Meet Grayson

It was the first real snow storm of 2018, and days ago, we caught the mouse that was apparently co-habitating with us.

We use “have-a-heart” traps. We’re unquestionably animal lovers, and mice do fall under that category. Many employers ago, I witnessed a mouse caught in a glue trap attempting to escape, breaking both his tiny, spindly legs in the process. My colleague, a woman, subsequently collected and disposed of all of these traps, much to the disfavor of corporate. Since then, killing traps have not been in my universe.

The sub-zero temperatures of winter storm Grayson were not conducive to life, in my opinion, so I came up with a plan. I could put him up for the night using my 18-yo daughter’s long-retired hamster cage. And thus my pet mouse Grayson came to be.

Grayson did not like his new accommodations, and without evidence of such, managed to escape and be recaptured in the very same trap that night. Back he went, with fresh water and food.

Grayson preferred premium small-breed dog food, but also liked corn and green beans, in that order. He tolerated carrots, but they were definitely not his favorite.

He was skittish at first, but soon discovered the wheel, and became an expert at running in it, mastering the technique of not running so fast that he would spin with the wheel itself due to centrifugal force. Still he had his mishaps which were amusing to witness, and left him unharmed. His embarrassment in this did not show.

After the first day, he cleaned himself up nicely, and I realized he had nice markings, with a white underbelly and dark sable fur with black underfur. He had a lovely nature, and acclimatized to his new surroundings quickly. He did not escape a second time.

Even though he was living in my basement, none of this activity received spousal approval, and so the plan was to liberate him to a nearby wildlife park when the temperatures were in the fifties. The occurred about a week later.

I brought the cage to the park, set it down in a leafy area, and opened to door. Grayson happily continued to spin. I took the top of the cage off, and walked it back to my car, retrieving my iPhone, about a minute. Still spinning. I took some farewell photos and shot some video. He momentarily stopped, climbed up to the top of the wire sides, and peeked out at the world. Then he went back down to spin some more. Finally, he cautiously climbed down the ramp that had been formed by the open door, and sped off in a south-westerly direction. Bye, Grayson.

I will never look at a mouse quite the same way again.