A recent alarming phenomenon has been the appearance
of rodent droppings next to my bed. I found two
the day before yesterday, and another one yesterday
the latter of which could not possibly have been there
on the previous day. This is alarming because it
indicates a repeat visit.

This is not the first time I've been invaded by rodents.
Mice, rats, and squirrels have all been successfully
killed here by cats or traps. The fecal material was
unusual in that I did not recognize it. It was
definitely not rat, mouse, rabbit, or squirrel.
There was a gopher in here once, and it bit me, but
that was when I had cats. It was a birthday present
dragged in by the cats. I don't have cats anymore
because of the coyotes.

This fecal material was long and thin, brown-black
in color. Likely a rodent, but not a rodent I've
previously encountered. It wasn't until today that
the mystery was solved.

I don't usually cook up a batch of wild rice, but
on a whim I bought a bag a few weeks ago. I spilled
a little on the kitchen floor and tracked it into
the bedroom. I didn't recognize it as wild rice
because I probably haven't bought wild rice in
20 years, plus I'm rather prone to leap to the
worst-case interpretation of the evidence. Repeat
night visitation by unfamiliar rodents, for example.