Volcanoes and mice, who would have thunk it?!

On April 17th I was meant to leave for Alberta Canada but due to this Volcano in Iceland that did not happen, the strange thing is I think Harry knew it was not going to happen as well...

The night before when I put him and Elspeth to bed I was talking to them (as I do, call me mad) and Harry walked to the crate door and took my hand in his mouth which was a bit odd and then he put it on the floor or his crate and proceeded to bury it in the pine litter...

It was all very odd. He used one of his paws as a guide of where to nose the litter up to which he never does with his toys...He then peed on the litter he piled on my hand, that I did not like but it was also odd as he uses his litter tray 99% of the time (the other 1% is when he misses as Elspeth is in there or I am cleaning it out.). After he did that I took my hand out of the pile and left the room to wash my hands. Harry was not happy with this, the whole time I was out of the room he gekkered for me which was odd as I always put him to bed at the same time and he knows that is bed time.

I probably should not have but I went back in to see him and quite him down. He was being really sweet which he is more and more the more time I have him, he let me pet him and scratch him behind the ears, even brush him. I then gave him and the sleeping Elspeth a piece of duck jerky (home made) and went off to bed.

That night my partner said he heard nibbling under the bed, I thought he was hearing things so rolled over and went to sleep. I was then woken up by him turning on the light and saying that there was something under the bed. He put down one of Harry and Elspeth's treats and waited with the lights out and the treat vanished!

He then decided he was going to pull out the wicker drawers from under our bed to find this 'something' and as he did so I saw something run past the foot of the bed out the corner of my eye! It was the size of a mouse.

I am a bit soft when it comes to mice, I really do like them and I could not bare to put down a humane trap only to come back from Canada (at this point the plane was still meant to fly) and find a mouse starved to death inside it so I was going to leave it until I came home.

Well at 4am I went to check to see if the plane was going to fly and it said the dreaded word 'CANCELLED'...Lovely....

The next day I talked to someone of the exotic keepers forum about what to do about this mouse, it seems that wild mice are nowhere as nice as fancy mice and can really cause some damage to your house and what not so it is best to catch them ASAP so I put down the humane trap filled with stuff I know my African Pygmy dormice like.

On the morning of the 19th I was getting ready and Harry and Elspeth were out and about as normal. I left them loose when I went to brush my teeth. Harry ran down stairs to his bedtime crate faster then I have ever seen him run and started digging in there.

I put him and Elspeth in their crate so I could go out and sort out a refund with the travel agent.

Upon my return home Elspeth trotted out of the crate like normal and out of the room looking for my partner but Harry was sat at the back of the crate looking shifty. I climbed into the crate to see what he had. He turnt round, rummaged in the kitty litter and emerged with a dead mouse in his mouth and a smile on his face.

I am quite honoured that he showed me as normally if he hides something he will not show anyone but that day he wanted to show everyone how he had slain the evil mouse who was intruding in Mummy and Daddy's room starting with me.

Today is the 27th and I only yesterday managed to get Harry to allow me to take his mouse off him. I thought it was quite cute how he was so proud of it he did not even eat it...Bit icky as well though.

Bed time crate

On April 17th I am going away to Canada for a family wedding at Lake Louise in Alberta but guess who can't come? Yep Harry and Elspeth so they are going to be babysat by my Dad. Last nigth my partner and I moved their sleeping crate into our spare room so they could get accustomed to not having us with them 24/7 and sleeping in a different room.

It was so hard to collapse and carry their Great Dane sized crate to the spare room, especially as Harry and Elspeth wanted to know where their bedroom was going. I decided as I was putting it up from scratch that as so many people have asked what exactly is in their bed time crate I may as well show you so here we go!

Well as already stated this crate is made for Great Danes, I shall get the measurements when I find a tape or yard stick.

Their bed is made from a foam pillow, two metal bars and a pillow case.

I have bent the bars so that they hook onto either side of the crate but. Before hooking it up I get a pillow case and cut the corners off to thread the bars through and then I stuff the pillow in. This creates a sort of hammock for Harry and Elspeth as the pillow hangs between the two bars. The bars and the foam pillow give the bed integrity and thus make it easier for them to get onto it.

(Pillow hammock prior to being put up)

(Pillow hammock in place)

Harry and Elspeth also have a small kitty carrier with no door on it to sleep in. They both enjoy playing hide and seek in it and it also gives them another way to get into their hammock and a sort of cave to hang out in. (I say hand out as neither of them sleep in it very often.) I did originally have the crate just placed in there but have started to use cable ties to hold it in place and onto the bars as during play Harry would often spin it whilst Elspeth was inside leaving the door facing the bars of the crate and Elspeth in a foul mood. I filled the kitty carrier with some straw last night for a change from their blankets only to this morning find Harry eating it which made him sick (literally) so I have removed it now.

Annother new addition is that I have put skirting board all around the inside of the crate and thus made it possible to cover the floor in wood litter. I did this as Elspeth likes to dig and even though I have a lovely big tractor tyre filled with sand in their outside enclosure she will not go into said enclosure to use it and that would make far to much mess inside so I decided this would be the answer. The two of them still use a litter tray to toilet in but with different litter inside so they know the difference and Elspeth can dig until her hearts content.

Lastly is their food dishes as they have their evening meal in their crate, litter tray and their toys of which the current fave is rubber treat dispensing ball. I am sure I forgot something...Oh yes two beautiful foxes!

On and just as I thought this was really funny this is how my partners T-shirt looks after 15mins of petting Elspeth:

(Bye bye blonde!)

TTFN!

Extreme makeover

(Elspeth left Harry right)

Today I am writing to you all from within a cloud of fox fur. Do not worry , no one is hurt but I do seem to be gaining at least two more foxes in fur that is coming off Harry and Elspeth.


The two of them are currently shedding allot as they are undergoing a total colour transformation from their fluffy winter coat of blond and white to a light weight summer coat of red and orange.

Unlike a dog however they are not shedding their undercoat but they seem to be loosing their top layer of fur which I found to be quite odd. Everywhere that they have a large clump of fur that looks ready to fall off when I brush it out or they groom it out there is this vibrant red.

(The first patch of orange on Harry's back)

The texture of this coat is very unlike any other summer coat I have felt on an animal, it feels quite woolly which again I would not have expected.

The two of them look quite odd at the moment as they have random long and short clumps of fur and patched of red and orange.

I took a couple of photos of them cuddling up in bed last night as I think it looks so very cute, it is often hard to tell where Harry ends and Elspeth begins.

(Elspeth and the back of Harry's head)

Good night!