Blank (Media) Slate

For those of you who follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my Flickr stream, you’re probably already up to speed with bits and pieces of the Great Mouse War currently underway at House Adams. It started with skittering in the attic (enemy incursion), continued with a few mouse sightings (field scouts), and came to center stage as we found a few of the casualties left by the cats (our sentries).

Well, what began as a few individual skirmishes turned into an full-fledged battle last night. While kicking back on the couch, we heard a familiar ruckus upstairs. This is generally attributed to the cats chasing each other around, so we paid it little mind. Then, however, we see Ebony trotting down the stairs with one of the enemy mice clamped in her jaws, its hind legs and tail dangling. As we’ve been battling these often unseen critters for a while, it was good to see that the cats are on duty.

When trying to extract the mouse from its captor, however, the battle really began. As it wasn’t moving, I’d assumed the cat had already ended this particular mouse’s career as a soldier. She dropped the mouse to the floor and I reached to pick up it’s still form, when it sprang into action. Spinning it’s little legs like something you’d see in a cartoon, trying to get traction on the hardwood floor, the mouse took off.

Needless to say, it surprised everyone. This is when all hell broke loose, converting the family room, dining room, and den into a battlefield. Both cats darted here and there trying to recapture their prey. It was actually quite amazing to see them apparently working in concert as Ebony would dart left, forcing the mouse right into the path of Noir. Once he had it now in his mouth, however, it was difficult to figure out a way to extract it. He’d drop it, only to have the mouse repeat it’s attempted escape.

During the literal cat and mouse game going on, the human contingent were tossing chairs, books, and toys aside. The goal was to eliminate potential nooks and crannies into which the enemy could retreat. After much shouting back and forth indicating the mouse sightings, the cats closed in using a classic pincer maneuver to trap the mouse in a corner. It only remained, then, for me to reach down and capture the infiltrator.

I’ll spare the details from there, but needless to say… it’s time to (again) call in the mercenaries. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as much an animal-lover as the next guy… we’ve even got a perfectly nice garage / barn for critters to peacefully inhabit. In fact, it’s a veritable zoo out there as we’ve found indications of habitation by possums, skunks, and raccoons in addition to various smaller rodents of the mouse, chipmunk, and squirrel variety.

That being said, we have to draw the line somewhere. And since I come from the Southwest where field mice spread the hantavirus, I’m not a fan of living too closely with them. So, it’s time to up the ante and call in the big guns.

In the meantime, I’m planning a medal ceremony for Ebony and Noir, the nocturnal sentries who have been protecting our borders. Well done, and keep up the good fight!