Vole

Opening up my blog to that spider was just unpleasant, so I'm posting something more soothing. No spider bite so far, and I, and any other spider in my house, survived the night last night without incident.

However, my week this week contains not just one, but two wild nature adventures. Two days ago an ashen-faced girl approached me in the hallway and said a mouse had just crawled over her feet in the girls' bathroom. This disturbed me greatly, mostly because it was my planning period and I really needed to use the restroom. My first instinct was to find a custodian to kill it, but there were no custodians around. I could have gone to another restroom, but the idea of using another bathroom while a panic-stricken rodent was zig-zagging across the floor in the first one seemed irresponsible, not to mention dangerous.

Then I thought of Nina. Nina is the German teacher with whom I went to Germany last summer. This woman rocks my world. She loves animals - all animals; the woman adores slugs, rescues mice, and clasps wasps in her bare hands and sets them free. I don't understand her love for filthy little vermon, but I respect her for it, and I know I can count on her to rid my space of disgusting and dangerous creatures. I stepped into her classroom and told her I would watch her students if she wanted to go rescue the mouse. She took off without looking back and seconds later came back with this tiny creature wrapped in a dishcloth. It wasn't a mouse after all - it was a baby vole, a creature I had never even heard of until two days ago. We ooo'd and awe'd over it, and then, as gracefully as she came in, Frau threw the vole out of a second story window. She threw it out the window! We all gasped, a girl yelled, "You totally just killed the thing," and Frau ran to the window, saying, "No, that couldn't have killed it!" I'm pretty sure it died. I'm pretty sure Frau saved it from the girls bathroom only to throw it out the window.

Though I think it died, I told a heart-broken Frau today that it was probably alright. They don't weigh very much, so maybe the impact of a fall isn't very great. Maybe it stopped moving because it was just taking a nap. Maybe it was taking time to appreciate life after two near-death experiences.

Oh my goodness, I know this sounds sordid, but I was laughing so hard yesterday I was doubled-over. And I can't tease Frau about it, because she is upset about it. Oh, but I was crying I was laughing so hard.