deer mouse

Back in June, I brought a couple of boxes in from the garage for Pam to go through. We were doing some cleaning and looking for things for a yard sale or to throw out that we just weren't using anymore. I noticed some droppings on the top of one of the boxes and remember jokingly commenting to Pam that she should check the box for mice. While she was going through the box, she was almost to the bottom, and low and behold hiding underneath the muffin tray she was pulling out was this cute little beady eyed deer mouse. Needless to say, it scared the mess out of Pam, not to mention the mouse when she dropped the pan back on top of it. I think they must get their name from their cute big brown eyes.

I contemplated what to do with the mouse. At first I decided, I would take it to a field about a mile away and let it go. Then I remembered that they were looking for critters to display in the nature area of the scout camp that Ian worked at this summer. I contacted the nature director and he said they could use the little guy if I wanted to bring him to camp. I figured that would be a good place for him, although I started wondering if he would be in a cage by himself or would he be in a cage with one of the resident snakes on display. I started feeling a little guilty about the idea that he may be lunch for the garter snake I had dropped off at camp the week before. Well, I put him in a small cage and gave him some food and water and put the cage in the garage for safe keeping until I was to make the drive to camp in a couple of days. I guess the little guy read my mind about the snake food idea and he escaped overnight from the cage. Apparently, when I put the food and water in the cage I did not secure the cage top because he was gone when I checked on him the next morning.