Survival of the fittest

[DainBramaged]

I work in a sea of asphalt. Our frontage is over a quarter mile. There is nothing green for nearly 500 feet behind us and to the right of the building I work in. My office/workshop is on the second floor. Looking out is a four lane highway and about a quarter mile that way is a river.

Two weeks ago tomorrow I bought a one pound bag of pistachios from the nut man. He's been coming here (and hundreds of other businesses) for over 25 years. He's put two daughters through college selling nuts and candies to retail establishments and office buildings in my area.

I like the occasional nut. Good for you and they make you work to enjoy them. So I left the bag on my desk over the weekend and came back Monday morning last week to find a small hole in the bottom of the bag. I didn't think much of it, and last week enjoyed my nuts a few times. This past Monday, the bag was on the floor and nearly empty. My bad I thought. I finished them and thought nothing of it.

This morning I come in turn on my computer (one I built for me) and it starts making a racket. My computer is a very compact chassis Shuttle and takes up little space. I immediately turn it off, disconnect it and open it up on my workbench.


It's FULL of pistachio shells and other assorted junk, half-eaten Reese's Pieces, the remainder of some Cheetos (yes, but I don't live in a basement). And tiny tiny tiny mouse turds. Smaller than a grain of rice by a large amount. I left a slot cover off the back to let the video card I use get a little more air, and that's how the bugger decided to get in AFTER climbing up my desk and pilfering my nuts and now taking up residence in my computer. How he got here amazes me. But he found me and now mooches my nuts. Not much, enough to survive. I moved his "home" to the floor this morning, so it should be easier for him to go back if he chooses.

I will not destroy him. Any creature who came this far and worked so hard to share my pistachios is OK in my book. I will get a trap that will not hurt him, buy him a home at PetSmart this weekend, and he can stay under my care as long as he wants.


I think I'll call him Tweak.





PS

I left some tasty noms out for him/her tonight.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

1. "I think I'll call him Tweak"

He also does meth?

:hide:

[DainBramaged]

2. He 'Tweaked' my pc

Cheetos powered.....:hi:

[Wait Wut]

7. The pack rats at my house apparently do.

It was pretty funny, actually. My kid was visiting and doing some maintenance on my car, "Mom, bad news, pack rats ate all the insulation and hoses in your engine. Good news? They left you flowers." Sure enough, there was a huge bunch of roses from the neighbors yard under my hood along with a perfect little nest next to the air filter.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. cute

:)

[LiberalLoner]

4. Big K&R thanks for the smile. I hope you will post a photo of tweak once he or she

is in his or her happy home. (If tweak is a she, you might have some little ones to care for soon, depending.)

[DainBramaged]

9. Yes. he has pretzels and peanut and jelly on whole grain bread for dinner.

[LeftofObama]

5. What a great story!

One can always tell the character of a person by the way s/he treats animals. :thumbsup:

[lumpy]

8. Yes, charming story. Made my day.

v

[hamsterjill]

6. Good for you!

The sooner that mankind learns to share this earth rather than try to kill everything in his path - the better we will all be for it!

(Yeah, I know that mankind will NEVER learn that!)

[Cal33]

10. "Mankind will never learn that" mainly becase of the 2 to 4% of psychopaths that

are (and always have been) part of our general population since the
beginning of mankind. That's the way it has always been. With luck,
genetics manipulation might play a role in changing things in the
future -- if we don't self-destruct first.

[DainBramaged]

11. I left her a smidgen of PB&J and three Snyder's pretzels last night.

The PB&J is gone, and one pretzel is gone. Tune in Monday to the next thrilling installment of, the mouse who went nuts.

[Odin2005]

12. LOL, too cute!

[Cestode]

13. Good for you! Rodents are too often under-appreciated.

They are some of the most hearty and resilient animals on earth.
Absolute masters of finding food and nesting.

n/t