Rescue ~ house mouse 🐀

The night before Thanksgiving, I was walking through our basement with an armload of firewood when I saw something I could not quite believe. It was confusing and heartrending at the same time. A tiny mouse was sitting upright in the middle of our basement. It was hunched over, hanging its head with its eyes closed, and this may sound wild, but it looked sad and defeated. 🤷
I approached it slowly, hoping it was fast asleep, drunk on whatever food it had scrounged from our cellar. Sadly, that was not the case. As I reached out a hand to let it know that I was close, it lifted its head, looked up at me sideways, and slumped, hanging its head and closing its eyes again. It did not attempt to move. It was vulnerable and helpless.🤦
As I gently picked it up, it did not protest – it assumed the same position. It looked up at me once, dropped its head to its chest again and closed its eyes. Within a few minutes, it was asleep in my hand.🤷
Close inspection revealed an injured rear leg the mouse was dragging behind it. We consulted with a wildlife rehabilitator who was at capacity but offered valuable advice. She said it was likely nerve damage and suggested a week of cage rest to see if the injury would resolve 🤦 independently. So we spent the holiday weekend creating a habitat for and feeding our new guests. And we are seeing significant progress already.
Our guest will be with us for a few more days until it is strong enough to be integrated with a colony – at that time, we’ll bring it to our dear friend Ellen Jareckie, a wildlife rehabilitator and the artist behind House-Mouse Designs.🤷 She will keep the mouse through the winter and release it when it is more robust, in early spring.
It would be safe to assume that many who read this will believe I am nuts for spending days trying to rehabilitate a mouse, and I understand. But seeing a tiny, helpless creature in a vulnerable state broke my heart. I had to do something. 🤷