E For Effort

D for Determination.  F for Futility.  A little mouse mama is trying so hard to make a nest and I keep wrecking her project.  It is unfortunate that she has chosen the wrong place and the wrong materials.  I use a natural fiber bristle brush (similar to the brushes men used to use to shine their shoes) to brush down the goats every morning, and keep it close at hand on a block between the wall studs.  Over time, it has accumulated soft undercoat hair deep in the bristles.  Some days ago, I noticed a little pile of fluff and stuff in the corner behind the brush as I went about my chores.  It fell on the ground and I thought no more about it.  The next day, a mouse jumped to the ground as I picked up the brush.  Sometimes the girls will toss a bit of grain about and, let's face it, seeing a mouse in the barn is no surprise.  I brushed another pile of stuff off the block.  When I found the same mouse and the same small pile a third and fourth time, I actually looked at the stuff and then looked at the brush.  Mama had been systematically chewing away the bristles on the back side to get at the undercoat hair and trying to build her nest.  She's nearly destroyed the brush in the process.  I really do give her credit for ingenuity, but I need that brush.  Even after all these days of losing all her work, she doesn't give up.  I certainly don't want to be responsible for a homeless little mouse giving birth in a back alley somewhere.  I've got to go to the feed store today.  Maybe I can find a back-up brush and another place to keep it.  S for Sucker.