The Disappearance of Simon Snake and the Return of Marvin Mouse

If there's one thing I'm good at, it's being manly. A few weeks ago, I went out into the front yard to turn off the sprinklers for the year. I opened up the box and was a bit shocked to see a snake curled up around the valve. I may have released a little squeak, but I think I kept my cool pretty well. (It was just a little garter snake, but still.)

So what did I do in this situation? Well, the manly thing, of course. I went in and told Traci.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Ah, I'll just give him some time."

We went out and ran some errands and then I checked on him when we got back. He was still on the valve, though he'd uncurled a bit. I decided to give him some more time.

A few hours later, he was gone. I closed the valve as quickly as I could, in case he decided to reappear and attack me. Traci came out to check on me and said, "I want to see him...AHHH! I'm stepping on him!"

As startled as Traci, little snakey slithered off into the leaf-filled lawn.
---
Traci thought she saw a mouse in the garage a few weeks ago. I told her she was seeing things. When she found the mouse pooh everywhere, I was slightly more convinced.

Yesterday, she came running into the house. "The mouse is in the garbage can in the garage!" By the time I got out there to look, he was gone.

"He was standing right there on top of those bags!" To make sure he wasn't hiding, I took the can out of the garage and dumped it on the driveway. Sure enough, a cute, beady-eyed little guy shot forth and ran across the front lawn. See you around, Mr. Mouse.

I guess we were better friends than I thought. I just went to get something out of the garage. I heard some rustling, looked in the garbage can, and once again saw my little friend. I had no problem shooing him on his way yesterday, but today, in the blowing snow, I had some second thoughts.

Should I let him stay in the garbage can? Should I find him a cage and let him live in Paige's room? Should I smack him with a shovel?

I once again dumped the garbage can on the driveway and let him run off into my backyard. I'm sure I'll be seeing him again.