Beach-Or-Bust-Mouse

Do you recall those old Tom and Jerry cartoons where the woman of the house would spot Jerry and jump on the furniture because she was so afraid of the mouse? Well, that was Misty this past week. Somehow, someway a tiny field mouse got into our house. You would think that would be a death trap for a mouse, since we have 2 cats and all. As we found out, our cats are not "mousers". First there is Buddy. He was very interested in the mouse, but only as a toy. He chased it and confused it to the point where the mouse was just running around in tight circles while Buddy swat at it. He had no interest in killing it, for that would ruin his toy. Then there is Jack. Jack was so upset by the mouse that he got himself sick over it and threw up on the diningroom floor. So that paints the scene. Misty, jumping up on furniture, Buddy playfully swatting and Jack getting sick. I only wish I were here to see it all. Unfortunately I only heard about it over the phone from Misty. So on my way home, I stopped and bought some mouse traps. When I arrived at home, the mouse was no where in sight, but it was obvious that something was up as the cats were acting funny. We all knew the mouse was somewhere in the house, but no one knew where. I set the traps and went to bed. The next morning I was set to leave for 2 nights and felt good that the traps with the peanut butter bait would do the trick and the mouse would be caught. Only bad thing was that Misty was going to have to dispose of the vermin. As I packed, I check the suitcase for "stowaways" and did the same for my shoes. Everthing was clear, I was off for the airport. Just as with any trip by air I had to take my shoes off to go through security. Everything was placed in the tubs and sent through the scanner. On the other side of the x-ray machine I got redressed and headed down towards my gate. I did notice that my left shoe was not fitting as well after I put it back on, I figured that the leather had a wrinkle in it, or perhaps my sock got twisted when I walked through the metal detector. I went up to a wall and softly kicked the wall to try to get my shoe to "fit" a little better. After another 20-30 steps it still felt odd. I decided to check on my sock after I grabbed some breakfast at Starbucks. With food and drink in hand I sat down at an open couch to fix my sock and head to the gate. When I took off my shoe I noticed that the sock was fine. It was not twisted, nor bunched up. It was time to inspec the shoe. Jokingly, the night before, Misty had warned me to "check my shoes" before leaving for the airport. And, as I mentioned earlier I did just that...I shook them, then placed them back on the floor for a few minutes before putting them on. I don't know when that mouse got into my shoe. I don't know if he clung on for dear life when I shook the shoe before leaving the house. I don't know if he crawled in there once I set the shoes down but before putting them on. I do know, however, that as I sat there in the C concourse in Lambert airport...with one shoe on, and one shoe in my hand...as I reached into the shoe to see what was up, out came the little field mouse! He jumped to the floor and ran off to hide the first place he could find safetly. He obviously was a tiny mouse. He was not more than 2" long, but he was also a mouse who knew is best bet out of the house with 2 cats was to stow away in a shoe...stay perfectly still for over 30 minutes while I drove to the airport, got on a shuttle, then went through security. He knew exactly when to stir. He knew that the best time was after security, but before boarding the plane. Can you imagine the commotion had I not discovered the little guy until we took off? I can just picture the 100+ passengers shreaking and pulling their legs up to be on top of their seats as a little 2" mouse ran scared around the floor of the American Airlines flight. But he knew his best opportunity for "freedom" was to make a run for it at Starbucks. After he jumped and ran, I looked around to see who else had witnessed me pulling a mouse from my shoe...NO ONE! Now, what was I to do? Tell the Starbucks employees? Really? What would they do? Find a customer service rep roaming the concourse? One would be hard to find. So, I put my shoe on calmly, grabbed my breakfast and headed to the bathroom to wash up. I don't know what ever came of our little mouse. I figure one of two things happened. Either someone stepped up when I did not and alreted someone who could do something about a loose mouse at Lambert OR...he stowed away again, this time pop up on a flight...and sending hundreds of passengers to scream and screech...or maybe, he stayed still again...the whole time effectively plotting to be transported to some beautiful locale. So, if you see a small mouse sunning himself at some beach...you now know how he got there.