Man finds pillow top bed in mailbox! PART 1 & 2

On a fall sunny day, I opened the mailbox and to my surprise it looked like a mini pillow top nest had been made right on top of the mail. There were many leafs, long strips of grass, and fluff. In addition, there were strips of white paper shredded and laying on top. All this looked like a mini pillow top bed all swirled in a circle with an impression in the middle. It was obviously a connoisseur of comfort.

There were two questions that came to mind, what creature lives here and how did it get in our mailbox? I could see the mail was under the nest. It appeared to be vacant, but I was cautious because last year as I was reaching my hand into the mailbox a red wasp flew out and chased me down the road. It is a good thing no cars were coming or I would have been dead. Unlike most folks, if it had stung me on the head I would have blown up like a Halloween pumpkin on a fall day. You see, I am allergenic to bees and will automatically react without thinking. I once even jumped off a 10 foot roof, but that's another story for another time.

I carefully reached in and removed the nest out of the box. I could see that the mail had been munched on around the edges and torn in strips. I went to the mailbox three more times during the week and found a nest, torn mail and no sight of a creature. By now, I really started to wonder what was living here; perhaps it's a band of fairies that like to sleep comfortable on a pillow top nest. I thought, the next time I will bring my camera and take a picture. Part II of the story will be posts in the next few days.

Man finds pillow top bed in mail box – Part II

After about three weeks of finding a nest and no creature, on this day I went to the mailbox wondering if this will be the day that I will find out what is living here. I have learned that it prefers the Sears advertisements over all other mail. I'm thinking it's the softer side of Sears that makes the best bedding.

I have my camera in hand and I carefully opened the mailbox. This is different, I find two black sticky pads in the box and a nest built on top of the sticky pads. Hmm, it seems the mailman is interested in what's living in the mailbox too. This does bring up a question: Do all mailmen carry sticky pads with them or only in our area? Also, I was charged $5.39 for mailbox extermination. Have you ever heard of a Mailbox Extermination charge? I haven't, because I'm kidding. They did not charge me, but did provide the sticky pads for free. Now back to the story, I'm not sure how this creature avoided not getting stuck to the pads and was able to build a nest on top, but it is apparent, this is one smart creature. I cleaned out the box and hoped for a lucky tomorrow.

This is a new day and a new trip to the mailbox. I opened the mailbox and to my surprise there is a brown, furry, warm blooded, little creature, all curled up in the nest. It's a field mouse! I did capture this picture of Mrs. Mouse. Shortly after I took the picture, Mrs. Mouse scurried away to the back of the box and out through a small hole. I have now plugged the hole and have no longer seen Mrs. Mouse. With a little improvement and a few changes here and there, I think this could be a good children's story, "Mice in the Mailbox". Catchy, What do you think?