A Mouse in the Bird Feeder

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.*

 

 

As Rick went to fill our bird feeders yesterday, he found a surprise. A mouse was inside one of the feeders, eating the few little seeds left at the bottom. Of course, Rick came to get me immediately. Any wildlife sightings on our little suburban habitat are shared with excitement. He tried to get a picture of the little guy, but, as you can see, the clear plastic was clouded by age and dirt (time to clean the feeder). Thinking he was stuck inside, Rick took down the feeder carefully, planning to open it and lay it down for the critter to escape. Well, he sure fooled us. As soon as the feeder moved, he slipped through a tiny slit at the bottom, jumped down and skittered to the brush pile in a flash.

I suspect this is the same mouse that I spied a couple of months ago. While gardening in the back yard, I saw a mouse zip along our back fence and right up the wisteria vine that grows upward from the fence into the branches of a large oak tree. His speed and agility impressed me. I walked over to the tree and spotted him on one of the branches. He sat nestled on the limb, watching me with his tiny black eyes. His big round ears listened as I told him I had never seen a mouse in a tree before. We had a nice little conversation until Rick and Quinten walked outside and asked me what I was doing. Apparently, they were a little amused to find me standing in the backyard, looking upward into a tree, and talking. Personally, I think they should be used to such behavior by now. Anyway, the mouse must have been too shy for so many visitors, because he ran further up into the tree and disappeared. The guys got a glimpse of him as he went, which helped to validate my story.

Lately, I find so much joy in such small moments as these. Even as I write this, I stop to watch a squirrel eating corn from the squirrel feeder, and another raiding the freshly filled bird feeder, straining and bending like a carnival contortionist to get at the seed. Kitty Mau joins me at the computer, asking "Mhuh?" and "Mngow?" Her words for "Whatchya doin'?" and "Can I help?" She's being very verbal today. I have to pause while she nestles herself in my lap. I am grateful for the animals in my life, wild and tame, big and small. They entertain me, comfort me, amaze me and help me keep things in perspective. They are a constant reminder of God's heart. He cared enough to put a vast number of animals on the earth in all shapes, sizes, colors and species. He made sure each had provision and the ability to live in its particular climate and adapt to natural shifts in seasons and weather. What a grand design! If God can orchestrate all of that, He can certainly handle my little life.

*The first stanza from the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful by Mrs. Cecil F. Alexander.