A Tale of Two Rodents

GOOD EVENING SAYS RODENT #1:

If it weren't bad enough that I have to deal with decapitated, disemboweled and dismembered rodents on  an almost daily basis (no exaggeration), last night my sweet loving animals decided to make it a little more personal...a perfectly intact, soft, fuzzy, (dead) rodent at the foot of my bed.  Oh what thoughtful pets I have!  The really disturbing part of that tale is that I had already taken off my glasses and might have stepped on the dead rodent if it had not been for my observant-for-an-evening husband.  He plucked it from the floor by the tail and headed outside to return it to the land (toss it on my yar-dirt so the animals can snack on it and rub their faces in it after the fermentation process has begun).

GOOD MORNING SAYS RODENT #2:
My husband's job requires him to rise anywhere from 3:30am to 5:00am (usually the former).  This means that in order for him to get a decent amount of sleep he has to go to bed at 8:30 or 9:00pm.  I try to get the kids down around that time as well so the house is nice and quiet.  Then I stay up and play on the computer or crochet for another hour or two.  Especially lately we have been missing out on time with each other at night and in the morning.  So, we decided (yesterday) that this must change.  What does this have to do with Rodent #2 you ask?  Let me tell you:

 This morning I peeled myself out of bed at 4:15 (already 15 minutes late according to the new schedule), and hobbled downstairs to start the coffee.  As my husband and I were chatting in the kitchen already enjoying the new routine of actually seeing each other, Rodent #2 decided that our conversation was too dull for him and took off running across the counter.  I noticed that our cat Muffin already had his nose in the air but was looking on the floor rather than up on the counter.  Will picked him up and tossed him on the counter in the vicinity of the mouse only to realize that it had vanished!  Now the cat and my husband were sniffing around for this mysterious rodent. 
I practically saw the light bulb turn on in Will's head as he began taking apart the stove.  Sure enough, hidden under the coils and little metal food-catcher dishes were traces of mouse droppings and prized dead insects that had mysteriously disappeared just days prior.  Unfortunately the rodent had gotten away, probably wiggled its way behind the stove to hide in one of his favorite drawers. 
Here is what I don't understand: how can a mouse have anything to poop out if there is nothing in the drawer to eat?!!  I'm not kidding, there are two drawers that have been empty for a week save for traces of bleach left from cleaning out the dozens of poops and pees almost daily!  Well, enough on that.  I can only hope that the animals take good long naps today so they  have plenty of energy for another big rodent hunt tonight!

This tale of two rodents seems strangely reminiscent of a post long ago in the land of Quince:

The Mouse