Friday, April 3, 2009

Miscellaneous Musings

Poor Herman the Possum. Haven't seen him for a few days, then this morning he was on the porch, chomping on the cats' food as usual. As he started to climb down the porch railing, my husband noticed his tail...it's partly gone. Looks like Herman got caught up in something, or with someone. Poor thing. His tail is too short to hang from now. Too bad possums aren't like lizards. Would be cool if he could just grow a new one. (No new picture of the little guy. Didn't want to startle him more than we already had by going outside in the first place.)


A while back, I walked in the living room to find Major staring intently at the front door. I walked over and heard some scratching outside. Thinking Muffin was playing around, I opened the door. Well, I guess she had cornered a mouse between the glass door and the front door (there's a small gap at the bottom corner), and my opening the door gave that poor little mouse an escape route. It ran into the house and hid behind a side table. Major and the other kitties sniffed around at different times during the evening, but they aren't the best mousers in the world.

So, I pulled out a humane mousetrap that I bought years ago (and my husband made fun of me for buying) and placed it where I thought the mouse would probably end up trying to make a break for it. It was still empty the next morning, so I took a small piece of bread and put it in. Later on in the morning, I heard some scratching around and there the little guy was...safely ensconced in the trap. How cool. I took him outside and let him loose among some overgrowth in the yard. Hopefully he's learned his lesson and won't get around Muffin again.





Took this picture on a warm day at the beginning of March. Muffin was in the front yard, sunbathing among the ivy. She loves the sun. It's been raining for the past couple days, so needless to say, she's not happy right now. Of course, in this picture, she's not looking too happy either. Maybe she just wanted me to leave her in peace and let her get back to her sunbathing. (Would this be considered nude sunbathing?!?)


6 comments:

Angie, Catladyland said...

I love that picture of Muffin. It's so cute how her back feet are kicked up and she's just soaking in all that sun. She's really beautiful! Was your husband surprised that the mousetrap actually worked? Glad there was a happy ending!

My pet name for my daughter is Possum :) Herman is cute, poor guy...

Victoria said...

Poor little Herman! I hope he'll be all right.

I'm so glad you could save that little mousie! I have had a special fondness for mice every since I read Beatrix Potter's books when I was a little girl, but now I can't remember the name of the mice in her books...darn memory.

Susan M. Bell said...

Angie - I don't think the Herman story is quite as sad as we thought. I was looking at a photo of him, and it looks like his tail has always been a bit short. So, maybe it just got scraped up a little. And yep, I think he was surprised it worked. I got on GTalk (instant messenger - only way I can get in touch with him during the day) and told him about it. He thought it was kind of cool, though. I used to work with a guy named Possum. He called me squid. Don't know why, but it made for some amusement on the hubby's part when he called and left a message on our answering machine one day.

Victoria - See above explanation about Herman. I have never read Potter's books. Have always wanted to. Guess I need to hit the library.

Tracey McBride ~ Frugal Luxuries® said...

Oh, poor Herman the possum. I love the picture of Muffin!! Her personality just RADIATES attitude!
Warmly,
Tracey
P.S. I know what you mean about quiet time with them...my Zoey is always trying to get me to lie down on the bed and have quiet time (i.e., nap) with her!!

Tracey McBride ~ Frugal Luxuries® said...

P.S. That's good news about Hermann's story :-)

Victoria said...

I'm glad Herman's shortness of tail won't impair his possum lifestyle! :-)