14 June 2011

LIFE // there are currently four babies in my bathroom

Baby deer mice. In my bathroom. Being adorable.


No, they did not come up from the drains or whatever. They're supposed to be here. They were in the basement, and from what we can tell the mother either abandoned them or died, because they were scattered all over the basement in random places squeaking like mad. My cat — the fat one, Daisy — found them (didn't hurt them, my mother just brought her down to the basement and said "go find the mice, Daisy" and she'd trot off, find one, and stare at it until my mom came to get it).


And now, they are in my bathroom. In a fish tank (without water, of course). My mother got some kitten formula and we've been feeding them every couple hours via paintbrush because they're so teeny.


May I mention that this all happened while I was at school? I got an email from my mom saying "there are now four baby mice I am feeding" and I thought she'd gone off her rocker.


But no. They are real. Twelve days old.

Extremely small.


And adorable.


And squirmy.

Did I mention how CUTE they are?! I don't know what we're going to do with them, but they are so cute it should be illegal.

(Kaija, if you're reading this, you are no longer afraid of rodents. You cannot be. They are too adorable. Come see them.)


PS: I have final exams for the next three days so don't expect too much activity. Love you all... wish me luck!

Response to comments:


1- We aren't naming them because their chance of survival is only one in four. Plus, we are just rearing them until they're old enough to go out on their own, so we won't be keeping them.

2- They may be older than twelve days, but they were (from what we can gather) without their mother for several days, so they were severely dehydrated and starving. They can't handle normal food, they only drink the milk. They're probably more like seventeen days, but they're definitely not ready to be on their own.

3- My mother had a legit miniature zoo in her bedroom growing up — she'd catch mice, insects, and I don't know what else. She exhibited them at the local Children's Museum. (My dad was also a collector of creatures, but he favored reptiles.) So I wasn't too surprised.


UPDATE: One of the mice died, and another looks like it might kick the bucket soon, but the other two are doing great and it looks like they might make it!

41 comments:

  1. cute!! I found like a newborn mouse once... 3 actually my brother ran over the mom with the rotatiler! I found them in the garden about an hour later.

    but they couuldn't survive with out their mum,so they died about 3 hours later!

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  2. Oh my gosh! They are so cute! :) The one that is standing on its back legs holding the brush is so adorable!

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  3. so cute! i love how their eyes are closed in almost all of the shots :)

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  4. Cuteness!!! I can't see why people are so afraid of mice; rats I can understand, but mice are adorable! {and I agree, it should be illegal:D}

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  5. They are so adorable! They look nothing like the scary one that I found in my apartment a few weeks ago. yikes!

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  6. So cute!!
    --Love MCat
    {glitteringcompositions.blogspot.com}

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  7. Oh my goodness! They are too cute! Especially considering there mice. LOL

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  8. CUTE! ♥
    I want one... :)

    Avy

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  9. Um, wow.
    Cuteness!!!! That last photo... :)

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  10. Oh, and good luck on your exams!

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  11. Oooh! me want to cuddle em'!!!

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  12. here's to acing your exams, olivia!!

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  13. Those are adorable....wow! Do they have a Cuteness License?

    Good luck on the exams, mon ami!

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  14. How do you know they are 12 days old? Just curious. They are pretty cute!

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  15. WOW, those things look tiny! I think I would freak out if my mom told me that, I'm usually okay with rodents, but I've never had one in my house.

    They're soooo cute!

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  16. I think they are more like 2 weeks old,cause they don't open their eyes until their 14 days old.

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  17. They are so stinking cute! I am a rodent lover (will be getting a hamster next week) and therefore LOVE these photos!

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  18. adorable. i want one. haha please keep us updated on these little guys! :) I think you should name them too....;)

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  19. Oh MY that's crazy adorable!!!!

    I've never found mice to be scary or gross at all. They're super cute, even as adults. How funny to come home to that!

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  20. You will do awesome on your exams. I just know it. I mean, how can someone as smart as you do horrid on tests?!

    The mice are adorable. You know what is really strange? My good friend just found 7 baby bunnies. They're adorable. Then you, one of my favorite bloggers, ends up with four baby mice. And guess what? A week ago right before vacation a cat turned up at our house. We didn't really think anything of her, just gave her some food. Then when we got back from vacation, there were three tiny kittens on our porch! I mean seriously. They're adorable. I hope we can keep them all.

    Sorry this comment is so long. =P

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  21. @hayley I was about to post that! Hahahahahaha comment stealer.
    OMG I love those voles! Hey, did you know that "love" and "vole" are anagrams? This must mean that voles are as important as love.

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  22. WE use to have baby hamsters and I'd say your mice are 4 weeks old and are ready to be on their own. Though I am sure they like the milk:)I would try giving them some bird seeds or hamster food, hamsters/mice love sunflower seeds. If you leave some in there over night, I bet in the morning you'll find that they ate some.
    Our baby hamsters had a fair amount of fur by 2weeks and their mom would start weaning them by putting them in the food bowl. By 4 weeks they were on their own and had a nice full coat.
    It was neat when she had her third litter
    because the whole family would help out! They each had a corner in their "hut" and a baby or two. When it was time for mom to feed them she would go around collecting them.

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  23. Okay, maybe I should have looked it up before I commented. Its been about 4 years since baby hamsters and they mature alot faster then I remember! So you are probably right about their age, but they should be able to eat seeds now. Sorry, I typed before thinking.

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  24. They are too cute! :]
    & good luck on your finals.

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  25. OMG THEY ARE SO ADORABLE!!! You should *totally* name them "Adorable", "Adorabler", "Adorablest", "Adorable-to-the-max". Yes, that's it ;)
    Great post, great photos! I am in love.
    -Jocee <3
    P.S. You're still in school? Wow. That's pretty sad.

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  26. so cute!!! I tried to raise a baby possum once, but it died after 24 hours. We fed it with a medicine dropper.

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  27. Oh my goodness, how adorable!!! :)

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  28. lucky, we get snakes and geckos. HOORAH!

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  29. You are very brave Olivia. I can't even hold a baby chick without dropping it. (Seriously.)

    Aww, good luck with the last 3!

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  30. They are SO ADORABLE. I love mice.

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  31. Adorable! Clever idea to feed them with a paint brush.:)

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  32. kill me now.
    like, right now.
    these wee critters are too cute for words.
    all I can say is:
    I want one.
    two.
    three.
    four.
    five....

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  33. Oh. My. God. CUTE.

    That's all I have to say about that.

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  34. AWWWWWWEEEE! they're adorable!!!

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  35. Oh, they're just adorable! I've raised pet mice before, and I agree, there's hardly anything cuter than those fluffy, squeaking little darlings. Good luck with raising them! :)

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  36. Augh! SO CUTE! We found a baby kitten in the bushes a couple days ago, it's only a couple weeks old and the cuteness is SERIOUSLY too much for me. Noah named it KiKi John. ;) Sadly, we have to give it away, because Mum's allergic to KiKi. :( But I'm loving having a temporary cat. :D

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  37. OH MY GOODNESSSSSSSS that's adorable!!

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  38. Aw they are adorable!! That's funny, because a few weeks ago we rescued 4 12 day old wild bunnies, but unfortunately they got infections and died. :( Then we also rescued a dehydrated chipmunk in our garage and we fed him but he died a few hours later. :( Well, I hope the remaining 2 mice survive!

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