"Little Stewart"

by Amy Shockley, guest writer

One summer day when my husband was using the riding mower, a phone call came for him. In those days we only had corded landlines, so I ran outside to fetch him. While doing so I almost stepped on, but quickly jumped over, something small, bright pink and out of place in the newly mown grass. I went on to deliver the message, before coming back to check out the tiny object. Looking at it more closely I saw that it was moving! To my surprise it turned out to be a newborn mouse, the size of the tiny eraser on the end of a pencil! He must have fallen out of a nest hidden in my husband’s mower and was now a helpless orphan. It was not in me to leave him there to die, so I took him into the house, hoping to find something to put him in.

My small glass fishbowl, not being used at the time, was just right when filled with scrunched up Kleenex. Putting the baby in his new bed, I went to mix up some formula to feed him. I always kept Esbilac powdered puppy formula on hand for just such a purpose as this. The challenge now was to figure out what kind of delivery system would work, as my baby animal-sized nursing bottles and medicine droppers were way too big. This little one’s mouth was difficult to see because it was smaller than a type-written comma. He was not only teensy and fragile, but he was also constantly wiggling.

I ended up putting him in the palm of my hand with his mouth lined up next to a drop of formula. Well, he squirmed right into it. Worse yet, he must have inhaled some of it because he started coughing, sputtering, kicking and squirming even more. I was amazed at how strong and lively he was, but what a mess. Cleaning him up was no picnic, but “we” did our best with wet Q-Tips and Kleenex.  After drying him off with more tissues, I returned him to his bed. An hour later the whole process was repeated, with the same result.

The third try, however, was pure magic! This time my little one licked at the drop of formula without getting any on himself!!! This child of nature, who couldn’t yet see and whose brain probably couldn’t process much information, understood that this glob in front of him was his dinner. I was so proud of my little one and more determined than ever to successfully keep him going.

Absolutely jubilant, I returned him to his fishbowl of tissues. But wait, yet another milestone was passed when, instead of remaining where he was put, he deliberately burrowed down under the Kleenex to sleep covered up. I know because I peeked at him; he looked like a tiny pink angel peacefully sleeping all covered up, warm and safe.

This went on for a few more days and nights (yes, around the clock when he was so young). Pretty soon the little mouses eyes opened, and soft gray fuzz replaced his pinkness. He was getting bigger too, and easier for me to handle. But not just that, he became aware of our feeding routine and began to both anticipate and participate. Now, when he heard me coming, he quickly clambered up on top of the Kleenex and held up his little arms for me to take him out (bringing tears to my eyes, no surprise there!!).

It also became unnecessary for me to drip formula on my hand for him. Instead, the little guy sat up, and grabbing hold of the dropper tip with his dear little ‘hands’, he lapped at the liquid as if from a bowl. When full, still in the palm of my hand, he'd then turn around two or three times, lay down and curl up like a cat, yawn, and go to sleep.  Oh, how adorable! And oh, how he melted my heart!!

By now there was NO WAY I was going to turn this mouse loose out back to be somebody’s meal. I was hooked! He had become a beloved member of the family and now even had a name: Stewart.

After making the decision to keep him it became necessary to cage him in some way because he would have escaped the fishbowl. At a yard sale I pounced on a ginormous aquarium with a big crack in one side, and I paid only a dollar for it. After layering wood shavings meant for small animal cages on the bottom, I added a drinking water dispenser, exercise wheel, cozy sleeping hut made for tiny pets, and toys.

Then Stewart was lowered into his new home for the first time. The aquarium, at thirty inches long and fifteen inches front to back, was definitely a big change compared to a six inch fishbowl full of Kleenex. It was a sight to se when Stewart was lowered inside, and he scampered all over to check everything out. He quickly figured out the water dispenser and got a drink. The bottle clipped to the side of the aquarium and hung upside down with a tube to drink from. It was engineered not to drip, which was good.

After his drink Stewart did an amazing thing, He backed into the rear, left corner and squatted into the wood shavings to relieve himself! For the rest of his life Stewart only used that corner of his home for his toileting. A potty-trained mouse! Gee Whiz! (We once had a disabled squirrel I named Newton, rescued as an infant but unable to be released, and he potty trained himself, but that’s another story.)

For toys, Stewart loved having small items sprinkled randomly that he could ‘find’ and carry around. Buttons, paperclips and little birthday candle holders were his favorites. He also loved running through cardboard paper towel tube “tunnels”. But he evidently didn’t like where I place his things for him and moved everything somewhere else, except for the exercise wheel. I often pulled up a chair to watch him decorate his digs. (With great effort he stubbornly pushed his sleeping hut to the center near the exercise wheel.) (I felt vindicated when he didn’t move it, too.)

By now the little guy was eating solid food which I had sprinkled about for him to find. He took all of it to the front, left corner of his home for the rest of his life.

So, the left corners were designated toilet and food pantry, the right was for sleeping and the center was for playtime.

Because Stewart was so organized and self-disciplined, it was only necessary to clean his toilet area regularly, but not the entire aquarium. I strived to provide activities to enrich Stewart’s life. Rodents are extremely intelligent, and it would have been cruel to cage him in solitary confinement with nothing interesting to do. While in town one day, curiosity led me to check out a new pet supply store, and this chance visit changed everything. I had intended to look for challenging mouse toys but came home with something else that was truly ingenious. This was an exercise device for hamsters or mice, but it wasn’t a wheel. It was a lightweight clear plastic sphere about six inches in diameter and punctured all over with air holes. The idea was to unscrew the halves, put the animal inside and screw it back together. Once assembled the sphere was then to be placed on the floor. Walking or running inside, the animal would cause the sphere to roll all over the place without the possibility of the animal getting loose and lost. What a cool idea!

I had to put Stewart inside only once; there after he jumped into it all by himself as soon as I presented it to him. When it was time to put the sphere away, it was actually hard to get him out! I had to unscrew the thing, and with him stubbornly refusing to let go, set it down in the aquarium with him still in it. After a while I just kept the half sphere in there. When he wanted to, Stewart got in and waited for me to let him go for a roll. He sure got tired in it, but never of it!

Another thing about Stewart that amazed me was he loved to be tickled. Just as a dog will roll on its back to let you rub or scratch its belly, so too would my little mouse. During tummy tickling he squirmed around and kicked and he also “giggled”! This does seem a little hard to believe, but it’s true. A TV program called “Natures Mysteries – Revealed” recently documented that rats like to be tickled, and tickling makes them laugh. And these rats initiated tickle time with their handlers like Steward did. I am assuming these were domesticated rats, LOL!

Steward was one happy little fella, and he lived to a ripe old age, for a mouse. He brought joy to us, just as I believe we did for him. It seriously blows my mind to realize that when Stewart was first found in the grass, as tiny as he was, he had the same anatomy that we humans have. And everything of his, though too small to be seen without magnification, worked the same as ours. His tiny brain could think thoughts! He had inborn instincts, yes, but he had intelligence, “personality” and unique preferences in addition to the instincts.  

Can we imagine the size and rate of his beating heart inside that pencil eraser sized body? Now compare baby Stewart’s heart next to a gigantic whale’s!! Despite the difference in size, both hearts work in the same way, as our own human hearts do. This absolutely boggles my mind!! Just say’n!