A Mouse in the House

by Michael Hofferber. Copyright © 1996. All rights reserved.

Among the most common sounds of autumn in the country, along with rustling leaves and crackling fires, is the scratching and scurrying that can be heard inside walls and rafters of almost every rural dwelling.

These are the sounds of the house mouse, mus musculus, one of the least welcome of guests and most difficult to dissuade. This uninvited visitor will eat, or chew on, almost anything and defecate everywhere. He contaminates food, causes damage to structures and property, and  carries dangerous diseases.

Introduced by 16th century pilgrims in the holds of their Atlantic-crossing ships, house mice followed the progress of Europeans in the New World, traveling in wagons and rucksacks and saddlebags and trains and trucks and planes across the continent and back, occupying pantries from Maine to Malibu.

Continued at... A Mouse in the House

Rural Delivery
The Nature Pages
Pest Control
Artwork: House Mouse

The Stories We Tell

by Michael Hofferber. Copyright © 1996. All rights reserved.

This is how we make sense of the day-to-day chaos in our lives. We tell stories to explain the decisions we made and the actions we took. We construct elaborate justifications for the wrong turns and credit foresight and planning for our lucky breaks.

We rarely, if ever, admit to following whims or being blinded by emotions. We assume that we are rational beings who act freely after calculating the pros and cons of a situation. That's the spin we put on our life stories.

But we are not so rational as we like to think.

Continued at... The Stories We Tell

Rural Delivery
Second Nature
The Nature Pages
Artwork: Rational Chaos by Philippe Sainte-Laudy