This morning, as I nonchalantly balanced the laundry hamper on my hip and peered down into the washing machine I was shocked to see a mouse sitting at the bottom and looking up at me. I let out a blood-curling scream (I just cannot deal with rodents).
Luckily my daughter had just come in from work and hurried to my side. She peered into the machine and instantly fell in love with the tiny creature.
At that point all I cared about was that it be caught and removed from my washer. She gathered a selection of plastic containers, but as soon as the mouse saw us it ran under the agitator. She tried to remove it but, without success, so we opted for the seduction technique and sprinkled the bottom of the tub with chocolate chips and Oreo cookies…still no luck. After about an hour she chose to flush it out by running the water…no mouse! By then we figured it might have escaped through some secret passage, but we still had to empty the machine so she ran the spin cycle, opening the lid every few minutes to check if the beast might reappear. Sure enough, after a few checks, there it was hanging by its foot, head down, from one of the holes in the sides.
My daughter caught it and put it in a jam jar and brought it up to the kitchen. I was hoping to release it outside and be done with it but NOOOOO….
“Maman, it will die outside in the snow!!!”
That is how I ended up with a mouse in a flower vase on my kitchen counter. It is a cute little thing, surprisingly vocal, but it still creeps me out. I cannot wait for spring so we can release it.
