Another post involving a rodent

We endured the good ole Iowa weather this morning in the basement. Actually, I was quite confused about it -- the storm sirens were going off, but NONE of the tv stations were saying anything. Normally the weathermen are sensationalizing every particle of dust in the air. Not today. They weren't saying a word. I learned later on the news that the storm sirens now go off when winds get up to 70 mph, even if there isn't a spotted tornado.

Anyway, this post isn't about Ed Wilson, it's about a rodent. I digress.

So, Madeline and I ended up in the basement for awhile, following the weather via radar on my laptop, reading books in a tent, and watching Sesame Street videos on YouTube.

I tried to sneak a few peeks out of our teeny tiny egress windows every few minutes to see what the clouds looked like. This is Iowa, after all. My most reliable "forecast" comes from my own eyes as everyone in the neighborhood peeks out their front doors doing the same.

As I was trying to catch a glimpse of the clouds, I noticed something on the window. I immediately thought, "oh...poor froggie", because normally frogs get stuck and cling for dear life to the windows.

It wasn't a frog. It was a MOUSE. A HUGE mouse in MY window. See picture for verification of his HUGENESS and my rightful heebie-jeebie-ness.


Madeline and I spent another few minutes in the basement waiting out the storm. But that was all that I could handle with Mr. Mouse trying to fight his way into my basement. We promptly returned upstairs, turned on the local news, and got the PlayDoh out. And then enjoyed the rest of our day.



When Darrin got home, I mentioned the mouse incident. And we started on a recovery mission. He uncovered the window (which has a cover screwed to the siding!) and discovered that Mr. Mouse had created a little safe haven for himself. He had chewed through the screen and had a nice little home between the glass and the screen.


No worries. We Dowells are resourceful. We baited Mr. Mouse. We lured him out. With Cheerios. It worked. I guess every creature loves Cheerios.


Then Darrin began his brave effort of capturing Mr. Mouse, artfully and skillfully using a tennis racket, a small garbage can and a Rubbermaid tub lid. It was a job I could not have done. Madeline and I watched on in anticipation.

Once finally captured, after a series of close-calls and near-escapes, Darrin walked Mr. Mouse to the happier farm field just north of our house.


Madeline's comments on the whole scene:
Madeline: I want to see the mouse. Where is the mouse going?
Me: He's going to live in the farm field. That's were mice live. Madeline: Would he like some popcorn?
Me (giggling): No, I don't think he would like our popcorn.

Apparently, he prefers Cheerios.