Peachy's "3-legged Wild House Mouse" Dilemma

by Peachy Thu 04 May 2017, 7:45 pm

Over the winter, my cat caught a wild mouse baby. She was playing a game with him in the litter box: swatting at him to make him run, and then catching him. I figured she'd probably finish up her catch, but 15 minutes later she still had him in there... And he was just a little baby. Sad

So I gave him a box to run into, and then I put him in a 10 gallon. My plan was to release him during some nice Spring weather, but...

Old injury from the cat? Or the reason he got caught in the first place? The cat who caught him is kind of a goof, she's never been interested in hunting anything, so I was actually really surprised that she caught him. Laughing

This mouse can't really use her back foot at all! She moves her leg fine, but her foot just sort of flops around. It even goes all the way backwards! She can't grab on with her toes (she jumped onto the lid and held with 3 feet, then fell), can't stand on her back feet, is a clumsy jumper... but she gets around well otherwise. She's very quick and popcorn-y, she even run-walks on her wheel.

I know keeping a wild animal is never ideal... but all the close-by wild animal rescues and rehabilitators I've contacted have said they either center more around animals that need a bit of conservation, or they just don't work with house mice. Squirrels, raccoons, squinnys (chipmunks?)... not mice.

So give a wild mouse with three feet a chance at being wild, or let it keep its safe home in a cage (without ruling out a future release or rehabilitator)? lol This weekend is supposed to be lovely, so I need to make up my mind ASAP! What would you guys do?

by Rodents rock! Thu 04 May 2017, 7:51 pm

Personally I would keep the mouse as I feel she would just be a sitting duck out in the wild.

by CallaLily Thu 04 May 2017, 8:13 pm

Ooh. Tough one. I think if I felt her injuries greatly reduced her chances of survival (and weren't going to get any better) and couldn't find a rescue that would take her....I'd probably keep her. You may find she'll do better with more space and a little more protein than our pet mice. She'll likely have a longer lifespan too.

by Peachy Thu 04 May 2017, 8:40 pm

I have been leaning towards keeping her, but I'm not convinced. My husband thinks we should keep her too, and when I told him that I put a wild mouse in a spare tank he wasn't exactly delighted. Laughing

I cleaned her today and she poked her head out and then did all sorts of things while I was sitting right next to her... that's how I learned (for sure) that her foot is bad bad. I didn't know what it was for sure before, because I can go weeks having only smell to go on to determine if she's alive or not... different schedules and she's a wonderful hider (and I ~~wasn't trying to get her used to humans~~ didn't want her to jump out and escape into the house!). But like I said, she gets around well otherwise.

A larger space and different food were both on a short pro-con list. I do have a larger hand-me-down tank that I intend to move her to if she stays... I had plans for it, but it's just been sitting empty. I saw a very neat mouse exhibit at the zoo once, I'll try to replicate it! lol I'll have to do some research on food, though. Scratch

If she stays, I'll have to figure out if she's a he or a she so I can name her. Razz

by Rodents rock! Thu 04 May 2017, 10:18 pm

Have you been able to get any pictures to share? Would love to see her/him. Love

by Peachy Fri 05 May 2017, 12:06 am

I don't have any pictures of her, but I'll try to get a picture next time I see her out.

Happy to report that it's been a while since we've seen mice in the house (at least wild ones not in a cage Teehee

) (knock on wood) but one day I sat in the kitchen and saw these guys... Momma mouse was chasing her naughty runaway babies around the room! On one side of the trap you see dark colored Mom, and on the other is one of the light colored babies. I thought they were all supposed to be dark, was really confused the first time I saw one.

by Rodents rock! Fri 05 May 2017, 8:45 am

Yes, that is odd as I thought all regular wild mice were brown. That baby sure was cute though.

by Peachy Fri 05 May 2017, 9:22 am

We hired a pest guy because (as seen in the video Laughing

) our humane traps just weren't attractive enough to catch anyone reliably. I didn't feel weird enough to ask if the lighter ones are normal, but I found a few other oddly colored wild mice on a Google search. These guys are kind of cute. lol
https://m.imgur.com/gallery/6gVti

by scaredymouse Fri 05 May 2017, 9:25 am

Keep!

by CallaLily Fri 05 May 2017, 11:53 am

Cute! Years ago there was a wild mouse living behind my stove and he had the cutest white splotch on his head. He was young too. I imagine there are occasional odd colors that pop up, but if it makes them stick out like a sore thumb they probably don't make it too long. Sad

by Peachy Fri 05 May 2017, 12:26 pm

The first nest I found (in my winter boots, grr) had a few dark agouti adults and one of the lighter colored ones. They have darker splotches that almost makes them look brindle.

Well, the mouse in my tank is one of the lighter ones, which was the point of sharing the video. Seems I forgot to mention that. lol Figures that even my wild mouse would be "brindle". Rofling

A wild mouse with a white splotch on his head?! How fun! It's too bad I can't find more about odd colored wild mice.

by scaredymouse Fri 05 May 2017, 2:19 pm

I imagine a lot of people lose pet mice or release them outside when they don't want them anymore, and they mix in with local populations to create neat color variations.

Anyway, she sounds like she needs to be looked after. Have fun with that Rofling

by CallaLily Fri 05 May 2017, 2:24 pm

Peachy wrote:Figures that even my wild mouse would be "brindle".

Oh and here I thought you'd finally got yourself another yellow! Laugh

by Rodents rock! Sat 06 May 2017, 7:43 pm

Peachy wrote:We hired a pest guy because (as seen in the video ) our humane traps just weren't attractive enough to catch anyone reliably. I didn't feel weird enough to ask if the lighter ones are normal, but I found a few other oddly colored wild mice on a Google search. These guys are kind of cute. lol
https://m.imgur.com/gallery/6gVti

Aww, those are super cute mice!

by Peachy Sat 27 May 2017, 3:22 pm

Here she is! It's been a while since I saw her, but I heard her and jumped up to get a video. lol She seems to be doing much better than the last time I saw her. Practice makes perfect.

If you watch her back foot if the first few seconds, you can see the weird directions it goes and how she just kind of gets on without it. I tried to get closer but she took off each time I tried. Laughing

Look at the jump at the end! think maybe I'll reconsider letting her go later.

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