Pet Project

Mouse Temporary "Mouse" Guest

On the night of July 18, 2001, Eric and I were upstairs when we heard a bloodcurdling squeal. We raced downstairs to investigate the commotion, and found Chloe and Arrow chasing a small animal in our living room. It took us 20 minutes of lifting couches and racing around the living room to catch the little guy. Thankfully, he was shaken, but not hurt. Not all of Chloe's prey has been so lucky. We can't tell what it is-- a hamster? A gerbil? A mouse? A baby rat? I've been all over the Internet today trying to find out. He looks most like a hamster to me, except for his tail-- 'cause hamsters don't have tails. This guy has a 4-inch tail without any hair on it. Thinking it belonged to one of the children in the neighborhood, we decided to put it up for the night in a 10-gallon aquarium. I knocked on doors today and passed out flyers, but so far, no one has claimed him.

On the morning of July 20, with no one calling to claim him, we "we-weased da wodent!" We took the cage outside the fence behind our house, next to the canal. We took off the lid, thinking he would hop out, but instead, he ran through the toilet paper tubes I'd placed in there the night before (this was very cute). Once we tilted the cage and his feet touched the grass, he took off like a bullet into the water. Splash! He swam across the canal so quickly, there was a wake behind him! In less than a minute, he had made it to the other side and disappeared into the tall grass.

Birdie-Bird died on May 8, 2000. After eight years of filling our lives with song, Birdie-Bird passed away. Birdie-Bird moved in with us shortly after we were married. Here's where he came from: As unique center pieces for our wedding reception, my father ordered white wooden cages threaded with royal blue ribbons for each guest table. Every cage held two Java Rice birds. Not only are these small birds beautiful with their shiny white feathers and rich red beak, their chirping is reminiscent of a canary's song. We originally took home a pair of birds, but our previous cat, Cali (see photo on left) knocked over the cage one day and one escaped out the window. We saw it in the tree before it left for good. Birdie-Bird stayed behind, and we're really glad that he did. Whenever Tamara played the piano, he would burst into chirps. He also greeted the sunrise with song.

Cali, our first cat, died in 1992. She was two years old. We allowed her to come and go as she pleased. One night, we came home to find her flopped on the patio with her tongue hanging out. She could hardly breathe. We rushed her to the 24-hour pet clinic where she died later that night. They said she probably ingested some poison. The bird in the photo is a love bird that lived with us for a very short time. He became jealous of Cali and Arrow and started biting us. Tamara's mother agreed to take the bird. He's still alive and well!

Binky, our second Java Rice Bird, was with us for just a few months. He joined us as a baby on January 8, 2001 and left that summer. He had become too mean and difficult to handle, so Tamara's mother agreed to take him back to "live on the farm." He was paired up with one of his Java Rice siblings. For a few days, we're told, those two birds really enjoyed eachother's company! Then, they both turned up dead on the bottom of their cage one morning. We're assuming it was either poison in the air, heat, or an airborne bird disease. We'll never know.

ARROW - Our Dog

Chloe - Our Cat