I first saw our newfound tenant on a June night. I had been living at my place for just about a year, and we had only entertained human tenants until this evening. A couple of nights before, I detected evidence of our friend: While eating dark chocolate raisins, I found a few pieces with teeth marks. Of course, I didn’t immediately think, Teeth marks! But I wondered, Hmm, I wonder how the dispensing machine did that.

Two days later, I walked into our pantry and saw a mouse scurry across the shelf and into the cereal boxes. I think I screamed. I definitely jumped.

But I was not disturbed. Growing up, I raised rodents. I owned a hamster and two guinea pigs. Mice are cute. My only repulsion is, they’re dirty. They once carried the Black Plague.