Playing Cat and Mouse

It happens every year at this time, also in the fall. Reggae clamours to go down into the basement. I won't see him for hours in the evenings. Sometimes overnight. If I peek down there, he'll be staring at one spot, and won't move. It's all I can do to get him back upstairs before I leave for work, and when I do, I know he sacks out on our bed all day saving his energy for the next watch to be on guard. I don't know how he knows they are there, but he does. He's on MOUSE PATROL. Inevitably, he'll bring up a present. The familiar chirp he makes tells me his mouth is full of mouse. And much to my dismay, his prey is usually still alive, his toy. He will drop it, I'll think it's dead, and the little grey thing will scurry off, cat hot on his tail. Reggae will catch him, throw it, toy with it, all the while I'm hobbling around trying to get something to get rid of the poor creature. I don't mind mice, but not in my living space. They belong outside, or at the very least, in my unfinished concrete basement. Sure, I'll scream at first but just cuz I'm startled. EEK a MOUSE! :-) I don't use poison to kill them, if Reggae got the mouse and ate it (which he normally doesn't but still) that would not be good. I do use the traps with peanut butter for bait, but that only works sometimes. My cat is a good mouser.

Well, this particular mouse had staying power. It managed to elude Reggae since Wednesday night. Reggae played catch and release all over the house each night, of course disturbing my sleep! I'd yell, get him!! And lots of good that did. LOL. I was praying he would not present me a gift of mouse in the bed. eewww! Reggae spent a good amount of time Thursday evening staring under the fridge where he last saw the mouse go. I could hear him sniffing and breathing in the scent of mouse quite audibly.

And again, often, mouse ran by, followed by cat, cat catches mouse, cat loses mouse.

At one point Thursday night I woke and got up to see what was about to crash in the living room, the mouse was 'hiding' on a wheel of a little cart decoration until Reggae saw it and the chase began again. Cats will be cats, and when I got up Friday morning, Reggae had won the war, and little grey mouse was sent to that big wheel of cheese in the sky. Last night, Reggae spent quite a while staring at the basement stair wall (where we think the mice come in--the hole is stuffed with steel wool, but there must be another way) but this morning he's less interested. Hopefully...no more mice. Doubtful, but one could hope!