This is not a post about the dish, Ratatouille, and it’s only sort of related to the Disney film, Ratatouille, but there is a connection. I think it will make you smile, and I feel like we could all use a smile.
I was so sick today that I just barely got by today. Apparently, I really can’t people anymore, but I also got some really bad news about my brother yesterday. I thought we were going to lose him. He’s a survivor though, and he is a little better today and awaits surgery. I am thankful, And, thankfully, I have so many good things in my life that I am feeling better this evening. One of those good things in my life may be a bit of a surprise–it’s a mouse.
In May, I wrote about the little deer mouse my teen son rescued after a bad rain storm. The mouse was tiny and didn’t have his eyes open yet. I told my son not to rescue it, but when I went to bed that night, I heard my son in the kitchen banging around. When I went downstairs to see what he was doing, I found him making a “mouse formula” recipe he had found on the internet. And, there, in a shoe box, was a little mouse–barely alive.
My son set his alarm and fed that baby mouse every two hours. When I woke up the next morning, I went to check on things, couldn’t believe that mouse was still alive, and told my son to rest, that I would take over for a shift so my son could sleep. I fell in love with that little mouse immediately. My son named him Jeremiah. Jeremiah and I have been very good friends since May.
At first, I got creeped out every time Jeremiah ran up my arm. His little feet are like velcro, and he moves oh-so quickly. Now, I am used to him, though I still panic a bit if he tries to get into my sleeve. Thankfully, he doesn’t do that very often. He knows me well, and I know him well. We seem to have an agreement about what I am comfortable with and what he’s comfortable with.
Over the summer, we realized that Jeremiah was just too lonely, even though we carried him in a travel crate every time we took a long trip, and we got him a friend from Petco. We now have Cynthia, who is a fancy mouse, meant to be food, I suppose, but living her best life with Jeremiah, who adores her.
This is where the movie Ratatouille comes in. I really knew very little about mice,, but between my research and my son’s research, we gradually figured out how to be good mouse caretakers. However, I think I have learned the most by observing Jeremiah. The first time I saw that little mouse fall asleep with a piece of homemade wheat bread in one hand and a strawberry from our garden in another, I knew Jeremiah was a foodie–and my mind immediately went to Ratatouille. I remember that rat in the movie always wanted good food.
So one of my missions every evening is to deliver some delicous food to Jeremiah and Cynthia. Jeremiah is a fruit man. He loves all the berries. Like me, he has a hard time with store bought berries unless they are just a really good batch. He grew up on the garden, so he’s pretty picky. Right now, he’s very happy with pomegranate though. Cynthia is more of a carbs girl. She loves homemade bread more than I can say. She will take a piece of bread right out of Jeremiah’s little hands.
I have learned they don’t really like carrots. And cheese. They don’t like cheese. So much for what I learned on Tom & Jerry growing up. Apples are “mid,” as my son says, but sunflower seeds are a favorite. Tonight, I had fresh bread Ron had made and some leftover pomegranate seeds.
It had been such a rough day that I just pulled up a stool and sat and watched those mice for a long time. They are so sweet and so loving to each other. Of course, I don’t want our home overrun with mice, and I am always thankful for the owls and our kitties (we have to be super careful, by the way with the kitties). Still, I am also thankful to get to know these tiny creatures, especially Jeremiah. He’s very expressive and so full of personality. I had no idea!
Thank you for this lovely glimpse of creatures I’ve only thought of as pests! I’m always trying to keep them out of my kitchen cabinets and drawers, without much success. A borrowed kitty helps. The disgusting smell of Bounce dryer sheets deployed around the kitchen is my latest tactic. They seem disgusted by the smell, too. The worry here is always hantavirus.
Hantavirus was my biggest worry when my son rescued Jeremiah. Thankfully, it is very rare in Maine, but I spent the first month freakishly washing hands and disinfecting everything. It’s a fascinating kind of cognitive dissonance that I am struggling with now about mice and rats. I can see how magnificent they are through my experience with Jeremiah, but they are also very, very destructive to the places we live. Just this week, our kitty, Betty, caught a mouse in the house. I was in a panic at first because this mouse looked just like Jeremiah from a distance. I ran upstairs to find Jeremiah busy in his cage. Betty ended up letting the mouse go, and Ron was able to capture it in a jar and relocate to the woods. That poor mouse looked like he had had a terrible, terrible day, but I am thankful for Betty. She is good at her job! Oh, and the dryer sheets. We have them in our chicken coop. They do seem to help, but you are so right about the terrible smell. I feel so sorry for the chickens!