My Heart Is Aching For All Of You, And For Myself, Losing all of my loves Options

[mosmommy]

I guess most of you have not heard from me before, and the rest of you haven't seen any posts from me in a long while.
I haven't felt like sharing any thoughts or pain lately.

On May 21, 2008- I lost my mouse Gordon. The only comfort was that he was not just my furkid, but he was a huge part of the nature program that I worked on last summer, and for over 9 weeks last summer, he touched hundreds of children. He was their favorite animal in the room. ( We also had a snake, a small lizard, 2 toads, 2 crayfish, a red-eared slider turtle, a rabbit, and a few local fish). All were used for educational and compassionate teachings, and all were released back into the wild with the exception of the lizard and rabbit who were adopted, and the turtle and Gordon. I know Gordon served a great purpose, and he also visited a local elementary science club that I did some volunteer presentations for in the fall of '07. The children loved him as much as I did. Mice can have short life spans, but he accomplished a lot in his.

I lost my beloved 15 1/2 year old cat, Rufus on March 1, 2008, and that has been very painful. I raised him form a kitten, and he slept with me all of the time, even during short "cat" naps. I still find it hard to wake up and not have him here.

Now a quick bit of background, I have lost 23 furry children, 8 close humans, and a few acquaintances- all since May 2004.
I am not sure how I still get up everyday, but I keep on trying.

I am so sorry for those of you with recent and painful loss(es) to handle, I do know how hard it is. I honestly cannot say that it gets easier, but the memories do get better.

Thank you to any and all who read this topic.

Peace, Love, and Prayers,
Michelle

This is my Rufus...

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[Duncan-MyBuddy]

At one point he crawled in my car, chewed a wire that cost 125.00 to fix and still fed him. I honesty think it ate itself to death. Furry, big or small, I love them all.

I know i'm probably gonna upset some here but i'm sorry..... I consider 'wild' mice pests, plain and simple. In the barn, they get into my tractors, my pickup, power tools and work bench drawers and make a mess among the hand tools with their droppings and nests. I trap em with good ol fashioned spring traps and once in a while one of my dogs will also get one. They also carry and spread diseases. Heavily infested mouse dropping areas can be real hazardous to breath in.
A couple years ago, Dolly cornered a mouse in her kennel and from what i could see, she sort of made that mouse her own pet. She'd pick it up, drop and then gently paw it again and again not allowing it to escape. After a while that mouse finally died of a heart attack i think!

Now we've got these big ol bull snakes here in abundance. Some grow to four feet or more and are very aggressive if cornered. They'll sit up like a cobra and lunge towards you. I won't knowingly kill not one of them as they are one of nature's best mouse traps.

Same goes for the big rat moles. My county including my property is infested with them. They make gigantic mounds a foot high and are as large as a small cat. The only way i can get them is to undig a freshly dug tunnel, wait for em to stick their head out and blast em with my double barrel 12 ga. Yee Haaa!

Sorry if any of this upset anyone here but this is life in the country.
-Ken