The kittens continue to get more comfortable in the house. I'm more often able to pet Rho, the skittish, silver kitten, though it still really doesn't like to be picked up.
Toby is definitely the mellow, friendly kitten who eventually follows me to various rooms of the house, and he really loves being petted and tolerates being picked up. Here is my son bonding a bit with Toby.
However, the second mouse was also making itself at home, driving my wife a bit crazy. She gave me an ultimatum that the cats would have to spend the entire night in the master bedroom, meaning that I had to move a litter box in and camp out all night, as she went somewhere else to get some undisturbed sleep. I was worried that they wouldn't be able to perform on command and, indeed, that the mouse would not venture out after getting wind of the cats.
Around 6 in the morning, Rho got very intense, staring at the closet, as it heard the mouse was moving around (finally). Anyway, in the end the mouse was stuck to a glue trap but Toby's paw was as well. It certainly possible that the cat drove the mouse onto the trap, which it had been avoiding up until then... Anyway, the mouse was still alive, making the removal process that much harder. I actually got bit (by the mouse I assume). I went to get some vegetable oil to try to get Toby free. By the time I got back, Toby has pulled his paw off the trap. I tossed the glue trap outside to deal with later and rubbed a bit of vegetable oil into his paw to help loosen any glue still on his fur. I really hope this is the last of the mice, and the house will just be a no-go zone for future mice.
Where things get a little weird is in the morning, I looked at the glue trap in the front yard -- and the mouse wasn't there. It's almost like the end of one of those Friday the 13th movies where Jason is supposed to be in a trap or buried in a grave or what have you, but it is empty. Dun dun duuun! The most likely outcome is that a squirrel or neighbourhood cat came by and took care of the mouse. But I suppose it is at least possible the mouse pulled a Houdini and got free from the trap. I don't really care unless it tries to get back in. If so, it is the most hard-headed mouse in the world. I like to think it will be one of those grizzled mice from a Gary Larson cartoon, warning all other mice away from the house.
If for some unfathomable reason, we end up with mice back in the house right away, particularly a mouse missing half its fur, I am going to make absolutely sure it is dead when disposing of it. No more Mr. Nice Guy!
After this, the kittens played around a bit on the stairs before taking a well-earned nap. Sadly, I still had to go off to work and put a full day of work in...
So all in all, my wife has come around to the idea that the cats are a necessary evil and have definitely been a net positive pick-up for the household.
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