On Tuesday my husband noticed the Christmas lights moving around on his office door at work. He thought maybe it was just some tape coming loose. However later in the day he thought he spotted a little furry creature waddle into his office and out again.
He told his coworkers about it, and the ones that believed him decided it had to be a mouse, but my husband insisted the critter was the wrong shape for a mouse. It looked more like a hamster.
Since the business would be closed for a day-and-a-half for Christmas, my husband decided to set up a trap. He got a bucket and positioned a small board at an angle from the floor to the top of the bucket. Then he put cracker crumbs along the board and an 11×14″ piece of paper on top of the bucket—also covered in crumbs.
On Christmas Day we stopped into the office to pick up a package. I was entering my husband’s office when I heard a little scratching sound. The trap had worked! I looked around for the bucket and peered inside. On the bottom of the bucket was a teeny-tiny, almost-round creature. Oh my goodness was he ever adorable.
His tail was about an inch long and his ears were hidden in his furry body. And oh, could he waddle. It made me squeal with delight just watching him scoot around. We didn’t know if he’d been caught on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, so I figured he’d be thirsty. My husband filled up a small jar lid with water and lowered it into the bucket with tongs. The little guy went crazy. He practically dunked his head in it he was so excited. He drank and drank and drank. Then he shuffled around and found a bit of soda cracker to enjoy with his beverage. Soon it was back to the water again—this time to take a little bath.
We searched the internet for an ID, but we were in a bit of a hurry and no photos seemed to match. We decided to take the little fuzzball home and let him rehydrate in his bucket on our screen porch while we figured out what he was and where to best let him go.
The little guy drank two additional jar lids full of water and munched on a walnut-half while I continued the search for his identity.
He’s not a shrew or mole. I thought he was a Meadow Vole (a.k.a. Field Mouse), but the description says they are usually seen running and can get up to speeds of 5 or 6 miles per hour. I couldn’t imagine our little critter waddling that fast. And Meadow Voles are 3 to 5 inches long (some sites say 5 to 7 inches), so unless ours was a baby (oh dear, maybe my husband has an office full of them), he’s too tiny to fit that description. Whatever he is, it should be illegal to be that darn cute.
After letting the tiny fuzzball get his fill of water and food, we drove to a nearby park with a small woods. I tipped the bucket gently and he toppled out. He snuffled around in the leaves for a few minutes before he found a small hole in the leaves, dove in and disappeared.