I came upon a little brown mouse the other night. I was leaving work, making my way across the large parking lot to my car. Ahead of me, a co-worker had already gotten into her car and turned the headlights on. All of a sudden I could see this little mouse scurrying around, sort of going in circles. The little creature headed towards me. I stopped, while the mouse ran around my feet. My co-worker called to me as she got out of her car, “Don’t touch him, you don’t want to get bitten.” She joined me as the mouse just stood there, leaning weakly to one side. We sadly agreed that the little thing must have been nicked by a car tire. I tried to grab the mouse by the tail. If I could only get him to the tall grass on the other side of the parking lot. He was too quick to grab and continued running around in circles, obviously stunned. The woman looked at me and cautioned me not to try and grab it. “You don’t want to get bitten and have to go get a bunch of shots.” She was right, I didn’t want to get bitten. After a few more tries at the tail, I told her to go home. She had done enough.
She drove away, but I just couldn’t leave the mouse alone in the parking lot. Somehow I had to get it to the grass. He couldn’t move in a straight line, obviously injured and probably didn’t have much of a chance of survival. I put down my canvas bag and the mouse immediately ran over to it, trying to hide in the shadows. All of a sudden I knew what to do. I reached into my bag and brought out a plastic lunch container. I took the lid off, scooped the mouse into the container and snapped the cover on. I gathered up my bag and started walking across the parking lot to the grassy area. I walked a little ways into the grass and let the mouse out under a small shrub. He just stayed still for a moment, then buried his way under the long dead grass and leaves. Will he survive? Probably not. But at least he won’t be crushed under a tire. He will die hidden in the grass, not lying on cold asphalt.
Driving home, I couldn’t help but think of my mother. She stopped for every animal in need. She was constantly bringing home stray dogs and cats. Once she brought a squirrel home. It had been hit by a car and she tried to save it. The difference between my mother and me, is that she would have brought the little mouse home.
I can’t stop thinking about the mouse and or my mother. I’m glad I was there to at least get him to a safe place. I hope that the shelter of the grass and smell of soil, gave the little creature some peace on that dark December night.
