Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory Dickory Dock
Poster by Ruth aka Kattaddorra

The old rhyme goes:

Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock

Only in our case the mouse did not run down.

Kitty, one of the cats our late mother had at the time, brought home a live mouse, he evaded the cats, ran under the grandfather clock in the corner of our living room and took up residence inside.

He must have climbed up the pendulum as he popped out to sit on the top but then disappeared inside again. We knew he was in there but could never catch him. The cats were on standby for when he did. How he survived we don’t know, but he did for a few uneasy days and nights for us, it’s not nice knowing a rodent is sharing your house.

Then one morning we saw a little bump under the fireside rug, Mickey must have ventured out in the night and was pounced on. Sad for him but there wasn’t much we could have done. Kitty and Bert weren’t the best of mousers.

An elderly couple of neighbours had a mouse in their house one day and asked our mam if they could borrow our cats. So off they went to do the job. But did they? No, they made themselves at home there, they curled up in front of the coal fire and went to sleep. They showed no interest in catching that mouse and were sent home in disgrace, their street cred in tatters!

One day Bert brought one into the garden and sat on it until he got tired of being outside, so he stood up, strolled in for his dinner and the mouse ran away.

Years later we had Ebony and Popsy, they were quite good mousers, but like Walter and Jozef do now, they would bring home the mouse, dead or alive and that was it, their duty done.

Jozef is an expert mouser but he stands looking in the window with his catch in his mouth and we know not to let him bring it in, although sometimes he fools us by laying it down then grabbing it when the window opens.

So thanks to Jozef we ended up one day with a very lively mouse in the kitchen. Babz is terrified of them. I’m not too keen when they run, since one ran up my leg in my first vets days of being kennel maid, so amidst both of us screaming I managed to chase it out of the open door with a brush.

It was not so easy the morning Walter sneaked in with one! We didn’t know until we saw him paying attention to a tiny hole in the wall, by the front door, we thought maybe it was a spider he was watching, but no it was a mouse. He reached in, grabbed it and ran upstairs and chaos ensued in Barbara’s bedroom. The bed was upended, us two searching for the elusive mouse while Walt and Jo looked on for a while with great interest, then went off downstairs.

Eventually we discovered Mickey’s hiding place and corralled him and took him outside in a bucket. Babz was very brave that day…..or desperate, maybe..lol as she had to go to work and didn’t fancy coming home to an extra bed mate.

It’s sad when mice are caught and sometimes killed but that’s Nature and the world would be overrun with rodents were it not for cats.

Ruth aka Kattaddorra

46 thoughts on “Hickory Dickory Dock”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. Oh Ruth you and Barbara make me laugh so much! 🙂 I would so love to be a fly on the wall in your house should a live mouse take up residence! Mind you I would probably drop off the wall through laughing so much!! Your posters tell such a story I don’t know how you do it!

    Me I like mice to be honest but not really in the house. Honey catches lots of Mice and Voles in the summer and if I hear them squeaking I run out to take them off her and free them before too much damage is done. Sad to say though not often I can save them but I still won’t let her torture then to death I bring them in and lay them to rest so they can pass away peacefully.

    Reply
    • Thanks Leah, yes every picture tells a story lol
      Honey sounds to be an expert mouser doing a good job, like our boyz do, I know it’s sad but if it wasn’t for cats, rodents would be rife.
      The only time Walter ever growls is when he’d defending his catch, one thing about him and Jo is they usually administer the fatal ‘neck bite’ quickly.
      Yet sometimes they drop them and walk away, obviously our turn to have a gift from them, we must have done something to please them lol

      Reply
  3. we had a situition where the rat climbed up behind the oven chewed the cord and was building a nest under the element of the stove. Had to get electrian in landlord wasnt too impressed. I guess its the fact rats got teeth. My other sister in christchurch as i got 4 sisters has too sweet rats in a cage. They are adoreable. Though i think its the outside rats that are a problem. Urd think they would think twice coming into a house where there is 4 Cats !! i know if i was a rat i wouldnt want to.

    Reply
    • Oh no! Behind the oven lol Do all your sisters love cats too Kylee?
      Yes rats are supposed to be brainy, maybe only the thick ones come in houses where cats live lol
      I think you should write an article about some of your cats adventures.

      Reply
      • yea some of them do my younger sister is a mostly dog person but tolerates a cats for her boys. We grew up with cats, i was always afraid of dogs as had a scare when i was younger.

        Reply
  4. yea mouse is ok. Just cant stand rat. Esp when our cats dont do a thing about them. We seem to be getting abit more rats with the wet weather and got long grass and bush area close by.

    Reply
    • Yes there’s just something unlovable about rats isn’t there? I don’t know how people keep them as pets, not long ago someone we know had one of her rats escape its cage (poor things in cages) and took up residence in the kitchen cupboard behind the water pipes. Came out at night and chewed all sorts up, they had to eventually take the kitchen units apart to get it. I’d never have slept a wink if a rat was in our kitchen, would you?

      Reply
  5. I had a mouse poke it’s .head out from under my fridge/freezer one morning lol.I don’t scream any more as you get used to them ,where it went from there I don’t know.They haven’t brought any in lately but I’m probably speaking too soon lol.

    Reply

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