Jewel Dirks

When I am in the mountains, I am very careful to hang my food high and keep a clean camp.  Although I’ve never had a bear in my camp (that I know of), I’ve seen my share of them.  The animal that most frightens me, however, is a mountain lion.  Well, come to think of it, maybe it’s the moose that frightens me the most, in that I have been chased by a big angry cow moose.  

 In spite of this, the animal that has actually caused me the most damage is the mouse.  Frequently I find sacks of food I’ve left on the ground during my lunch or dinner being shared by these little fellows.  This last trip I was in an area with no bears, and so I didn’t hang anything.  Walking along the next day I reached for a snack from my backpack, and, OH! a mouse had chewed through the pack pocket and eaten most of my cookie, in addition to destroying the zipper.  

There are five little mice here, but streaming services don’t accept music less than a minute long so I strung them all together…five little mice holding on to each other’s tail!  The names are:

1. Moose Mouse
2. Mountain Lion Mouse
3. Marmot Mouse
4. Grizzly Bear Mouse
5. Golden Trout Mouse

These pieces were written in 1988, and remastered here.  To read about the rest of this story, including my attempts to record something in 11/8, click here.  In 1990 I was awarded the Wyoming Arts Fellowship in Music for these little pieces.