Little fuzzy creatures

Overall, the cats - one decrepit, one declawed - have caught six mice since we moved in. Five of them in the past week.

I left a few days ago in the morning, noting on my way out that the cats were sitting near the bookcase too close together - they never sit that close unless something’s up. But I had to leave, so I did. And when I got home they were still there.

I sat at the computer for a few moments before they raced through the apartment into Roommate’s bedroom, where they sat in front of his smallest bookcase near his bed (yes, we have five bookcases). And that was when I saw the mouse.

The Great Mouse Hunt lasted for a few hours, as the cats dashed around after it, while it tunneled under the sheets on the bed, scrambled into the mess of wires behind the desk, romped into the bottom shelf of one of the other bookcases and hid behind the collected works of Cherryh. I think by the time Roommate got home his bedding and most of the books were in one corner, the cats were bouncing off the walls, and I was tired of looking under things. The mouse was nowhere to be seen. We found it again once before it vanished again. Roommate was ready to start moving the heavy stuff when I, poking around with his walking stick, found the fuzzball cleverly hiding on the hilt of one of Roommate’s Japanese swords propped up in a corner near the bookcases. One waste can ride to the dumpster later, no more mouse.

Until five minutes later, when the other mouse raced from under the bookcase in the living room. Fortunately that one was quickly wastecanned.

This morning, declawed cat kept running over to a small cupboard we use for a phone stand. I told her, look, no mouse - and opened it up and there was a mouse, sitting there on the phone book. At which point I shut it again, went to the clinic, came home, opened the cupboard and used the kitty poop scoop to pitch the mouse into the waste can. Off to the dumpster!

I think I’ll get a bunch of traps. I’m tired of waiting for Orkin. If a declawed cat is doing a better job than management’s “professionals” it’s time to take things into my own hands.