Considering A Mouse For A Pet?

It’s the mice again. And they weren’t in the dollhouse this time. They were in the house. The real house.

A few mornings ago, I heard my daughter scream from down the hall, “Mom! Blackberry’s gone!”

“She can’t be gone,” I said, hoping like anything I was right. But when I checked the cage, only one of the mice was in there. The door was cracked open and Blackberry was gone. Somewhere in our house.

My mind raced. What if she’s been running around all night? What if we don’t find her and she dies, and then we DO find her? Or what if she finds her way outside and meets a wild mouse and comes back, and…

I flew into action. “Hurry. Search your rooms. Look in the closets and under the beds. This is serious!”

We ran from room to room, my daughter on the verge of tears the whole time. “What are we going to do if she’s gone, Mommy? My POOR Blackberry!...”

Poor? All right. I’ve said it before. I’ve grown attached to the pet mice. But the thought of having one running around our house who-knows-where for who-knows-how-long gave me the willies. So when I went into the laundry room and saw wood shavings (chewed off from the bottom edge of the door) all over the floor, I was relieved. I didn’t care (at the time) that the door looked terrible. What mattered was we had found the mouse. Or, by the looks of the laundry room, where she'd been all night.

We searched under the washer and dryer. And behind the door. And then I eyed the basket of laundry—the CLEAN laundry waiting to be folded.

“I bet she’s in there,” I said.

And sure enough, after lifting a few things out…

“Oh, Blackberry!” my daughter laughed. “You’re sooo cute! And sooo smart!” She picked her mouse up and smiled. “Isn’t she smart, Mommy?”

Well. That’s not the word I would’ve chosen right then.

But I was glad my daughter was happy. And I was even more glad to be able to put her mouse back in the cage, and latch the door.

So now I have a word of advice for anyone considering getting a mouse as a pet.

Be prepared.

They’re cute. And funny. And little. But they sure can lead to some big adventures.