The 3 Mousketeers

Have you ever done something impulsive because a pair of little eyes tugged at your heartstrings? Yesterday, I did. I was at Petsmart getting some enzyme cleaner, and on the way out, my attention was grabbed, first by the precious sight of four baby mice curled up together in a plexiglass aquarium, and then by a fifth mouse.

As I peered into the box at the group of 4, mouse #5, who would come to be known as Britney, came running over from where she'd been investigating, stood up on her hind legs with her front paws against the glass, and looked straight into my eyes. And that was that.

No--I didn't buy them on the spot. I came home and told Rick about them, expecting him to object to the idea of adding mice to our family, in which case, I would have dropped it. But far from it--he enthusiastically related how some friends he knows from connecting online have mice and just adore them, and was very encouraging about adding mice to our menagerie. But it was 6:25 and we were meeting Stepdaughter #3 and her boyfriend at a neighborhood restaurant at 6:30, so we had to get going--no time to buy mice.

I must confess I had some fearful thoughts about it at dinner--what was I getting into? I invoked Easy World and decided if there was any part of it that seemed like Difficult World, I'd let it go. Rick had wanted me to get the kids to go with me after dinner to adopt mice so he could be at home doing things he needed to do, but they had another obligation, so I was thinking that might be the sign to just abort the plan. But before I could even ask, Rick kindly volunteered to accompany me.

When we got there, the 5 were still all there. Thinking 5 mice was a little excessive for our first time out, we settled on 3--they like to be in groups and that way, if something happened to one, there'd still be a companion there (I hated to break up the family, but at least we left 2 together). Oh--and they're all females, so there won't be the amazing multiplying rodent issue! I had first wanted, in addition to the one that had started it all, a beautiful caramel-colored one and a jet black one. But then a dark gray one with a white blaze on her face caught our eye and we decided on her instead of the black one. Then we started noticing the black one was a bully, so our decision was cemented. (Say a prayer for the other mouse left behind to deal with her!)

We bought an all-in-one mouse cage set-up that included everything they'd need, and headed home with our 3 Mouseketeers. We got them home and the pupsters were curious, but not overly so--not obsessed like my dearly departed Luna would have been. Lilah's shown more interest than Roly, but I've been doing my best to redirect her when she starts staring in the direction of the cage.

We decided that naming them after the 3 most famous Mickey Mouse Club female Mousketeers would be fitting. Thus, the dark one is Annette (Funicello), the white with dark markings is Britney (Spears), and the blonde is Christina (Aguilera). We are certainly hoping Britney and Christina behave better than their namesakes. But I'm already seeing a similarity with the Britneys. Back in Britney's (the singer's) heyday, she was an exercise addict, working out 5 or more hours a day. Last night, Britney (the mouse) couldn't seem to stay off the exercise wheel--maybe her way of relieving stress? I was a little worried she'd be dead by morning from over-exertion, but she was fine--and on the wheel again within seconds of our waking them up! She and Annette have worked out a strategy whereby they can use the wheel together, side-by-side (Britney bullied Christina off the wheel when she wanted to share), but when their womanly figures come upon them, it should be interesting to see how they adapt. That little wheel may need to be replaced by a bigger one.

There is much more I could share about the meeces, but I'll just leave you with photos of them for now, and pick back up when there's something that someone other than us will find interesting about them!

Three sleeping mice--Britney, Christina, Annette (she shys away from publicity)