Don't Do It, Lizzie!

They were almost nose to nose a few seconds before I took the picture but I couldn't get my hands on the camera fast enough for that one. The squirrel got away, of course. Lizzie's not stupid.

However, about 10 minutes earlier she brought a mouse into the house and dropped it in the middle of the hall where it had a choice of rooms to run into. I think the poor little thing was in shock because it didn't go anywhere, fortunately, which gave me enough time to catch it and return it to the "wild".

I'm now going to keep mouse-catching equipment handy, in addition to spider-catching equipment, which is a whole other story. It seems that late summer is the season for the giant house spider (T. gigantea) to come out of hiding in the evenings (they’re nocturnal) looking for a mate. Frankly, seeing two of these monsters locked in an embrace would be more than I could take, so I hope they never find each other. In the last week I’ve had about five of them to deal with and I found out that they’re considered the fastest spider in the world with a 1.73 foot per second “sprint”. I’ll catch and release them if I can since they’re quite harmless, but I’m also wearing a can of Raid spider spray in a hip holster in the evenings for the ones that get a little too close for comfort.

Anyway, back to Lizzie. From this point forward she’ll have to knock when she wants to get back into the house and go through a "search" to make sure she's alone -- no more open door policy so she can come and go as she pleases. My tolerance for Sidney, the mouse house guest from last week, was a one-time thing.

Since Lizzie's getting thinner she's getting much better at outrunning things. When I get thinner I'm just going to buy a new wardrobe.