Mouse on my pillow

Question
First, thank you for all of the wonderful information about mice that all the experts contribute to. What a great service you all do!

Next, onto my cute/disturbing dilemma:
I knew very little, practically speaking, about mice until last night at around 3am, which is when I first discovered this site much to my relief. It helped me so much, right off the bat.

I'm a little tired this morning because last night after going to bed and turning off the lights, I felt what I thought to be a mosquito hovering around my face. I blew my hair out of my eyes thinking that was it and then I could swear I saw something in my line of vision. Thinking it may be a spider or other sinister insect, I turned on the light switch and propped myself up on my elbow to look at my pillow, making sure I didn't have any crawlies going on.  Well, I had a "crawlie" that startled the pants off me and I yelped but at the same time was fascinated at this little tiny mouse staring back at me. Disturbed/fascinated, I didn't move but asked it why it was in bed with me and it chirped back and came out onto the pillow a little more to get closer to me!  I didn't have anything to catch it and wanted to keep an eye on it but it was too cute, I didn't want to hurt it in any way so I left it to go get some ridiculous "equipment" which did me absolutely no good.

I did locate it once it climbed off the bed and it slipped underneath my door and headed into the foyer.  Oddly enough, I always knew where it was because as I talked to it, it would chirp back.  I tried to lure it out with peanut butter, cream cheese and an apricot. It sorta worked but I wasn't fast enough and it seems, I disturbed our rapport enough that it wouldn't come out again so readily. I'm sorry for that, because I really wasn't trying to scare it but the idea of going back to bed with mice in the house that were obviously quite comfortable with me was a little too much as 4am.  So I kept on trying, eventually cleaning out the entire foyer, leaving the garage door open the whole time. So tonight, I either have the whole gang snuggling up or maybe just the one.

My question is (sorry so long winded, this just struck me as so unusual) are mice really that comfortable with people enough to climb into their beds or is this one special? Could it be a youngster? It was fast, not wobbly at all so I suspect not.  When it was on the bed with me, I reached out my hand and it came out but I didn't want to touch it just in case. Although I know now disease is rare, didn't want a bite to find out... :)

Should I be worried it will happen again tonight? In the cold light of day I feel utterly ridiculous, but seriously, I could not go back to sleep until the sun came up because I had read here that mice were nocturnal. Perhaps I scared it enough with my antics and it won't come back even if it had been inclined to last night?  Maybe if it comes back tonight, I will be more successful if I can keep from being such a spaz myself but the idea of meeting eye to eye, pillow face to pillow face just is more than I'm comfortable with and I need help with a plan of action.

Thanks for taking the time. I sincerely appreciate any guidance you can provide for me and Mickey. :) He's black and about 2 inches long, so no real threat but a tad unnerving to say the least.  My hubby is traveling or he'd have had a fit and maybe done something not so humane so I have the next couple of nights to help the little sucker out before he becomes the MICKEY, THE HUNTED ONE, for real.
Sincerely,
A respectful Mouseketeer

Answer
Dear Mouseketeer,

Black, huh? Hmmmm... well if it was dark grey it was a house mouse, and they don't carry zoonotic diseases (diseases that people can catch). If it was actually black, the question would be whether it was somebody's escaped pet mouse. I don't know what area you live in, and whether you might have neighbors who might have pet mice.  There are black wild mice living in some areas where coal is common, too.

It is unusual but does happen that a wild mouse decides to be friendly with people.  This mouse obviously wasn't very scared. Especially the chirping gives that away. Mice are supposed to try not to be noticed!  At that size it is a naive baby.  Even a tame mouse will often run away from a person when it is out of its cage, so again it's not impossible that it was a pet mouse.  

I can't guarantee that the mouse won't return tonight.  The best thing is to try to trap it.  If it visits again and is as friendly and lets you get near it, the easiest way is to put a toilet paper roll nearby, maybe with a bit of commercial peanut butter inside to make it more inviting, and when it is near the roll, go toward it so it scurries into the roll.  Then you can pick up the roll with one hand on either side, closing off the exits. Wear light gloves in case it decides to nip or bite you.

If that doesn't work you will need to try a more traditional live trap.  If it is 2 inches long, it won't be as easy to catch because it will be able to squeeze out of a smaller hole.  However if it is such a brave mouse it might not panic and try so hard to escape. You can pick up a live trap at a hardware or feed store. You can try calling a pet store too, to see if they carry any.

But what will you do after you catch it?  Well, do you want a pet? It sounds like this one would probably let you tame it. If you keep it for any time at all in a cage you must quickly give it a wheel.  Also once you have caught it you can see what color it really is. If you don't want to keep it, you will want to let it go someplace nice but far away from your house.  These creatures have roaming grounds of over a mile in size.  Find a wooded or grassy area over a mile from your home and let it free. If you want to be extra kind, leave it a stash of food.

Thanks for caring about the mouse!

squeaks n giggles,

Natasha