Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

As I was calmly sitting on my couch tonight, Daisy suddenly started freaking out in the next room. I went over to stop her from tearing the carpet to shreds with her claws, only to discover that she was chasing a MOUSE.

I don't know what it is about mice. I've had them in three different apartments in my life, and it never gets any easier. They are JUST. SO. GROSS. Now, I like to consider myself a pretty tough girl. In nature, I can deal with all kinds of animals--Snakes, spiders, insects and mice in their natural habitat are fine. But when they come inside my living quarters, it's an entirely different story. The flying daddy-long-legs things and the one Gigantic Death Moth that flew into my Lucerne apartment were pretty traumatic experiences. But with mice I get reduced to a cartoon caricature of a total wimp standing on a chair, shrieking. Literally. Also, I called my dad. God forbid I ever have a rat--I would probably have an instant heart attack.

Anyway, Daisy batted the mouse around a little while I stood on the chair worrying about bloodstains on the carpet. Then the mouse hid inside a box, which I was able to drag out onto the balcony and tip upside down (while crouching on another chair). The traumatized mouse fell out, ran to the edge of the balcony and then leapt. The fall was less than one full story, but the landing was on rocks, and the poor little thing died on impact. That's right...suddenly, I felt sorry for the little, disgusting, creepy rodent that moments earlier had me so totally paranoid that before I put my sneakers on (lest it run across my foot with its tiny little disgusting feet) I checked the inside of them to make sure there were no tiny little baby mice inside, waiting to bite me on the toes.

But that still doesn't mean I won't freak out the next time I have one indoors. But it's a good thing I've got Daisy. She's all excited now, and has spent the last hour staring at the kitchen cabinets, balcony window, and underneath the bookshelves, ready and waiting for her next victim.