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Where We Left Off:
The Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency kicked off Year Nine with an analysis of the turkey population.
No Killers of the Flower Moon:
Oliver Update!
Monday, May 12, 2025 felt like a special day worth celebrating. It was the Full Flower Moon for one thing. The morning’s joy grew when Oliver decided to get into his adventure buggy after weeks avoiding it! He joined me and Gus for a rare perfect day outside in New Jersey. Only an hour before, I had posted to Patreon that Ollie was still avoiding his buggy since I had tried to give him medicine while he was in there. I thought that was a good idea since it was one of his safe spaces. Even after I stopped being the medic in the daily dosing, Ollie avoided me and everything near me. He was willing to sleep on my bed, but only if I was nowhere around.
When he watched me get Gus dressed in his harness and collar, I thought I’d extend the offer. I moved his buggy from it’s “parking spot” and turned the front end towards him.
“Ollie, do you want to go out?” I lightly tapped the roof of the stroller. “Come on. It’s really nice out.”
Our ginger tuxedo man walked along the side of the carriage and kept going. Gus was loudly letting me know he was ready for me to open the door, but I was still hopeful about Ollie coming with us. Oliver jumped to the table and walked to the corner where he would normally jump down into his buggy because it would be parked there.
I had to maneuver around Gus, who was still talking, and get the front end near the table. I patted the roof again and finally – he got in!
All three of us got outside. Gus refused to go in the same direction. He has his specific routine and does not care about mine. I chauffeured Ollie to a few spots for critter snack distribution. The birds and squirrels were out and eager to see us.
I immediately sent photos to the rest of the human staff. Everyone was elated to see Ollie back in action!
Normally, Oliver doesn’t like to be parked. He prefers to keep the wheels in motion. That’s impossible when I also have Gus freely roaming and dragging his leash behind him. I tried carrying Gus over to where Ollie had been parked at the fern garden, but Gus didn’t stay there long. He had things to do and was perfectly happy to be escort-free.
An Uninvited Guest for Lunch
Whenever possible, The Cook provides our main “big” meal for lunch which I also prefer. Some days don’t allow for it. The Grumpy Old Man requested seasoned onion rings as a side. These came from a bag and I think were on sale. I watched The Cook neatly lay each onion ring on a baking sheet so they wouldn’t overlap. It was impressive. It was the exact right amount to fit on that baking sheet.
I went back upstairs to the Winchester-Nabu offices to work. The Cook called to say that lunch was ready. I waited a few minutes before going downstairs.
I greeted Oliver on my way to the threshold of one of the kitchen entrances. Gus had followed me, but he went in the opposite direction as if we were a hunting duo and he needed to flank the other side entering from a different way—almost as if he knew. I heard sounds coming from the stove, but looked at Gus first.
He was standing still, tail on high alert, staring up at the stove. I followed his gaze and my vocal chords made the sounds specific to this situation when I can’t find the words to speak. These are different sounds than my “there’s a spider” sounds.
What felt like maybe 10 seconds went by before I could force out the words. “There’s a mouse eating the onion rings!”
The Cook got up immediately and I urged her to stay quiet. Gus stayed on the floor. Sure enough, the culprit, Lenier Peró, came back out the vent at the back of the stove (honestly, I don’t know what purpose those openings serve).
“Oh, it’s cute,” The Cook said. “Damn. It really is cute.”
Its top coat had a camoflauge quality that shifted from appearing grey to brown. It’s underside was pure white. It had enormous black eyes like a cartoon character (or a shark).
By that point, The Grumpy Old Man came over to see for himself. There was a conversation about whether or not to throw out the rest of the onion rings. Waste food? No way. The old man took the onion rings that were left and put them on his plate next to his long sandwich of meat, tomato, and mayo. He’s a veteran. He’s had more vaccinations against diseases than the average medical professional.
“How can we catch it?” The Cook asked.
I put Gus on top of the (cooled) stove after removing all the heavy burner plates and various cooking implements. He sniffed around, but didn’t take any offensive course of action to find the mouse.
I would save the day, I said to myself. I ran upstairs into the bedroom. I got down on all fours and looked behind the air conditioner currently on the floor under a window. I had to move a salt lamp and small space heater in order to reach my arm through the webs of dust to get the tool that I hoped would work—a humane mouse trap. It works as a containment box with a way in, the weight of the subject tilts the levered ramp and a flap closes over the only doorway. The trap wasn’t in great shape. The lid no longer snapped into place. I suspected that if the mouse did enter it, the roof would easily fail to contain the creature.
All of us, including Oliver who finally decided to see what was happening, waited quietly. Sure enough the mouse came out from the same vent hole. It was a big, healthy size. Clearly, it lives well inside these walls. It didn’t enter the trap though. The rest of the staff began lose interest. Meanwhile, I had set up a stakeout with a tripod and camera. I dimmed the lights and put on the stove light (cinematic spotlight). Every time the critter came out, it would come so close to getting into the trap, but would stop just short of it. It didn’t seem bothered by a giant watching it and making eye contact. I’m not sure how good mice can see. This creature kept giving me looks like we were having a conversation. In a sense, I suppose we were.
Oliver grazed my leg with ultra soft fur which then shed in a pouf. “You need to change tactics. Put a motion detection camera out instead. You can sit there like some gigantic predator.”
“You’re right, Ollie.” I retrieved one of the more portable surveillance cameras and set it up on the stove. The Grumpy Old Man returned to the living room with his phone dinging every time the mouse came out. I had to change my app settings so I would get notifications too. I also increased the video capture from 5 seconds to 30.
The mouse did enter the trap and escaped by thrashing off the loose roof. The Cook discovered it and put an elastic band around the whole thing to keep the roof in place. We hoped that would work and that the mouse would continue to find the trail of peanut butter and one-inch piece of seasoned onion ring irresistable.
Eventually, I fell asleep after reading an old Daredevil miniseries about Kingpin. The next morning, I checked the app and watched footage of the mouse enter the trap and it actually stayed securely inside! The next clip in the queue showed the old man’s hand carefully lifting the trap off the stove. He relocated the trap to the back porch for me to deal with in the morning. When I checked on it, the mouse was still active and appeared unharmed by the simplistic lever mechanism.
After group meditation, I had to leave Ollie and Gus behind while I packed up for a yoga class. I took the mouse and placed the entire trap inside a very lovely and sturdy shoebox. It rode in the passenger seat for about a mile where I pulled over next to a fruit farm. I placed out the “apology peanuts” and shimmied the mouse out of the trap.
Instead of going towards the farm, the darn critter went under me and bolted across the street. Fortunately, it made it to the woods safely. There was also a house nearby on that side of the road. Perhaps, our little friend will end up inside someone else’s walls.
Case Findings:
Some house mice (technically in this case Lenier Peró is in the genus, Peromyscus) are not looking to cause any problems. They want what Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs says: shelter, food and water, and mates to reproduce. All that can be found inside the spaces of the Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency residence, outdoors spaces, vehicles, and buildings. Even if they have to leave to fetch food and water, critters of all kinds are known to find warmth deep within the cars and lawn mowers. In this case, the mouse was captured and relocated safely. Bon voyage!
Case Status: Closed