Cat and Mouse...

Strange happenings, should be used to them by now but when animals are involved it becomes a bit too weird.

On Wednesday Manisha, Katey and I had some things to discuss for work and a messy programme room that needed more space so we decided to combine the jobs and clean and discuss together. Manisha and I decided to start with the swaps box and the boxes and bags filled with specific country stuff for international nights and country banners.
I pulled out the box of American stuff to see what worth keeping and what should just be thrown out. When I opened the box Katey informed us that it stunk (like we didnt already know, we were closer than she was) and that it smelt like something died in there. Braving the smell I started going through it all, most of it was keepable but some we decided was worthless and should be chucked.
Just as I was about to reach for a bandanna to chuck I noticed that there was a weird furry brown thing on it - good thing I didn't grab the bandanna straight off as after closer inspection the furry thing turned out to be a mouse carcuss, mostly decompsed. Ick complete. No wonder the corner where the box was stunk so bad, and the box when it was opened. We grabbed the box and the bin and all the stuff that was in the bin and took it outside, then tracked down a man to throw it all out. Totally disgusted yet giggling at the fact that Katey was right and there was a dead animal.
We had to burn incense and candles to get rid of the smell in the programme room, and after some dicussion decided that we should continue going through the boxes and bags that were left as the chances that there would be another mouse - dead or alive - was very slim (though would have thought that with the first).
The real mystery is how it got in there in the first place and how long it had been there. At least six months as we didnt go into it and Sara, Gemma and Maddy left then at that would have been the soonest that anyone had opened the box.

Well that is the mouse explained, ready for the cat?

Last night, after finally falling asleep, I woke up to a strange sound. It sounded like it was coming from in our room. Turns out I wasn't imagining things as Manisha woke up to and asked if I could hear it. We was discussing whether it was a bird or what when one of us suddenly came up with idea of a cat. This may seem surprising that it took so long for is to think this but if you haven't heard a cat for over three months you might take a while to.
Then Manisha had the bright idea that it was coming from the wall, it was 1 in the morning. We then figured maybe it was coming from under my bed. As I was still in bed Manisha got up and looked under my bed for me. There was a black and white furry something there.
After a discussion on whether we could go and ask Mangesh (the night watchman) to get the cat out we decided that we could. Hoping he was awake and in the breezeway we went down to see him. He skeptically followed us upstairs and when he crouched down to look under the bed, he seemed surprised that yes there was indeed a cat there.
What followed was rather amusing. Mangesh trying to get the cat out, insisting that it would run left out of our room and straight outside. Believe it or not it turned right and ran down the hallway to stop and hide under the couch in the library. Mangesh then tried to get it to return back down the hallway to go outside (couldn't send it downstairs as the dogs were down there). It got halfway down then changed its mind and got past Mangesh who was guarding the hall again. Bubli (one of the dogs) smelled cat and come up the stairs (dogs not allowed up the stairs), and finally Mangesh got the cat out of a hole in a window in the library.
Also a mystery when and how it got into our room, but at least this one was alive, scrawny and mangy but alive.

Lets hope that is the end of our animal dramas