Where's the cat when you need him?

The other night as I was in the kitchen cleaning up after my midnight snack, I sensed that there was another creature in the kitchen scavenging for a midnight snack. I seem to possess this ability to sense creatures (typically spiders) in a room, even when it's dark. This always seems to amaze Clark. Anyway, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. As I stepped closer to the light switch to determine if I really did see something out of the corner of my eye, the little creature - a mouse - scurried into a hiding place.

I did two things simultaneously and instinctively - called for Clark and crept onto a chair making sure that my feet were no where near the ground. I have no idea why having my feet touching the floor seemed scary to me, but it did. Clark confirmed the mouse and then lamented that Cooper wasn't around.

Cooper, is a cat. He was our cat for four years. Until about two months ago, for reasons we won't get into on this blog, he was given his traveling papers. He now resides with a sweet couple in our ward that tolerate his transgressions and baby him. But if Cooper was one thing, he was a good mouser.

In a similar situation last year, I again discovered a mouse in our house. (We aren't infested - seriously!) And a chase ensued amongst Clark, the mouse, and Cooper in which the mouse disappeared. So I promptly barricaded all the doors with towels to prevent the mouse from climbing into bed with us or entering the other rooms. Little did I know, the mouse had sought refuge in our room. He scaled a plant by the window and was frantically trying to figure out how to jump out of the closed window. All the while, I was thinking we were safe from the mouse (towel shoved under door) only to have him inches from my head!

Luckily, we had Clark and Cooper on the case. Cooper was recruited to do his great cat duty. It was quite humorous to witness the whole thing. I am, of course, huddled on the bed with all the sheets pulled up (nothing hanging on the floor here!) Clark is shouting from the sidelines, "Get the mouse Cooper!" "Drop the mouse." "No, get the mouse Cooper." "Drop him, drop him." Eventually, the mouse was captured and disposed of outside (more in the direction of our neighbors).

Alas, this mouse wasn't privileged the same fate. We are no longer in the possession of a great mouser. We've resorted to mouse traps and cheese - which, by the way, Clark insisted I was too generous in giving. The trap was set and I again huddled in bed hoping to not have a furry creature explore my room in the middle of the night. A 4 AM wake up call from baby Russell allowed Clark to check his trap. He was a successful hunter. Yuck!

I do have to say though: Clark finally acknowledged after several months that he did miss Cooper. Clark appreciates animals after all.