Candes Saint-Martin, my favourite spot in La Touraine.

Saturday 9 March 2013

Mice ?


Last night, little after midnight, I was awoken by … something. I don’t know what, because I didn’t actually hear or see anything unusual. Maybe it were my new downstairs’ neighbours again, who since they moved in last October in rather obscure circumstances, have been ‘terrorizing’ the other tenants with their nightly shouting, loud skyping with their friends and relatives on another continent, slamming doors, ... I’m almost certain that the apartment has been sub-let by the young man who initially had his name on the doorbell. Since February 1st, his name has been replaced by a very exotic sounding one. I may be mistaken, but I think that the landlord isn’t even aware of what is going on.

Asking to be a bit more discrete only has a temporary effect and even a visit from the local police only tempered their ‘enthusiasm’ for a short while. I finally mentioned the problem to my landlady, who immediately decided that she would bring it to the janitor’s and other landlords’ attention during their annual meeting. That meeting took place last week and since then I have the impression that the situation has changed for the better. It’s not completely quiet yet, but the nightly skyping and shouting has almost stopped.

Back to last night. After waking up, I waited, listening to what could have caused my sudden state of insomnia. I heard nothing, except for the occasional shushing sound of cars speeding by. And then, suddenly, I heard it, an ever so tiny squeaking, and rustling noise. I turned my head and strained my ears to find out where it was coming from. The more I listened, the less I heard. All was silent again. After five or so minutes of intensive listening, I decided to give up and to try to fall asleep again. And then, just when I was on the verge of falling into Morpheus’ arms, there it was again. I could hear it very clearly and it was coming from the corner opposite the bed, near the window. The window was open, and I could see the curtains moving. Don’t worry! Nobody was trying to gain access. It was just a gust of wind, accompanying the heavy rainfall we are experiencing after a few days of sunshine.

My wicker trunk from Villaines-les-Rochers and my two resident 'rodents':
 a beaver and a racoon (or is it a badger?) Fluffy toys, house-trained and harmless...

I switched on the small light on the bedside table and peered in the direction the noise had come from. There it was again … ‘skrip-skrip’. I know this is not an actual word, but that is what it sounded like. A few seconds later I heard it again. It was definitely coming from the corner where my wicker trunk, which I bought in 2000 at the ‘coopérative’ of Villaines-les-Rochers, west of Tours, sits and in which I keep my spare sheets and blankets. Could there be mice residing in the trunk? Very unlikely … and yet!

I got out of bed and tiptoed towards the trunk. By then the noise had stopped and I was afraid that the little mice family had heard me coming and that mama mouse had told her babies to keep quiet because ‘the bad lady’ was coming after them

8 comments:

Louise said...

Martine I do hope the (possible) little long tailed visitors have not nested! Every time I visit my beachhouse I do a quiet check of the cupboards in case field mice have decided that my few weeks absence has given them permission to take up residence!

The Broad said...

Were you able to fall back to sleep again?

chm said...

Mice are such lovely sweet things!

Amanda said...

Mice are cute! My cat has brought me many "gifts" along the years. It could also be a battery going dead. It does make a chirping sound before it completely goes out.

VirginiaC said...

Martine, I hope that no mice are around, for your sake.
I thought I saw a scurrying shadow one night and I set out a trap, but I have not caught anything...maybe it was my imagination after all.

Niall & Antoinette said...

We recently had an offereing which turned out to be alive--a cute long-tailed big-eyed harvest mouse.
We managed to banish both cats from the room,catch it and liberate near the woodpile.
Written down it sounds so simple. In reality it was rather manic and chaotic LOL!

Our woodbasket it from Villaines-les-Rochers co-op.

Craig said...

I hope it isn't mice Martine, as they can be difficult to get rid of, no matter how cute! Look forward to hearing the conclusion of this mystery!

ladybird said...

Louise, In my case it was a false alert. See today's post.

Kathie, Yes I did and I was well rested the next morning. More than what can be said about last night ...

Chm, They are ... but I don't want to share my bed with them. :)

Nadege, Years ago I had one of those batteries and it took me a very long time before I figured out what caused the noise. It was only when I was standing next to the appliance that I was able to track the cause - purely by a coincidence.

Virgina, Maybe you should train Brownie to become a mouse catcher ;)

N&A, I would have liked being a fly on the wall, watching the scene!!! I bet Katinka was responsable for bringing the mouse in?!

Craig, No, it weren't mice, as you've already learnt in today's post. Thank you for your concern though :).