Fewer creatures in my house

No jury duty again today. Maybe I am done for this time around. Last night I walked to the country gas station/mini store. It was very dark out already and the stars were bright. Country roads are very dark with no streetlights. Cars traveling in the country drive very fast with their bright lights on. It’s blinding. I could hear things rustling around in the bushes as I walked by. I tried not to be afraid or think of bears or bad, hiding humans but of peaceful little rabbits and gentle deer. As I got nearer the little store made an oasis pool of light. There was one car parked near it and only the clerk was there. I couldn’t help but think it would be kind of a lonely and somewhat dangerous job to work alone there at night

Of course the mean deer in my yard was not gentle but I don’t think she’d come out on to a paved road to get me. At least I hope not! Every once in a while I have to do something to test my courage. I’m afraid of so many things, the dark being one of them.(Some dark I like, it's peaceful but only the more "safe" dark!) So a long walk alone under the stars was a mini-adventure. I didn’t even take my little dog along for moral support as I would have had to tie her outside while I bought the gallon of milk and the pack of gum. The walk back home seemed quicker even though I was weighed down by carrying the gallon of milk. The window lights of my house could be seen as I got nearer and walked up the hill. It was a welcoming sight!

Do you ever test yourself like that? Or do you just think that’s dumb.

So far the mouse traps have caught a mole and a vole, no mice. And I know there was at least one mouse in the house; the one I took outside in the brown paper bag. Maybe it stayed outside. The mole was caught in a live-trap. Moles are cute but have a weird musty smell. I think it’s so predators leave them alone.

This mole was large and possibly pregnant. She was caught in the middle of the night, about 2:00 a.m. and my son had come home from work only a couple of hours before that so he was still up. He volunteered to take the mole (in a coffee can) to the “rodent distribution center” as we call it. The “center” is a place far enough away from our house (moles have a territory of a mile or more) so the rodent won’t come back, and it’s not close to anyone else’s house either. I was in bed and didn’t hear the car. It seemed to be taking a long time before my son finally came back. He had walked the mole to her new territory! That’s probably what gave me the idea for walking to the store to get milk last night.

The second little creature we caught wasn’t so lucky. We caught it alive but it died of fright or something before we could get it into the coffee can to take it outside. Poor little thing, it was a vole. Voles are gentle tame-able creatures who make good pets. They are monogamous and males and females raise the babies together. The families stay together and form a sort of little vole-village. I have not seen them fight, they cooperate and share food, bedding and treats. So we were very sad to have accidentally killed a creature like that. It probably had a mate and brothers and sisters who would actually miss it. When the old female vole we had as a pet died, her mate died too, within a week. He just didn’t want to live without her.

I don’t think there are any other rodents like that. Mice are cute but aggressive and not at all like the gentle little voles. A mouse male will reign as king over a group of females. The young males, his sons, grow up and challenge him. Sooner or later one will kill him. The first thing the new victor does is kill all the little baby and half-grown mice in a brutal slaughter. I think it’s because they aren’t his progeny. You can see that I don’t like mice all that well compared to voles or moles! The only peaceful mice are a group of all females.

I think there still are little rodents in the house but haven’t heard any so am hoping that we caught them all. This is the time of the year when they first come in. We can still let them outside in this weather. Later on if we catch rodents, we can’t just let them outside, they would freeze to death. They normally burrow in the ground and the ground is frozen in the winter. So we keep them until the ground thaws in the spring. It’s made for some interesting pets and experiences with animals! Well, it's finally Thursday and tomorrow is Friday! Have a good one.