I was now using a very large terrarium along with the Habittrail enclosures. There was a toy castle in the center. It had a moat, a drawbridge, and, best of all, a secret trap door! I would watch some unsuspecting young mouse climb the castle steps, step on the door, and CLICK! Down it would drop to the bottom floor with a loud squeak! After a couple of times, though, it would be using the trap door deliberately as a short cut. These little guys are smart. My little foofoo dogs can’t figure out how to get from the den to the living room.

The terrariums ended when we discovered that the mice were catapulting themselves off the drawbridge and out into the house. I switched to the totally enclosed habitats. It was a relief for my husband to have the mice in enclosed mouse houses. We hadn’t realized yet that the little buggers could open the little plastic doors and eat through the plastic tubes.

I kept redesigning the habitats. I acquired quite a number of them, with about a mile of tunnels. When I claimed to my friends that I was just showing consideration of my rodent community, they accused me of playing Goddess! I mean, really!

The group dynamics are fascinating. I don’t get to know any mouse in particular, but I could see how their society functioned. There was a structure which was both complicated and intricate.