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[Nov. 18th, 2005|08:40 pm] |
Rupee Cohen-Handy Mouse
aka "Little Squirt"
aka "Mouse With Great Spirit"
2003 - 2005
Don't tell the other mice this, but Rupee was my favorite. Ever.
Before we brought home Rupee and Twix (seen in the top picture), Syriel was the alpha mouse. Syriel was almost all-black, could do just about anything, and was fearless. That is, until a Siamese new kid on the block, half her size -- initially called "Bunny" due to her big ears -- terrorized the holy s*** out of her. I ad-libbed a silly lecture to her: "you can be a good mouse, or you can be a bad mouse. It's your decision, but we want you to be a good mouse." Christy thought I was on crack.
Bunny's tendency to mount all the other girls led us to the absolute certainty that she was a he, for just long enough for "his" new name, Rupert, to stick. When we finally realized we'd been fooled, we feminized the name best we could. In other words, this mouse didn't approve of the name "Bunny" and tricked us into renaming her.
Photographing Rupee was kind of pointless; her essence was motion. In the wheel, she was just a floating, legless body and the sound of a motor. One of her funniest poses was when she would sit on top of something and droop her head down like Snoopy pretending to be a vulture. Another hilarious thing she would do is sit upright and clean her tail by holding the base of it up to her mouth with her front paws and working her way down to the tip.
Early on, she would run for cover if we so much as walked into the room. But she quickly learned that we were the good guys. When she developed severe congestion last year, she would sit right in our hands for as long as we could hold her. She refused to let the illness bring her down. She hacked and wheezed violently until she could get everything out, and then would go right back to running around. But as it was getting pretty bad, a vet trip was in order.
Most mice are pretty docile at the vet's. They wriggle a bit, but will sit still for long enough to be examined. Rupee would have none of that. She was the worst patient imaginable. "F*** this s***, I am f***ing OUT of here", she seemed to say. She kept leaping from the vet's hands with no concern for how high up she was. The vet moved her from the table down to the floor and still couldn't get a stethoscope on her, not even once, not even for a second. And this was while she was sick. The vet's immortal comment: "She has a strong survival instinct." And that she did.
Through the first year of her life, she lost a lot of cage companions, all of whom had to be euthanized for various reasons. Shortly after her congestion episode, the last of her playmates had to leave due to a ruptured tumor and massive bleeding. For maybe one or two days, Rupee was alone. And she went obsessive-compulsive. She turned the whole cage into the most ridiculously overdone nest/barricade. She was really lonely, and it showed. So we brought home Nina and Zora.
In stark contrast to the usual territorial behavior, Rupee was delighted to have new friends. We'd never seen a happier mouse. She followed them around excitedly, appearing to say "Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! I'm Rupee, who are you??" -- it was like she had gained a new sense of appreciation for other mice. To make life even better for her and her new family, we built a much larger and better ventilated cage with an elevated platform and wire mesh walls to climb.
For the past year, these three plus a fourth mouse, Minna, have been the perfect family, and Rupee got to live a whole new life. She lived past the two year mark, which is very old for a mouse, and is the first mouse we've had who died of old age, naturally, managing to avoid euthanasia (anything not to go back to that place). Over the last few days, she had slowed way down, and by this evening she was mostly lying out in the open with her eyes wide open, occasionally managing to move herself a quarter inch or so. I had a final chance to visit her, and I told her how proud I was that she chose to be a good mouse, and that I believed she would be rewarded for it. Then Christy and I stepped out for a few minutes. By the time we came back in, Rupee had maneuvered herself into the cardboard box to die peacefully.
I believe Rupee was exceptional in a lot of ways. Words to describe her: intelligent, sensitive, expressive, emotional, determined, spirited, independent, hell-raiser, attention-craving, excited, alert, appreciative, loyal, and ultimately loving. As Christy said: "She wasn't just a 'good mouse' in the sense of 'being good', she was also good at being a mouse."
Goodbye, Rupee. Be good!
Update: Saturday November 19
Rupee was buried this sunny autumn morning at Mount Hope Cemetery, right next to a small tree. On the opposite side of the tree is a small fragment of stone, possibly marking the grave of another small animal. |
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Rupee my Rupee.
I don't know what else to say.
My condolences. May the great spirit of Rupee live on.
I was just talking about my Gerbil "Nutty"(1972-1974) earlier on. Still can't bring myself to get another pet. Apparently as well hamsters get the winter blues.
Sorry for your loss.
Thank you for this wonderful writeup. I knew you would write it better than I could.
As we always said, every moment for Rupee was like Christmas morning. May every moment of whatever comes afterward be Christmas morning for her as well.
What a sweet mouse. What a sad post.
I'm always impressed by how strong and how different animal personalities are. I loved my gerbils so much as a kid, and then my bunny (who died and broke my heart, he was a fighting spirit). My cats will hopefully last forever.
From: (Anonymous)
2005-11-25 03:27 pm (UTC)
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We get so attached to our pets because they are a part of our family.
You have done a great memorial on Rupee. | |
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