Heaneyland!

Well, that was exciting

So I'm at the "sitting at the computer reading my e-mail" part of my morning routine when I hear an odd scraping noise in the dining room. I think, "What are the cats playing with now?" and go investigate. But Twyla is just sitting on the ironing board, not doing anything, and the noise is coming from the drop ceiling, and, you know...moving around. I think, oh, great, we have a mouse...I guess putting one of the cats in the ceiling as well is not a solution to this problem.

I go tell Rose about this, and she comes in, and then the mouse squeaks. But it doesn't sound like a mouse sort of noise, really, and then it makes the noise again and Rose and I simultaneously realize, dude! It's a bird!

Rose comes up with a plan -- if we prop open the drop ceiling, the bird will eventually come toward the light, and hopefully fly out the window (which we also open). I raise one of the panels near the window and the bird skitter-hops as far away from that corner of the ceiling as it possibly can. Rose pokes the opposite corner of the ceiling with the pokey end of the Swiffer and suddenly there is movement and the bird comes through the opening and quickly falls (with some perfunctory fluttering) behind the radiator! Suddenly Twyla is very interested.

We grab Twyla and take her elsewhere and try to grab the bird. It eludes me as I reach under the radiator and cuts out in the other direction, behind the laundry hamper. We move the hamper and it goes behind the dryer. We move the dryer and it nestles itself behind a pile of clothes and the nearby shelves. Finally Rose grabs it and sets it on the windowsill. It immediately flies across the street and sits for a while on the sidewalk (presumably stunned) before going on its way. Whew.

Twyla is still a bit sulky, though.