Tonight I had plans to grill some Norwegian Salmon on my gas grill, located on our deck. However, my plans got slightly derailed. I uncovered the grill, and was started to see a large pile of acorns on the side tray. Now, I am the only one in my house that does the grilling, so I know I did not put 50 acorns on my side tray. Hmmmm....I pondered whether a squirrel thought that was a good place to hide acorns. Anyway, why would any squirrel need to hide them now? Winter is over, and my backyard is practically wall to wall acorns. No need to stash anything at this point. I was a bit confused. Then I opened the top of the grill only to find a lovely little igloo shaped nest made of sticks, leaves and feathers. How nice! That was not mentioned in the salmon recipe.
Nothing seemed to be moving in or out of the nest, or making any noise, so I closed the cover back up and brought my husband outside to have a look (and do the removal part). When he opened the cover, a little mouse was staring up at us. It was a cute mouse. It was a very industrious mouse and apparently it had babies in the igloo nest. GREAT! I had to admire this female, though. I had grilled 3 days ago and there was no sign of her. So, in 3 days time, she dragged 50 acorns up to my grill counter, dragged all of the nest parts inside, formed the nest and gave birth. Let's face it, Women Rock!!!! Even if they are women mice!
The most ridiculous part of this little tale (tail??) is that this is not the first time this has happened to us. A few years ago, the exact same thing happened and after removing the mice, nest and acorns and bringing them 1/2 mile into the nearby walking trail, they were back in the grill in a new nest within 2 days. My husband finally relented and brought the whole family about 5 miles away to a state forest and finally they left us alone. Alas, now THEY'RE BACK!
Over the years, our yard has been a veritable Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, Suburbs Version. We have had interactions with mice, chipmunks, squirrels, many birds, snakes, fox, rabbits, wild turkeys (the kind that fly!), deer, raccoons, toads, and a baby mole. We don't live in the forest either! I am constantly amazed how many creatures choose our property to call home.
We had a small bird that lived in our garage for about 6 months. We named him "Tweet."Every day, when I would open the garage door for the first time, Tweet would fly out. I have no idea where he was living inside the garage, but he was always there. He would tweet as soon as I would open the door from the house...almost to tell me he was ready to leave for the day. Just like clockwork, every afternoon he would fly back in because one of us usually left the garage door open. He was with us for about 6 months before we found him dead one winter day. We were kind of sad about it because it was funny hearing him tweeting every day.
I have been both exasperated and entertained by the rabbits in the yard. They LOVE to eat my Hostas. I see them hiding underneath the large leaves, munching away. They eat the plants unevenly though so they never look as good as they did when they first bloom. They are really cute rabbits so it is hard to be mad. The usual suspects, the squirrels, chipmunks, and birds are around us every day. They are used to our dog, Lily chasing them around the yard so they don't panic much when she is out there, and their antics are pretty amusing to watch.
I am an animal lover, so even though it was inconvenient, and kind of gross, they mouse was really cute and was a reminder to me that all creatures struggle to survive. She found a warm safe place to have her babies and had provided plenty of food for them. She was just doing what her instincts told her to do. We have had some very cold nights still so it is not surprising she would seek out a warmer location. This was one of the times I realize how glad I am to live in a place that I am allowed to share with the natural world that surrounds us. I am not a city person, per se. I don't think I could get into socializing with pigeons!!
One other positive note- this incident gives me a good reason to get new grill grates.
Hopefully Ms. Mouse will stay under the shed where my husband put her full nest and all of her acorns. It will be better for both of us if she does!
You crack me up chick!
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