A mouse ran up Lisa’s pant leg

I was recently driving up a long driveway to visit a friend south of Waseca. The property is surrounded by set-a-side, cattail sloughs, ditches, and agricultural fields. A caravan of brown critters was plowing across a snow covered field. I pulled out my binoculars–I always carry them–and observed four muskrats in the snow. What on earth were they doing? Muskrats don't hang out in snow-covered fields. I concluded that, with our drought and low water, their pond had frozen out and they were hunting for a new home. I'd like to share some once-in-a-lifetime animal and critter stories I've encountered over the years. 

Number one happened at the C.I.S., the former high school building along Elm Avenue where I taught for years. You can enter the building from the middle courtyard and get to the principal's office. Noon hour duty was over and I came around the hall corner to climb the three sets of stairs to my room on the third floor. There in front of me was a deer, a medium sized doe, slipping and sliding on the waxed floor. The doe had entered the courtyard and jumped through an office window, trashing the office and sending secretaries into a frenzy. Lou Gusts, a secretary, opened the office door and the doe ran out into the main hallway. Gary Meurer, a longtime Waseca teacher and coach, our head wrestling coach at the time, was in the hallway. Gary maneuvered a wrestling hold on the doe. I'm a basketball guy, but I'll call it a full Nelson. Gary subdued the panicked doe, I opened the door to the courtyard, and Gary calmly ushered the confused creature through the door. Out she went, racing across Elm Avenue back to home in the wilderness. 

We resided at 613 7th Ave N.E. For many years. Our house was directly across the street from Hartley. My late daughter Katie had some friends over for a sleepover, all of them little, giggly, pigtailed girls. They were out playing in the front yard and came running in the house screaming “There's a beaver under the front steps.” I went out and, sure enough, there was a large tunnel burrowed under the front steps. I got a big live trap out of the garage, the girls put some carrots and lettuce in the trap for bait, and we waited. Twenty minutes later we had the critter, a great big woodchuck. It was in a frenzy, clawing, hissing, and attempting to free himself from the trap. The girls all knew I was a hunter and insisted no harm come to their new friend Woody. I told them I'd take Woody for a nice little ride in the country. They insisted on riding along with their new friend. We went out to a game management area south of town with Woody riding in the back of the pickup. I had the girls stand back, opened the cage door, and away went our captive, snarling back at us over his shoulder. The girls jumped, giggled and celebrated as Woody raced off to his new home. 

I was driving to work at the CIS with my wife Lisa, who also taught at the school. We pulled up to park in the west parking lot and Lisa opened the door screaming: A mouse had run up her pant leg. She shook the mouse back into the car. There are many people in this world who are terrified by mice; Lisa is one of them. I immediately contacted a custodian and we set two Victor mouse traps in the car baited with fresh cheese from the cafeteria. We had the little critter by lunchtime. Dave had nice quiet rides to school the next couple of weeks because Lisa was busy holding her pant legs down.

Another time, it was summer and I was busy painting houses with my painting partners. We were brushing away at the Dankert house, located close to the Waseca County library. It's a big, three-story structure. High on the top story we were removing some shutters when we revealed some bats. We were spraying with white paint, high on the third-story peak, which featured a vent with wooden slats. Out came a couple of bats. Not a great experience, starting to shake while hanging onto a 40-foot ladder. At least one of the bats had been sprayed with white paint. A week later I was returning some books to the library for Lisa in the evening. Although not so much anymore, we used to see bats flying around all over Waseca as the sun was setting. A couple of people were standing on the sidewalk in front of the library. One of them said to me, “Now there's something you don't see every day, a white bat, maybe an albino.” I didn't share my painting story and walked away thinking, I sure know where that bat came from. 

Over the years I've observed many critters on the streets of Waseca. Raccoons going down drain holes, opossums in a tree, even a red fox sunning on a golf course green. Next time you're on a walking trail or just out for a ride, keep your peepers open or binoculars handy. You just might experience an animal or critter story to share with family or friends.