This is probably the 7th pair of Miz Mooz boots I've ordered through Amazon over the past 2 years or so, and as per usual, they are beautiful. They're comfortable, fit well, and are so stinkin' stylish. I adore Miz Mooz and like that I can find them discounted on Amazon Prime.However, they were strangely packed this time and weren't traveling alone. Let me explain.As I noted, I've ordered from this company via Amazon before, and in all other instances, the boots were packed in a Miz Mooz-branded box inside a slightly larger cardboard box taped with Amazon prime tape. This time, the boots were in a plain, hinged box that was way too big for them, that was inside a ridiculously large outer box. Not a big deal, but the strangeness didn't end with the boxes.I pulled the paper out of the right shoe and tried it on. Perfect fit, and oh so cute. Now, to check the left one to be sure I got a matched pair. As I reached into the left boot to pull out the paper, my hand met an unusually soft item and I thought you'd upgraded your packing material. But no! When I withdrew my hand, I was staring at a dead, flattened animal. The critter is about a foot long, pointy at one end, with dangly legs and a tail at the other. I was horrified. WTF? Why is there a dead animal in my boots? Is it actually dead? How recently was it alive? And how the hell did it get there? I'm not usually squeamish about anything, but this was so totally unexpected, I found myself a little freaked out. I was glad I was down in the garage when I had opened the box; I grabbed the boots and ran in the house, leaving the critter there to ferment or do whatever it would do next, well away from the watchful eyes of my two cats.About 20 minutes later when I'd pulled myself together, I went back down to the garage and seeing that the animal had not moved, I concluded it was well and truly dead. I inspected it again and realized it had been preserved--emptied of its contents, flattened, and sewn shut. This is when I noticed that it didn't have forelegs, only hind legs, and that its eyes had been replaced with plastic eyeballs that lend the critter a dopey, slightly confused look. Clearly, this critter had not met his demise inside the boot. He hadn't been a factory worker's pet who went missing, more likely he fell off a mink coat somewhere.I started to feel something other than revulsion, and the name Melvin popped in my head.I took to Facebook and Twitter with pictures and my strange tale and Melvin was an instant hit. Between the empathetic horror some readers felt and the bemused confusion of others, Melvin had claimed a position of power among my friends and followers. A mustelid star was born.I'm not sure about Melvin's exact origin story, but his next chapter will be broadcast over social media. He's declaring his candidacy for president later today.