Let's just say that a hitchhiking mouse can create a little excitement!

The hitchhiking mouse had yet to make his appearance.

We had just left the ranch some years ago, headed for town. My daughter (Keriann) was sitting in the back seat, her mother (Heidi) was driving and I was resting comfortably in the co-pilots seat, lazily enjoying the ride.

We’d only gotten a mile or two when I happened to notice the eyes and nose of just about the tiniest field mouse I’d ever seen.

That little hitchhiking mouse was peeking out from that small space between the drivers’ seat and the center console. I didn’t think a whole lot about it. In fact I thought the little bugger was kinda cute!

So, I just lightly (and ignorantly) tapped my lovely driver on the arm, and nonchalantly pointed at the face of the tiny little hitchhiking mouse, peering out from that little space beside her seat.

Big mistake, with BIG unintended consequences!

eeeeeeiiiiaaaah!

Dang near blew the windows out of that car! To this day, I still don’t hear so good on the left side!

Next thing I know, she’s standing on her seat, backed up against the door, her hands trying to push the roof off that little Ford Probe car, and screaming!

Screaming like her hand is caught in a door and her foot got snagged on a passing bus!

eeeeeeiiiiaaaah! ..... eeeeeeiiiiaaaah! ..... eeeeeeiiiiaaaah!

So, I jump up and stand on MY seat too! Backed up against the door and squalling.... "What? What? What?"

Now looky here, I wasn’t afraid of no fool little mouse. I just figured, the way my wife was carryin’ on, I must be missing something a lot more serious! Like a snake, or a badger or something!

Kinda spooked me, not being able to see what it was. All I could see was that cute little field mouse.

It would have been pretty funny right? Except for one little forgotten detail, the car is still moving away from the ranch, down that dirt road at 40 miles an hour!

There’s poor Keriann, maybe 9 years old, sitting in the back seat, watching through the windshield, her folks standing on their seats and apparently going completely insane, while the rest of the world approaches at 40 miles an hour.

Well, luckily, there is a happy ending. There wasn’t any other traffic, no deep ravines or other catastrophic obstacles......... just the bar ditch. That little car drifted over into that shallow ditch, which guided it like a railroad track, as it coasted to a stop.

As it rolls to a stop the doors fly open, and two crazy people scramble out, Heidi flailing out one side, me falling out the other.

eeeeeeiiiiaaaah!What? What? What?

“A m..........m...........m........m........mouse!”

“WHAAAAAT?” says I. “All that was over that little hitchhiking mouse? I SAW that! I thought you saw some vicious thing I didn’t!”

We nearly had to take Keriann to the emergency room for hysteria and respiratory distress, she was laughing so hard!

Don’t remember how long it took to flush that little critter out from under the seat, but we did finally make it to town ......... and I drove.

Moral of the story? If your wife is afraid of mice in your RV, and you camp where they live, you best drive!

If you enjoyed this story of my 'Back trail', and would like to read more, I've included it and many more in an ebook: Horses, Critters and Other Tales of a Cowboy's Life available in my 'Bookstore'... just click on the link!

Return from Heidi and the Hitchhiking Mouse to Goin' RV Boondocking