TWO mice, both alive. I yelled for Jackie and she got them into her pocket to warm up quickly and we examined them. No sign of trauma but I didn't think we'd have them long. Most animals caught by the cats die within 24 hours, either too young to make without their mama, trauma or shock.
Went on the internet and found out what to feed the little critters and how to care for them. Okay - plastic shoebox - puncture holes in the top, shred paper towels and put it on a heating pad - check.
Powdered baby formula or kitten formula with more water than called for in an eye dropper or syringe. Okay, Jackie went to Walmart and we started feeding them every two hours and using a wet Q-tip to stimulate digestion and.... other bodily functions.
She took the first night and I had them last night. They've taken to taking the milk from the eye dropper and are cute little beggars. We've been trying to figure out what kind of mice they are and took pictures and sent them to a friend that has worked with a vet and has done some wild animal rescue from rabbits to birds.
My friend said the two look too big to be mice, which we were wondering about. They barely have their eyes open and they're the size of full grown mice. She looked up photos and believes we have wood rats. The kind that tend to steer clear of houses except for woodpiles or grabbing shiny objects (also known as pack rats). Interesting.
Jackie and I both like rats and mice but that might be a handful. Mice can be house in a small cage or aquarium with a mesh top. Rats need more room and would it be fair to the rats and our cats to have each other in the same house?
Then I saw where it was illegal to have wild rats in one state. Really? Okay - research time.
Wow - you have to have a permit to have "non-domestic" rodents of any kind (and monkeys, tigers, kangaroos, armadillos, crocodiles, wolves, eagles, etc). Okay, after they're weaned we'll let the guys loose, not that anyone would report us out here but they are wild animals meant to stay that way.
And they won't be teasing the cats constantly.
No comments:
Post a Comment