I stayed up far too late last night writing about the slugs we attempted to make on day 15 which were very engaging but very messy and made me debate whether the idea was worth publishing (I did anyway). This morning I was very soundly asleep when two boys jumped on me in bed at 7am shouting "mummy, mummy get up we've got a mouse in a box" "huh? eer what?". "We've rescued a mouse with papa" "Can we keep it as a pet?" "MUMMY get UP you have to see it?".
I went downstairs to find two half-eaten childrens' breakfasts and a poor little mouse huddled next to some muesli flakes in an empty PG tips box which still had sequins stuck on it from pre-school junk modelling. I quizzed my husband. The mouse had been found on our staircase alive looking scared. Maybe our cat had brought it in but not killed it. I suspect it may have let itself in when one of the children left our outside door open. I explained to the boys that it was a wild animal and it wouldn't be fair for us to keep it as a pet (which has what the tadpoles seem to have become to them....but they also understand this will change when they are frogs). I also explained that mummy had to release the mouse quietly as it looked quite frightened and mice and small birds can have heart attacks if they are in such a scary situation. The boys were happy with this idea and watched me through the window. I took the box right up to our hedgerow with long grass at the back of our garden and gently turned it over so the mouse was facing the hedge. I dug out my reader's digest mammals book as Jamie, my 6 yr old wanted to "investigate the mouse, what it eats, where it lives and its name". We decided it was a Wood Mouse.
A creature that Isaac my 4 year old particularly likes is a snail. When we are looking for butterflies he is really looking for snail shells and if they are empty he puts them in my bag. If they are alive he talks to them and makes sure I don't squash them by accident.
I took the baby and Isaac to Southampton today as a special treat to hear classical music for babies in a church. Randomly we arrived on the last day of an art trail of giant snails on what is grandly termed the "esplanade" but which really is the outside of a large mall called West Quay. We viewed them from the old city walls.
It is very late as I write this but I want you to know that Isaac spent a good half hour tadpole feeding and watching today. He discovered only one tadpole has arms AND legs and starting changing into a frog. He named it but the name was so random I can't remember it (Hafalak or something). He took a piece of kindling from my woodshed and put it in the tank instinctively for the frog to have a "log" to hop on. We also found that the tadpoles were absolutely starving and eating the meaty food rather than the lettuce today so they must be at the next stage. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. I'm finding this #30DaysWild challenge getting very exciting.
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