Of Mice and Women.

“First of all, this is perfectly normal and can happen to anyone.”

This was the mechanic’s response to my distress call about the mice that had invaded my brand new car last week. Indeed, these words did make me feel better as he detailed how to take back my car and prevent it from ruin.

Before I dive into mouse vs. car, let’s rewind to the end of the summer (the pre-mouse era). As it became clear that I may be living outside of a city for awhile, I decided to purchase my first car (!). For years prior I had been a subway and yellow cab loyalist. Not only was owning a car in a city expensive, but taking public transportation lowered my carbon footprint.

I wanted to find the car that was right for me. That was, shall we say, on brand. I googled “all-wheel drive cars with best gas mileage” to find a list of contenders (AWD was non-negotiable for me, due to an experience in a 2WD car involving a snowstorm and a torn off bumper). Top of the list: the AWD Toyota Prius.

I test drove a few cars on a Monday, and four days later I was the proud owner of a car that boasted 50+ MPG AND that I could drive to the mountains! I could be respectful of the environment and enjoy nature in all weather conditions! As a nerdy bonus, I got to experience Toyota’s legendary operational efficiency, about which I had read many business school cases. 

I knew that eventually I would get a dent or be rear-ended or hit a deer (#mainelife), but in the meantime I was enjoying the honeymoon period with my shiny, clean hybrid vehicle. Little did I know that the honeymoon would be cut short by tiny, woodland creatures. 

Mice can total a car. Because of the electric engine, hybrid vehicles contain many tasty wires for mice to chew on. This high-tech, engineering marvel can be taken down by a mouse. I bought this particular car in order to be environmentally-friendly, and it ended up housing mice for a few days — I hadn’t planned to be THAT friendly to the animals.

I couldn’t believe that mice had entered my indoor space. A car is a place for humans and pups only, I thought (and still think, mind you). We try to choose when we interact with nature, but so often that interaction is out of our control. There is a line that should be drawn, but the mice didn’t know that. They were just looking for a warm place to nest as the first frost swept in. As human beings, we take over natural habitats by building houses or even just walking in the woods. But when nature enters our space uninvited? That’s unacceptable to us. 

Mother Nature can take care of you and she can destroy you. Hurricanes. Blizzards. Wildfires. The list of natural disasters goes on, but don’t forget the smallest members of the animal kingdom that can also cause irreversible damage. Consider the mouse. 

I had been planning to write an entirely different blog post this afternoon. However, an hour at the mechanic and 3 hours of cleaning and mouse-proofing the garage and my car gave me ample time to think about how we can take every precaution to keep nature out, yet we can’t control the wild.