my eye caught sight of something squirming around.
Beside the wall of my studio is a big flower pot tilted on it's side and inside of it was quite a bit of rain water. I walked closer thinking a frog must be inside of the pot and can't get out, but as I got closer I realized that it wasn't a frog at all but a mouse... or baby rat. This tiny little thing was scrambling for it's life and would get a little bit out of the water and slide back in . It was a sad sight indeed. I didn't really have much time to decide which it was, cute little mouse or scary rat, because my super girl instincts kicked in and I scooped the exhausted little rodent up by it's tail and held it on my arm. Poor little creature was so tiny and exhausted.
So now I'm carrying this nearly drowned mouse/rat around by the tail thinking.... now what??? I decided that I would grab my camera and take a few snaps of it and so I came into the house with it and had a little photo shoot. It wasn't a willing participant so the photos are not that great but it shows this happened and I'm not making it up. After documenting the rodents existence on memory card I had to decide what to do with it. I figured I already have a studio bunny ( who is flipp'n adorable by the way ) a dog ( who I love immensely ) and 2 cats ( who are super cool and cuddly ) so I'm sure a little mouse/ rat wouldn't be that hard to take care of ?? And in my childish Walt Disney mind they would be best friends and hang out together....
So yes, I got a plastic box with a lid put in an old towel and some of Penelope's rabbit food and added one very wet baby mouse/rat. I watched him pick up a tiny seed with it's shaky little rodent paws and nibble on it and thought YES! It's going to be okay, it's eating and now it is safe inside the cabin and has a dry warm bed... all is good. I adjusted the lid so it was closed enough to keep the mouse/rat in but open enough for air to get in and then I left to go back inside the house and think of some super cute names for my new pet. A few hours passed and I came back out to check on the new guest. I walked over to the box ( which was up on my desk ) and very gently opened the lid to the mouse hotel. I peeked in , moved around the towel , took the towel out and shook it.... no mouse/rat. HUH?? How did this happen? Why did it escape such a lovely little mouse pad that I set up?? How ungrateful! But then after the initial "how dare that mouse/rat do that to me " reality set in and now I'm thinking ... omg. now I have a rodent loose in my cabin!! Now it wasn't a cute little pet it was an intruder and I was a little scared of it! What if it jumps out at me while I am beading or runs across my desk while I'm painting ?? What if it bites Penelope? omg my mind was going crazy and I was freaking out! I started thinking horrible things like... do I need to buy mouse traps? Do I need to put my cats in here?? Then I realized what I was contemplating and talked myself down from my hysteria. " Lisa... you can't save a mouse/rat's life only to turn around and murder it " I began to look around my studio for any clues of it's existence but found none. Well I better figure something out and so I remembered that there are a couple little holes in the floor of the studio where I'm assuming some old plumbing once was and so I uncovered them and hoped for the best.
Well the best didn't happen. Actually the worst happened. The next day I went back to my cabin and walked by the dreaded flower pot . I stood there thinking how does this happen? Why did this happen? There inside the pot was more rain water and in that pool of water was a little mouse/rat floating whiskers down. Was this my little mouse/rat? I don't know. I like to think it's not and it's running around my yard frolicking in the grass... but part of me is thinking that yes. This is the little guy I tried so hard to rescue and although all my intentions were the very best and came straight from the heart, I failed to save him. Life is so unfair sometimes isn't it ?? Maybe I should've minded my own business and just let things work out on it's own? Go about my own life and not worry about others. Nah.... that's just not me.
Just when I thought I've seen all the cuteness that I could possibly see.....along comes Roxy!! My daughter Michaela BEGGED her Dad for this little fur angel and I'm sure glad she did. Roxy is only 6 weeks old, and is so playful and sweet. I only took about 75 pictures of her already. Check out "My Flickr" for some more. Milo was'nt too sure of her at first but now she is his best little buddy. This is night #3 and she is sleeping through the night and is becoming very comfortable with her new family.
