Cornershot

According to our front-of-the-house cat, Eli, we have mice.

We know this because he is suddenly paying attention to the stove, which he usually views as nothing more than an impediment to the arrival of his dinner because when I’m near it, I’m preparing our meal and not his. So we checked for droppings behind it, and it turned out he was right.

If our back-of-the-house cat, Molly — who is the back-of-the-house cat because of some unfortunate litter-box issues — were the front-of-the-house cat, we would not have any mice at all. Even though she is 15 years old and declawed, she is a mighty hunter, and can dispatch a rodent before the first squeak.

Eli, who is 9, finds plenty of entertainment value in watching them scurry around, but apparently would never think of raising a paw to them. Last time we had mice, he flopped on the floor and looked at us with an expression that clearly said: “Aren’t you going to take care of that?”

So we are going to set mouse traps. If they don’t work, we may have to rethink the feline living arrangements.

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