Fresh update on the deer mice situation. Since we caught two of them and put them in a bin, anticipating future release somewhere outside return distance, we have ... not caught any more. We also haven't seen or heard evidence of any more. This seems improbably small a family but perhaps between being set in the garage, and the outside getting warmer and more pleasant, and ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunnyhugger stuffing rather unpleasant metallic clutter in what seem like plausible ways to get into the house the mice outside have decided they don't need to be in our breakfast nook that much.
The mice indoors we've been keping so that they come to see one or both of the birdhouses as a safe stable home, so when we relocate them we can leave them with a food cache and they'll have somewhere to serve as a base while they set up in actual nature. They took a couple days before they seemed interested in doing anything with the house. Mostly they would, if they thought no one was around, come outside, sometimes, and hide if detected.
They've been getting a little more used to the current state of affairs. bunnyhugger got a small running wheel that we don't know they use. And found that they will chew the toilet paper off a cardboard tube, but do nothing with the tube itself. Nor with paper towels; they want the softer stuff. They have also reached a state where they're comfortable staring at bunnyhugger rather than hiding.
Today, though, bunnyhugger discovered they are not content to live in a cage until we set them loose in a couple weeks. They've chewed on the plastic surrounding one of the storage bin's latches, and if unimpeded would chew their way to freedom soon. bunnyhugger caught that, though, and has stuffed some more of that unpleasant metal stuff around the hole dug out. Also we've advanced slightly the vague schedule about when to release them.
In pictures, now, let's get back to the Jackson County Fair.
There were a variety of fairy garden displays and here's one with a large chicken or a small raccoon.
bunnyhugger looking over one of the exhibition rows while underneath a 4-H sign.
One of the larger exhibitions, a vegetable-sales stand. That's a heck of effort and money to put into a competition but it did win a blue ribbon and a payout of, I think, like $11.
The local ham radio people had stuff on display but weren't set up when we happened to visit.
Ah, but there's the second-most important thing, the rides, in the evening-to-sunset sky. But first ...
Bunnies! We couldn't miss taking a good look at the animal exhibits.
Trivia: The first airship to reach the North Pole did so in 1926. Source: When Giants Ruled The Sky: The Brief Reign and Tragic Demise of the American Rigid Airship, John J Geoghegan.
Currently Reading: This Way Up: When Maps Go Wrong (And Why It Matters), Mark Cooper-Jones, Jay Foreman.
PS: What’s Going On In Mark Trail? Why _were_ the Grungey Boys following Mark Trail? February – May 2026 in woodsman action and such nature as Las Vegas has to offer. Enjoy!
