A is for -- A mouse. In my house!

All four cats were vying with each other to get at something that was making skittering noises in the corner next to our dining room teak china cabinet. Kuro won and emerged with a struggling little grey body hanging out of both sides of his mouth. He proudly marched into the living room, bushy black tail erect, as if to say "Looky what I found!"

My son Daniel (Kuro's person) was horrified. Daniel rushed into the kitchen to get his Mason jar, the one he uses to scoop up wandering spiders and other critters that belong outdoors. "Drop it, Kuro," he commanded.

A look of chagrin crossed Kuro's face, but he dropped the mouse onto the living room carpet, and Daniel promptly scooped it up into the jar before it could scamper away. (Actually, the mouse wasn't moving too well, but Daniel wanted to snag it before Kuro changed his mind and began eating it.) Daniel then took the mouse outside and released it to die wild and free, or more likely as some other creature's snack.

We don't know where that mouse came from. It was probably brought upstairs from our unfinished basement by one of the cats but then somehow managed to escape and was looking for a good place to hide. I wish I had thought to grab my son's digital camera and take pictures to post on this blog entry. Maybe next time -- if there is one.

Moral of this story: If you are a little grey mouse, don't come into a house in which live four rescued cats that grew up outdoors eating your relatives.