The commotion woke LL and she also got involved with this silliness of trying to get this mousey out from behind the fireplace and then release it OUTSIDE preferably while our cat stays inside so he doesn't just rinse and repeat the process. Oghma was not impressed with this whole idea and was probably quite deflated as he watched us, then unimpressedly jumped back out the window and was gone. He probably thought F*** this sh*t! Thanks Oggs.
The mouse didn't seem punctured because it shot across the floor like a blur and went under the couch. I got the broom to try and coax it out using the handle to nudge it in the direction of the corner of the room, but it went under the table and when I went in to scoop it up, it shot across infront of the door to the outside room and literally vanished. I searched for a good solid while without any luck.
Yesterday I was convinced I was going mad. Well, more than I usually believe anyhow. I had walked into the kitchen and while busy packing away the dishes, I heard squeak. I froze in place and listened thinking "oh gosh, the mouse is in the kitchen". Nothing. I tried to trace where I had thought the noise had come from and heard it again SQUEAK.
I opened the cupboard doors thinking that's where it was from and had a look around. Didn't immediately see an animal in distress but I knew that it could be IN something in the cupboard that maybe it couldn't get out of. Started taking out bowls, pots, pans, jugs. Then I saw movement in a catbowl and because I'm rather blurry eyed without my glasses on, I figured that must be it. I took it out of the cupboard, but it wasn't a mouse.
I don't know how long this little gecko had been in the bowl, but it didn't look emaciated so it probably wasn't too long. I could tell that it was cold though and would probably need some warmth in order to get energized.
Carefully I emptied it onto my hand and outside for the last little bit of sunlight on the balcony so it could absorb some heat from me and the sunshine. It squished itself flat onto my finger to get maximum coverage and I sat with it chatting to it softly for a few minutes while removing cat fur from it's toes. It seemed quite relaxed to just sit and recharge it's batteries. Such a cutie with it's shiny eyes.
This is a Cape Dwarf Gecko Lygodactylus capensis. It's quite common around here and I often see them scurrying up and down the picket fences in the mornings. This little one eventually had enough va-va-vooma to get up and run up onto the outside wall in the sun. I bid it farewell.
When I walked back inside to get back to what I was originally doing I heard squeak and thought "hold on, I'm in a different room. I looked down at my shoes listening and slowly moved forward. SQUEAK as I slowly pressed my foot down again. Then I chuckled at myself and shook my head.
It was my freaking shoe which has squelchy water in the sole from walking through wet grass, not a mouse at all. I felt like a right fool, but hey, my squeaky shoe saved a gecko so that counts for something. I'm going to have to find a way to gecko proof the crockery, that's my next conundrum.
