If You Give a Mouse a Mailbox...

Two of my favorite children's books are "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" and "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Numeroff. I don't remember reading them growing up but have wonderful memories of reading them to my favorite babysitting charges in high school/college.  The books cleverly invoke delight in the massive messes made by hosting a moose and a mouse, respectively. For example: "If you give a mouse a cookie... he's going to ask for a glass of milk. When you give him the milk... he'll probably ask you for a straw..." and so-on. The text is accompanied by wonderful pictures of the mess created by being a good host to the small guest.

One day this summer, Tim and I were sitting down to dinner on our patio overlooking the beautiful mountains of Bristol, VT. About halfway through dinner, Tim got very serious and said, "I need to ask you a question....Was there a mouse in the mailbox today?" Having checked the mail just an hour earlier without encountering a mouse, I assured him that of course not, our mailbox was mouse-free. He explained how the day before he came home, routinely opened the mailbox to check for mail, and was confronted by a small mouse who just stared at him. Thinking he may be going crazy, Tim shut the mailbox, drove down the driveway and waited a 24 hours to tell me there was a mouse in our mailbox! The next day on my way to work I checked and sure enough, a small mouse had decided our mailbox was the perfect place for a home. She had even accosted some of our mail to use as nesting fodder! She had quite a nest going, made mostly of dried grass and mail chewings, but luckily no baby mice yet. I swept the nest and mouse out of the mailbox, closed the door and proceeded with the rest of my day.

For the next week, every day I would find a small clump of grass in the mailbox. This little mouse was very determined to build her nest in our cozy mailbox, regardless of my attempts to keep it clean. Clearly, if you give a mouse a mailbox she will make it her home! Finally we taped up the very small opening the mouse had been using, right at the hinge where the mailbox door & floor meet. Ever since, we've been mouse-free. I do feel a little guilty about depriving her of the perfect home but we can't have a mouse eating our mail! I wonder what our mailman thought of our guest and how often this happens up here in rural Vermont.