In my left-hand corner, I introduce to you Barrydale’s one and only, the four-striped field mouse. Weighing in at a shy 50 grams and measuring only 105 mm from head to bottom. A striped field mouse can run at speeds of up to 12 kilometres per hour. For the purpose of this piece, we’ll call him Jerry.
In my right-hand corner, put your hands together for the du Buy Jack Russell family. Wikipedia says the ideal weight for a Jack Russell is between 5 to 6 kilograms… well, let’s rather leave it there as those who has seen our pups would understand… In height, your typical Jack Russell averages about 250 mm and can reach speeds up to 60 kilometres per hour.
Very important to note is that Jack Russell pups were bred for hunting… For the purpose of this piece, we’ll call the Jack Russell pups, Jackies.
To paint a clearer picture, let me start by setting the background and atmosphere. The venue is Papa Joe’s Collectibles (R62, Barrydale ZA), with loads of steel shelving low to the ground, a stack of chairs for sale, a stable door leading to the house portion and Papa Joe’s workshop with access to the outside area for Jerry.
Jerry is a master in escaping and hiding. He loves to taunt the Jackies, leaving his smell all over the shop to craze them up. Every afternoon, after I close the shop front door, the Jackies go sniffing around in the shop, trying to locate Jerry. It takes a lot of begging to get them back into the house in order to close up the shop!
Recently, just after I let the Jackies in the shop, Jerry came running across the floor while the Jackies were hunting in an opposite corner. They totally missed him somehow! I must emphasise that Jerry is not your average field mouse and I swear he reached 48 kilometres per hour that day!
Jerry is a very cheeky and brave little mouse. He loves the Jackies’ dog food. While the shop is open and the Jackies are occupied with Papa Joe in the workshop, Jerry will pop his little head through under the stable door from the shop’s side, grab a dog pellet, stare you in the eyes for about 20 seconds, and then disappear back into the shop.
I personally even witnessed him tip-toeing through the shop to avoid making a sound and give up his position to the Jackies! He literally lifted his little body as high as he could and very slowly and softly, walked across the floor.
Readers, I kid you not; Jerry even behaves like a motorbike at times. He ran passed me in the shop towards the book shelf. When he came close, he turned his body sideways and skidded underneath the shelf. I could even hear the slight thumb when he hit the wall!
Most of the fun and hunting happens in Papa Joe’s workshop throughout the day. In his workshop you will find a pile of vintage cast iron windmill gears. These easily can weigh up to 10 kilograms each. Mommy Jackie is the biggest and strongest of them all. One sunny day, Jerry decided to hide behind the gears in the workshop.
The Jackies became so psycho and crazed, Mommy Jackie, with only her teeth, was pulling out the windmill gears one by one! She threw them behind her like they were as light as feathers! Oh my, and braai wood piles are the best hide and seek places for Jerry. Papa Joe would pack his braai wood very neatly (not blaming his OCD on this) just to have all the Jackies digging into the wood, having pieces of wood fly through the air.
On a “weekend day” for us, while the shop was closed, we heard a big commotion in the shop area. Jerry found his way underneath a stack of chairs in a corner and the Jackies could not reach him.
They were trying to pull the chairs out with their teeth! Daddy lifted one chair for them, and all went in diving, trying to find Jerry, who obviously escaped long time ago!
On another occasion, they got Jerry cornered between two shelves. Mommy Jackie pulled a very heavy saw stand off the shelf like it weighed a few grams. Needless to say, after each and every hunting episode, I have to restack and repack most of the bottom shelves in the shop!
Jackies are sturdy, tough, and tenacious but somehow, Jerry kept on evading them. This made the Jackies even more crazed! You don’t understand how many times since living here in Barrydale, did I have to pull the whole washing machine out of the corner for them! And if you dare to ignore, they start grabbing the outlet pipe and try pulling the washing machine out by themselves!
During another hunting stage not so long ago, I realised one of the Jackies weren’t hunting. Papa Joe was having an afternoon nap and I quietly popped my head into the room to find the other Jackie. It was such a precious sight to see and the tears built into my eyes trying to hold my laughter…
The Jackie was lying right next to Daddy with a very proud attitude and Jerry next to Papa Joe in the bed…
RIP Jerry, until the next Jerry!
