I decided to live and let live. I do have resident mice in my garden. Who wouldn't decide to stay when there are seeds aplenty at each bird feeding station in the garden?
Not sure those dryer sheets I scattered did much good, even before it rained. I am still picking up stray Bounce bundles as I clear out the summer garden :-).
I have occasionally seen a little grey mouse scamper away as I am out watering the flowers. I enjoy a secret smile and keep it to myself as no one else in my household seems to care for them-even outside in the garden. So I thought I would share a fun experience with some who might appreciate it. Especially seeing as it is at my house instead of yours. I understand, some things that are vicariously experienced actually enhance the enjoyment!
After a dry weekend away, my thirsty flower pots were begging for a drink so I didn't wait until the next morning and went ahead with a late afternoon watering. My deck is quite large and filled with all manner of pots and arrangements; up close to the back sliding door stands a grouping with a fair sized pot in a wire stand. You can see the slight neglect of too long between waterings because some of the plantings in this particular pot are brown and scraggly. Come to find out, it is a cozy underground home for one of the mice I see scurry across the deck between flower groupings. As I watered this one, a soggy mouse escaped down into the pot below and shook her head and scrubbed her ears of droplets. As I looked a little closer, I saw she must have been trying to carry a young one out of harm's way. I spotted the tiniest thing on the deck board just below the cascading petunias. He was about the size of a quarter, completely pink and eyes not yet open. I backed away to see what would happen and mamma mouse ran back up into the planter above. I peeked in and saw two other tiny mouse pups that had been rescued from the flooded burrow and brought to the high point on the potting soil. I moved away and finished watering other flowers but kept an eye on the stranded little one. I decided to go get my camera-just in case-and see if I could get a couple of shots. By the time I returned, the others in the pot were moved back to the drained nest, so no pictures there, but I sat a little ways off and here is what I got. (The pictures aren't great as I am new to photography and still need a lens that can take closer shots). You will have to look close to follow the exciting rescue!
