The Story of Edgar the Mouse

On Saturday, August 9th, while cleaning the house for Renee and Dave's arrival, Polly discovered a small lint-ball in the middle of the basement floor.

Closer inspection revealed the lint ball to be, in fact, a dead mouse. We were crestfallen. In short order we prepared practical means of cleaning it up -- Polly collected cleaning supplies and handed them to MH -- and headed for the basement.

The mouse looked so tiny, and so forlorn all curled up on its own, that MH had to 'say goodbye' in some way. Hand safely wrapped in plastic, she touched him on the nose.

He moved!

MH scooped him up. The new moms trouped upstairs to trade heavy-duty cleaning supplies for tiny mouse-fur cleaning supplies: Q-Tips and warm water. While MH gently cleaned basement dirt off of the little tyke, Polly prepared a box with assorted food items: lettuce, oatmeal, and a potato chip with peanut butter.

Renee and Dave arrived shortly thereafter, and were quite impressed by the little guy.

By evening he still hadn't eaten, but MH continued to hold him and give him water, which he did enjoy. All through the night she and Polly woke up to give him attention and water. By morning he still he didn't eat...

That day moms went to the pet store for serious baby care items: kitten enfamil, a tiny bottle, cotton batting, and most importantly: a book on Mouse Care! Polly and MH engaged in serious study, seeking to find out what kind of mouse he was, exactly. Could he be a vole? Could he be a she? Who could say?! He was so tiny he could have been a kangaroo for all we knew.

Finally, after several very wet tries with the bottle, the tiny fellah ate! It was quite an ordeal for all involved, but mostly for the mouse himself -- each attempt turned into a full-body milk bath. Some of it went into his mouth and he gulped it down. Eventually he started to make tiny mouse-squeaks. Needless to say moms were very proud!

Hawkeye loooved Edgar... loved him the most, in fact, when he was covered in milk like a little tidbit.

At some point MH realized that the little mouse's name was Edgar. By Monday afternoon she could put her hand in his box and he would crawl right up into her palm.

Ashley, our local babysitting expert, volunteered to babysit Edgar while Myra Hope was working in Boston. Mike and Shannon quickly offered to help out! The little guy was in safe hands. Ashley even devised a clever way to feed him with a plastic-tipped medicine syringe. After a few wet, milky tries he was drinking right from the tip! Evidently his favorite mode of conveyance remained the same: he went everywhere with Ash, curled up in her hand like a tiny button.

After Edgar had been with the Alekson/Armitage/Bobbitt clans for four days, sad to say, the little fellah didn't make it. Whatever he had gone through before he ended up in MH and Polly's basement finally caught up with him. He died late Tuesday night.

One and all are satisfied that Edgar spent the last few days of his life surrounded by warm comfortable hands, love, and lots of admiring attention. (And, from the milk baths, very healthy fur.) He -- or she -- will be fondly missed.

RIP, Edgar.