Erin has been busy. As if looking after to mice wasn’t enough “fun,” three mice is now even “more fun.” But I get ahead of myself…

It all started a few weeks ago. Scarlet (the white one) was losing patches of fur. Uh oh… Then she wouldn’t (or couldn’t) eat. Unfortunately, things moved pretty quickly from there, and before we knew it, Erin was dealing with a little creature in its final death throes. Which left only Linda (the black one). Linda was always dominant, perky, cautious, and energetic. But she really didn’t like being all on her own. She needed a friend.

Calling around to local pet stores didn’t provide a ready female companion. Lots of male mice, which was out of the question since Erin seems to know enough about the “mice and the bees.” Finally one place had females. So Erin bought two. “Are you sure that three mice would fit in that tiny little cage?” she was asked. “Of course… no problemo,” she answered. Well…. yes and no.

Turns out that even female mice can be somewhat territorial, especially around their “nesting” area. The cage was home to Linda, and she really wasn’t keen on sharing it with newcomers “Stella” and “Rose,” both of whom have beautiful “jersey cow” cream and brown colouring. Initial meetings in the cage resulted in chasing, nips and lots of squeaks. Erin was frantic! “Why can’t they just get along?”

After some hair pulling and Internet research, a strategy was worked out. They finally agreed to “play nice” outside of the cage. Linda was still aggressive within the cage, so Erin put a cardboard divider down the middle. Linda seemed fine with that, and hopefully won’t go completely psycho sometime during the night. Erin plans to introduce holes in the cardboard, and hopes to finally get Linda to accept the newcomer scents and make friends. We shall see…

Never a dull moment. Who needs television?