A Family of Mice

By Bryan Taylor ©

Last night while I was asleep, I was woken up by a mouse chewing on something. I had not seen any mice around this cell since I moved here in April, and I assumed it was in the wall where the plumbing was because they get in there pretty regular.

This morning when I woke up I saw some bits of paper in my locker. One side of our locker has a door but the other side is open, and that is where I keep all of my hygiene articles and stationary. I saw that she had been in my locker so I decided to clean out any mess that she may have made. I started pulling stuff out and putting it on the floor. I got all of the hygiene articles out, and as I grabbed an envelope with legal pads in it, she jumped out and ran straight toward me. I was sitting in the floor in front of the locker and really had no where to go. Even if I did, there wasn't any time because she was pretty quick on her little feet. I squalled like a girl, and I'm glad that I was here alone so that no one saw me. Meanwhile, the mouse rushed past me and ran into the pipe chase where the plumbing is.

After my heart rate settled down somewhat, I went back to the task at hand. In doing so, I found the paper that she had been chewing all night long. I also found her babies that she was building her nest for. Six little pink ones. They were so tiny, and I had no idea what to do with them. I kept looking at the door, thinking that she might come back and get them, but she didn't. I thought about just leaving them there but I didn't want to encourage that type of behavior from her.

Finally I picked them up and put them into the pipe chase one at a time through a hole that is by my sink. I put all of the nest and everything in there with them. Then I put some chips in there, hoping she would find them and build another nest in there for them. I didn't know what else to do with them.

I hope that she found them and takes care of them. A couple of them were making noise so hopefully she heard them crying and came to their aid. A few years ago I would have sent them down the toilet. Today I worried all afternoon hoping they were okay.