Homeschool: The Mouse Family

I know there will be some of you who will recoil in horror when you read this. But we consider it homeschool biology or natural science.

We discovered, by accident, the way to live in peace with mice is to provide a warm protected place outside with plenty of food available outside. In years past the mice have invaded our space indoors during the winter on a routine basis. We didn't get along to say the least. But this year, we had work done on our hot tub and the skirting never got screwed down very well, leaving a small gap on the lower edge. The mice decided this was a nice warm place for a house. I had grown giant sunflowers last summer and was intending to harvest the seeds for the birds. I laid them on the steps of the patio to dry and forgot about them. The mice found them to be quite satisfying as winter food. No need for them to invade our indoor space. They had all they needed on the patio!

When we first discovered we had a mouse, I thought, "We have to get rid of it or they will be IN the house when the weather gets cold." It kept getting put off and before long we realized the mice were quite content to stay outside on the patio. So all winter long the kids have had an up close view of the mice as they ran around the patio and up on the steps close to the sliding glass door where they could get a good look at them. Now my daughter wants to add mice to her drawings because they are so "cute".

A week ago, Nathaniel said he saw a fat mouse going out the patio door. Uh, oh, babies! We decided we needed to act and set the live trap so we could move them before the babies were born. The trap failed. Pretty soon we were seeing the tiniest little mice running around....they really were cute with fluffed up baby hair. They looked like tiny wind up-toys no bigger than the end of your thumb.

Well, the kids have enjoyed their up-close view of the mouse family, but now it is spring and I'd like to open the patio door for fresh air. So we ordered new live traps of a different variety to see if we can catch our mouse family. Once we have trapped them, we will relocate them across the river.

I know you probably think we've lost our minds, but hey, isn't that what homeschooling is all about? :-) (You can take that last statement however you choose too! LOL! )