There’s a mouse in the…well, office, actually…

We’ve had some excitement in the office recently in the form of an eensy-weensy rodent.

Yes, we have a mouse.

We discovered him/her/it on the 19^th, when a colleague, thinking she was losing her mind, opened up the bottom drawer to a currently unoccupied desk after hearing noises coming from that area for several days.

Cue much shrieking.

After the theatrics, which we figured would have frightened said rodent away, we started to clean out the desk drawer, removing the vaguest beginnings of a nest, amongst other items not suitable for mouse bedding. Being the Resident Rodent Expert, I was doing most of the stuff-shifting, and was being very gentle and careful in case the mouse hadn’t scurried away out the back of the drawer. Then, suddenly, there was a pair of tiny ears and a set of tiny eyes looking up at me in terror.

“Oh, hello, pumpkin! You are still here!” I cooed at the wee, quivering beastie.

The wee, quivering beastie continued to quiver.

While I looked around for a suitable container, the rest of the office got all squeamish, which only upset my poor mouse friend more. I heard one colleague say something akin to, "Just leave it with Elizabeth, she's the fricken' Pied Piper," while another tried to shoo people away saying, "Just let Elizabeth do her thing," but their curiosity got the better of them. I was trying to work out the gentlest way to scoop my new pal into a pen cup when he/her/it had a sudden moment of bravery and hopped out of the drawer and away behind the cubicle wall, gone forever.

I was crushed. I wanted to take him/her/it somewhere suitable outside...after a decent amount of fussing and clucking over him/her/it, obviously. I love me a little squeaker!

I baited the little critter with paper towels and peanuts before I left for the day with the intention of trying again the next morning, a plan which ultimately failed. I tried again over the weekend, still nothing.

The next week passed, and we had the prolonged holiday weekend, and I got into the office again on Monday and as I was settling in...I heard a little noise. Coming from my bottom desk drawer. Where my snacks live.

No mouse.

But he/she/it had been there and had themselves a holiday feast.

 

Lookit those wittle teef marks!!! ::hearteyes::

Alas, a mouse in the office is not ideal, so I IM'd my manager:

"So our little furry friend returned. It got into some of my snacks over the break. While I personally don't begrudge the wee beastie a holiday feast, I realize that this is not an ideal situation, so we should probably inform the relevant property management people. Just maybe don't tell me about their chosen methods to rid us of said beastie, because I'll cry."

They're coming tomorrow with a humane trap for catch-and-release.