I
was working over at the shop Monday. Rocky and Gunnar had finally
got over there a couple of weeks ago and done whatever they needed to
do to stabilize the framing so I spent the day doing the final
cleaning of the last of the torn out rooms in order to start moving
all the boxes off the big work table since, apparently, we aren't
completely retired after all. We have two jobs waiting for after the
first of the year. I had put them off with my very appropriate
excuse of still recovering from the flood and both were willing to
wait til then.
I
had been back in the storeroom part of the shop at least once or
twice earlier but when I was getting ready to close it up I
walked over there to turn off the light and saw this very small furry
little creature in front of the opening to the storeroom that I am
certain hadn't been there the other times I was back there. It was
laying very still but on a closer look was alive.
An
infant rat I surmise. This poor little thing, barely 2” excluding
it's tail, was on the cold concrete, much too young, young enough to
still be nursing though it's eyes were open. I looked around for a
nest which I found no evidence of. It was hungry and cold and lost.
I put on some gloves and picked it up, cleaned the dust and cobweb
off it's little face and it started nosing for a nipple. Broke my
heart which is crazy since if it had been a full grown rat I'd have
wanted to kill it. What to do? I finally got a shallow box and put
an old t-shirt rag in it and put it in there so at least it wouldn't be
on the cold concrete and maybe the mother would come looking for it
though I imagine the mother is the one that carried it out of the
nest and left it to die for whatever reason wild things do that.
Went
over to check on it yesterday morning and it was not in the box, had
climbed out and was once again covered in dust and cobwebs.
So I cleaned it off again and put it back in the box. Went back about mid afternoon and it was nowhere to be found.
