Coleman Stove Mice

Came across these mice this past weekend while rummaging and collecting metal items from in and around my dads place to be recycled. This mother and (3) babies were inside an old metal Coleman camping stove that was tucked away in some dark corner of the shed.

There wasn't much of an opening for the little lady to get through but clearly it was big enough. She had a pretty nice looking nest, if you consider a mouse nest nice, and this family was hidden within. Interestingly, when I shook them out into a plastic tub, the three babies were clamped on to the mother's teats and were being dragged as she scooted around the tub. She made a couple attempts to jump up trying to escape but with the young'n attached that just wasn't gonna happen.

Since I knew JoAnne and Emilie would be stopping by later that day I decided to postpone 'dealing' with these varmint until after their departure. So, I went about my business and continued schlepping metal items to my truck. Upon one of my returns I could hear the babies crying, so I peaked in the tub to have a look see and wouldn't you know it the mother mouse was gone, escaped. Apparently, once the babies let go of their teats, or perhaps the mother instructed them to let go, she was able to jump out of the tub to safety.

Kinda like the Seinfeld episode where George Costanza is at a kids birthday party when all of a sudden the fire alarm goes off and the room begins to fill with smoke. George basically pushes the kids aside as he run for the door and bolts from the building saving only himself.

I wonder what the mother mouse told her babies before abandoning them?

Anyway, when Emilie saw them she was all upset and worried sick about how they were going to survive. I told her that she should be more worried with how they're gonna swim but that didn't go over too well. In the end we deposited them near the base of the shed where I assume the mother ran to. Emilie's hope was that once we left and it was safe the mother would come back for them. With the lion's share of the 'stuff' gone from the shed, these types of rodents no longer have places to hide. Boy, the recession is hitting them too...

Interesting contrast to the mother mouse saving her own ass - we stumbled upon a PBS special the other night called, "The Natural History of the Chicken". One of the stories that was told was how a Japanese Silkie bantam hen named Liza risked her life to protect her six chicks from an attacking hawk. She ran back to them, as the hawk was closing in, and quickly used her own body to cover and protect them. She survived the attack but took the brunt of the hawks attack.