Killer Mice, Part I

When I fled the Pacific Northwest for 300-days of sunshine per year, I did not realize that I would be trading in fresh salmon for killer mice. I kid you not, in the covenant document that came along with my first Southwestern home it mentioned the “occasional” incidence of plague─The Black Death that killed off 1/3 of Europe’s population during the Middle Ages. Plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis that lives in the guts of fleas that piggyback on vermin like ground squirrels and rats.

So then it should have come as no surprise, one spring afternoon, when my vet casually mentioned the need to test my cat for plague. Leo, my Siamese, had the habit of leaving mice in the canoe stored in my garage. I assume this makeshift morgue was a demonstration of his love (though, I would have preferred half-pound packets of smoked salmon, thank you). It seems Leo had tussled with a ninja-like deer mouse who left him with a golf-ball-sized pus pocket on his neck.

While Leo turned out to have a run-of-the-mill abscess, a couple living down the street from us were not so lucky. While walking their dogs, they became lunch for some plague-carrying fleas. Unfortunately, their plague was diagnosed while on a visit to NYC, putting that part of the country into a panic. Most often, plague can be treated successfully with antibiotics (like gentamicin). However, because plague is rare and unheard of on the East Coast, the diagnosis came late, prompting the amputation of the husband's legs to save his life.

(Stay tuned for more chilling stories of Mickey's revenge...)

~ Medagogue