August 11, 2013

Monday Mischief: An Unwelcome Guest

Remember when Rita stole my sister's cat's toy and looked like this?
"Whaaa?"
Well, we had somewhat of a repeat of that situation... Only I didn't really realize what was up until the next morning.

Here's what happened... If the weather's nice (which it mostly is) we often leave the back door open so Rita can come and go. As the sun goes down and the lights come on, that means we often also have moths visit. Rita doesn't make them feel very welcome, chasing them around and batting at them.

So, the other night when I heard her swatting at something in the other room, I figured a moth had come in. Later that night, we went to bed, and she left the room and we heard her FLINGING something around. Uh-oh...

We called, "What are you doing over there?" and she came back right away and went to bed, so we thought things were all good.

The next morning, I woke up to find -- right next to my side of the bed -- this:
Dramatization
Only... it was the real thing. A stiff little mouse!!!!!

I get up in the night pretty much every night to go either go the bathroom, or eat something (I know. I shouldn't. I get hungry.), or get a drink of water. I probably came within inches of stepping on it. That would have been bad. Very, very bad. The neighbors would have wondered what all the screaming was. Thank heaven I didn't step on it!! I'd still be suffering from the heebie-jeebies, lo, these many days later.

I debated whether or not to share this little story. Didn't want you to think we have rodents running rampant here. This is the first I've seen, and there's been no tell-tale (tell-tail?) signs, thank dog! Literally, I guess, we need to thank the dog since she's apparently a "mouser." I'm pretty sure the little bugger came up for a visit from the canyon and walked on in the open door. Hopefully the fact that he didn't return sends a message to his buddies out there! 

I used to say our angel, Bailey, was a cat in a beagle suit, so maybe Rita was channeling her angel big sister. It was good that she caught the thing, but leaving the body for Momma to find next to the bed earns Rita the Mischief-maker label this week!

Thanks to Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Alfie’s Blog, and My Brown Newfies for hosting Monday Mischief!

21 comments:

  1. OH dear, I do the same thing with the door because Maggie won't use the dog door. We only get lizards and birds in the house although we have lots of other critters around. Due to all the fruit trees around us, we keep the exterminator on retainer.

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  2. Good for Rita!!

    Every house I've ever lived in had mice at one time or another. My Chihuahuas, past and present, have killed mice and brought them to me as a gift which I guess is better than leaving them on the floor. I've always suspected the Poodles of making friends with them.

    I would definitely rather have a dead mouse than a live one.

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  3. Well Rita sounds like quite the hunter! I've had a bit of a rodent problem here... the voles have been causing mischief. Shiner's been trying to catch the all afternoon, but I doubt she'll ever be able to. She's not a great hunter lol..

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  4. I didn't dog catches mouse too! That's really good *patting Rita* ...but I do agree she shouldn't left it next to your bed ;)

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  5. Well done Rita. Nothing like a mouse hunt. Have a marvellous Monday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  6. Glad you didn't step on it, but bravo to Rita for protecting you! ;-)

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  7. Thank goodness Rita took care of that mouse. Ugg. I would not like to step on one either.

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  8. Eck! I guess it's good for Rita and bad for you, depending on how you look at it:) Sherman once chased a groundhog into our basement. I have no idea why he thought that would be a good idea!

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  9. Seeing "Dramatization" under the toy mouse about made me wet myself laughing. Thank you. :)

    So why haven't you installed a dog door? It will keep most things from coming into the house. It won't keep Rita from bringing critters in, but they won't come in on their own. We had a dog door for years and LOVED it. Until the little drop kick dog arrived and brought in moles and snakes. Alive. And the cat brought in baby birds. Alive.

    On second thought, maybe a dog door is a bad idea.

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  10. Good job, Rita!

    My guys love to hunt mice when out in a field. They will be running along, stop, stand and orient on a patch of grass, and then POUNCE! And pounce again and again. They are good at locating, but not so good at catching.

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  11. Holy cow. That would have freaked me out too. Yuck. But good that Rita caught it.

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  12. OMG! Stepping on something in the middle of the night is horrible! I'm so glad you didn't. We had a cat (when I was a kid) that use to bring them in. And then play with them before she killed them. Or she would catch them in the house (old house, near the woods) it common practice to turn on your light at 2:00 am to rescue a mouse from the cat.

    At least you know Rita has your back and is not afraid of mice!

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  13. No need to be embarrassed about that. The mouse recognized a pet lover and simply moved in but did not plan for the killer dog :) Anyone can get mice!

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  14. that was just too darned adorable! You are super lucky that she didn't eat it though!

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  15. I will always, always, always love that picture of Rita with the tail hanging out of her mouth.
    "Dramatization." Jackie... seriously... are your books as funny as your posts? Yes, I just gave away that I haven't read the first one yet. I'm waiting to read them until I can get signed copies of both. No, I haven't forgotten about that.
    That's so funny she was flinging around a real mouse and you had no idea. You were lucky not to hear its little struggling deathsqueaks. Maybe she killed it really fast. I think you're also pretty lucky that she didn't fling it right into your bed. I feel bad for saying this... I do... I swear... but I almost wish she had just for more hilarity.

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  16. lol who needs a cat when you have rita, you sound like me, I leave my door open to so the dogs can come and go and I have all kinds of bugs in the house.

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  17. Oh Rita,

    I'm struggling with what to say Rita - I think Mum would have thought it more mischief if you hadn't dealt with that scary thing - I'm gonna call you next time there's something scary around here! :)

    Wags to all

    Your pal Snoopy :)

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  18. What a good little huntress Rita is. It's the beagle in her!

    Hey, when did the new masthead show up??

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  19. Oh god...I can't even imagine STEPPING on it. Glad you got lucky!

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  20. Good thing you didn't step on it! That would have been terrible! I can't even imagine :)

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  21. I'm just imagining if you stepped on it! The neighbors probably would have called the cops. LOL We have mice problems in our house from time to time(we finally got some electronic devices that seem to work at keeping them out). However one morning our beagle Kobi and our cat Samantha ganged up on a mouse downstairs....and Kobi spit out the remains of it at my feet. It was as gross as you can imagine. That didn't start my day off well!

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