Chloe, the Koi Carp Thief is thankfully the only real mouser in our rescue cat quartet; Hobo on the other hand who only has one gear, reverse, will only be tempted by slow, elderly or infirmed quarry. So it was no surprise when she brought in a little vole the other morning and promptly dropped it in the middle of the lounge where it scurried away under my mother’s armoire for safety. Not wanting the little creature to end up as Chloe’s supper, she was exiled to the kitchen where I sought my mother’s help as my Dad was down at the allotment checking on his dahlias.
My mother was unhappy about my rodent search & rescue mission and declined my request for help with those immortal words “I can’t Deborah, I’m eating a yoghurt”. As I pointed out unless she wanted gnawed soft furnishings, she was going to have to gird her loins and assist me with the task in hand. We stacked all the furniture in the middle of the lounge and managed to corner the terrified little creature behind the curtains; the plan was that when I moved the drapes, my mother would move in with an empty washing up bowl. As I prepared to lift up the damask curtains, I noticed that my mother had inched a few yards away with the capture receptacle. I pointed out that as the vole only had little legs it was unlikely that he was a long distance runner and insisted she move nearer.
As I gingerly moved the curtains, the little vole made a dash for it and a high-speed chase ensued. At some point during this mad half hour, I took over the responsibility for the washing up bowl and did briefly manage to capture said vole. However, once inside the bowl he managed an Olympian high jump out of it; who’d have known that a tiny vole was that athletic!
Hot & flustered my mother and I decided to take a break, whilst she went for tea, I opened the patio doors and promptly sat down on the furniture mountain in the middle of the room surveying the disarray. It was during our tea break that we noticed the little rodent scurry alongside the far wall and warily make it’s way through the patio doors and ultimately freedom. He looked back at us one last time; as if to say chaos, disorder and destruction, my work here is done!
Chief Humper & Lumper
LOL, wonderful writing! Great start to a trip today! – Kaye
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Thanks Kaye and I hope you’re having a fab time in Tennessee?
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There is always a fabulous time to be had in Tennessee!
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Enjoyed your little rescue story. I’m so glad he made his escape. 🙂
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Me too! If I can save anything the cats bring in, I will try to, however, unattractive
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You’re a better person than me; I would have screamed and then stood on top of the furniture pile, praying for the vole to evaporate or something!
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Had my friend Barbs been here, she would have done the same! Don’t mind the rodents but do have a problem with exceptionally large big bugs. But cats bring in pretty much everything from snakes to frogs so I have built up quite a resistance now
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For me that’s a good reason not to own cats 🙂
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So funny! It reminds me of the many hours of entertainment I derived from watching my mother follow a fly around around the house with a swatter.
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On this occasion I was more vigorous in the chasing department so my mother probably had a good laugh at me
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Ha! My mother just sort of sat in her chair doing crossword puzzles and looked at us running around over the rim of her glasses with a twinkle of amusement.
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Voles 1
Tink and Company 0 (could actually be considered a draw)
Vooooooooooooooooooooooooole!!!
Love the visuals Tink 🙂
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I think you’re right Rhonda, the vole was definitely the outright winner
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Great writing! I can almost see the action. 🙂
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Tea and voles, perfect together
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You may have noticed that the wildlife in our neighbourhood tends to be a little smaller than those in your neck of the woods, Phil
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Yeah but I bet they are plenty feisty!
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Rescuer of voles! Love it!
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Is Teddy B a mouser?
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Yes! He once was licking his chops at the foot of my bed and pulled him AND a freaking mouse in between the sheets with me. Madness ensued, naturally.
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All’s well that ends well, phew….
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I feel a need to liberate them all; sometimes it works out alright in the end
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I love mince … but not indoors … but they are so cute. So happy for everyone involved that he was able to leave by his own will. He had a great fun so long as the show lasted. A Lovely story with the best ending. *smile
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He didn’t even break a sweat Wivi, I was the one who was worn out
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Dallas, I’m sure that … you gave him great memories to look back on. *smile
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I guess I’d be athletic too if I had just escaped the jaws of death aka Hobo, then chased around a room by 2 crazed women with a washing up bowl!
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He’s in my bad books today as he had this wee thing in his jaws and when I tried to retrieve it, he sucked it up cartoon style where only his tail was protruding from between his teeth. However, when I held him by upside down the mouse popped out soaking wet and a wee bit traumatised but managed to scurry away but as you know that’s the joy of owning a black cat
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I have always noticed that there is always a happy ending when you stop for tea!! 🙂
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Tea is a “cure all” in our house; even for the worst type of news you may have noticed.
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I think I would have simply opened the door in the first place and gently chased the poor thing with a broom. I am with your mother on this one, I don’t do captures of rodents!
Wonderful writing, funny.
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In hindsight a broom would have saved up a lot of time but we got a good outcome
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So glad you offered a picture of Vole… couldn’t imagine what he looked like. Chloe sounds familiar… the sort of room mate I’ve always had… Thanks for the story.
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We are a real rescue animal family and cats, I was once told choose you and not the other way around. However, I’d prefer it if none of them were mousers
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It’s heart breaking some of the time… but really when you think about it… it’s the difference between nature, and a child’s toy. The best cats are the ones that could survive in a dark forest. We can still make friends with them. But if they’re too house broken, we miss out on a lot.
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You have the funniest stories, Dallas… I can picture it now 🙂
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I think my mother was the real star!
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You so totally cracked me up with this one. I have so missed your stories. (even if I am way behind on trying to catch up with all incoming blogs.)
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Well done little vole and congrats to you for convincing your mom that animal rescue was more important than yogurt. I, unfortunately, have a group who are all proficient hunters. Even little Pixels managed to catch her first mouse a few days ago. Rescue operations are standard procedure here. I wonder what a normal life would be like?
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When one is exhausted from chasing a vole…make tea. This is exactly why I love my friends across the pond. Great advice 🙂
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Oh yeah – been there, done that, got numerous tee shirts … exhausting & frustrating, isn’t it? I’ve found the answer : a pair of long-handled braii-tongs (barbecue tongs). Works like a charm. I’ve rescued mice, shrews, frogs, and birds with my braai-tongs. Can’t live without them.
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Can’t stop laughing at your mother’s ‘immortal words’, and at the mental image of the two of you running behind that poor (smart?) vole 😆 Did I say I was glad you are back?
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My mother, God bless her, is so very Hyacinth! I hadn’t realised that small rodents were so fast; I clearly need to get some marathon training in for the next time
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