Latest news, such as it is... there's a field mouse habitat been established at the edge of our yard. First discovered by my dog, it seems to be housing at least a few of the furry little fiends.
Penny (the doggie in question) isn't exactly the most territorial of dogs. Many is the time she'll go outside and there will be one or more bunnies out grazing at the salad bar, and she'll totally ignore them. Well, till they decide to run. Then she (seemingly) decides they're playing a game, and she'll chase them as far as the edge of the yard.
Squirrels she likes to 'play' with, chasing them whenever one has the effrontery to step into the yard (at ground level, at least), and even follows beneath when they're leaping about from tree to tree, as they cross the mighty rivers of... sorry. got a bit distracted there.
But field mice? Here she reverts to type. Penny is half Chocolate Lab and half mystery dog, and she looks so lab-like we've never been able to figure out what the mystery half might be. I'm starting to think it may be some sort of terrier, because she's taken a more than playful interest in these mice. Whenever I take her into the front yard she strains at her leash to get to field mouse country -- strains so hard it's more like "Let's take mommy for a drag across the yard."
She goes straight for the hole, and starts trying to figure out how to fit herself into a burrow the size of a mouse. Surprisingly, she's been able to grab a couple of mice and carry them out of the burrow. And yes, I'm too tender-hearted for my own good. I make her drop the mice so they can scamper back to their hidey-hole. *sigh*
I'm not sure what the proper thing is to do about the mice... traps, I suppose, though I think I'll let that part of the operation to Piper. In the meanwhile, Penny has found her own solution to the mouse problem. The past day or two, whenever she goes out there, she pees on top of the burrow!
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