Circa last year, I spotted a mouse running across the grass in the garden. Our white hunting mutt Oakley was unfortunately alerted by me ("Where's the cat, Oakley??! WHERE'S THE CAT!"). Before I realized what I had done, he went after it (it was hopping away furiously and so adorably), gnawed it to death and left it to decompose.
I felt really bad about that.
Redemption. The other day, I went outside to find our pup Sarge trying to get to the bottom of a pail. I thought he was drinking water but I found a cute little mouse cowering like... a mouse (wek). I shooed the dog away and let the mouse out gently. it hopped across into a tunnel beneath the dried leaves and swiftly scuttled away from canine and human presence.
I'm not sure if it was a house or wood mouse, but one thing is for sure: without their social history (and association with rats, I used to think they were baby rats*), mice would be some of the well-loved creatures today, because of their straight-up cuteness.
*There is one general word for rat and mouse in Tagalog (daga). There is also only one word for baby rat or mouse (bubuwit). Perhaps this is why I never thought there was a difference. A reliance on words without observation. Tsk.
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