Monday, April 01, 2013

Vole-y Pole-y

Today was full of children. Bethany had no sooner arrived and set Jake's carseat down in the kitchen, then she started screaming, jumping about, and yelling something about Sofie. Sofie was running excitedly about the kitchen, kind of like she does when she sees a reflection of light flash across the floor. Bethany continued to hop about and Sofie continued to chase something small and furry. The small and furry object attempted to escape through a gap between two adjoining cabinets, but Sofie was quicker. Giving up on escape number one, the hunted made a futile effort to squeeze underneath the refrigerator, but Sofie wouldn't have it. By now the frightened and exhausted creature was letting out squeaks of pain and fright.

I grabbed an empty salad container and lid and scooped the pathetic creature from the floor. Now I had it contained and had to decide what to do with it. I deposited it outside where I am fairly certain it likely perished from it's injuries, at least I hope so. Upon my return to the house I found Sofie looking slightly bewildered as to what had become of her new toy, and Oreo, the sometimes mighty hunter, asleep on the back of the couch.

After a little bit of Google searching I've decided that the small and furry creature, which we originally called a mouse, was none other than a vole, which I have discovered can be extremely prolific and highly destructive when it comes to plants and gardens. "Hey, Oreo! No sleeping on the job!

PS. We are being infested with strange creatures. Rocky and her sister found a roly-poly pill bug on the rug this morning and carried it around in a plastic container for over an hour before I decided to toss it out into the garden.

13 comments:

  1. Oh my Martha...I was laughing at this one. A cat sleeping on the job, and a little Sophie taking charge.

    We have started to find a few misquitos...Spring has Sprung!!!

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    1. It was quite amazing to see her go after the poor creature, and then to see Oreo sleeping on the couch really was funny.

      It's not spring here yet. We have snow again this morning.

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  2. Snow here as well....
    We had voles in our garden a few years ago...
    Very destructive, indeed...
    What a cute story, Martha!

    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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    1. I am hoping the cats (and Sofie) keep the vole population in check. I have no clue how or why this one ended up in my kitchen, but if my gardens start disappearing, at least I'll know why. :P

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  3. We have had voles over the years - I hate them! Sam killed a vole last month at church - we were sitting on the floor teaching the lesson and there it was right behind us, 3 girls (2 little and 1 big) screamed and jumped up - my ferious hunter of a husband chased it and killed it with his foot - I check each time I walk into the children's ministry now (a couple months prior the kids found a dead mouse during worship)

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    1. Oh, I was there that Wednesday night and heard the screams. James said I should have killed it, and he's right, but how? I couldn't step on it. I needed someone like Sam.

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  4. I've never heard of a vole and had to go do a google search! They look a little like hamsters! I couldn't have stomped it to death, either. Ew. Marmy got a mouse outside the other day and The Mister asked me if I was going to save it. No! I figured it was already injured..might as well let it go quickly. haha.
    We had moles sneak in and eat cat food many years ago. Crazy. But since they were blind, they were easy to catch. hahaha.

    Maybe voles don't taste good and that's why Oreo didn't care. :)

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    1. "Vole" didn't even come up when I googled "rodents in NY state". I eventually remembered hearing of them and looked up "voles" instead. They do look something like a hamster and have the same soft and floppy kind of body.

      I don't know about Oreo, but I could never eat one. haha

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  5. but wait, why didn't you let Sofie kill it?

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    1. The thought did occur to me. I suppose the tenderhearted side of me couldn't bear to watch it happen. Besides, the kitchen was full of small children.

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  6. I sound like a scared ninny in your story, but I was just shocked speechless to see a rodent running back and forth through your kitchen and then to see Sofie chasing it! It was a kinda fun way to be greeted though. :)

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    1. And I just stood there dumbfounded, wondering what to do.

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