Talkabout

14/06/2008 @ 11:39 Jomo said:

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I am sorely in need of guidance. Where I live in a bed-sit attached to the house of rellies, I have developed a plague of mice. Little mice that run around in the bathroom at night when I am on the loo, and scare the – well, never mind.The question is this: What do you do with the mouse that you catch if you catch it in one of the “Humane Mouse-traps” that you now buy? (And which my rellies have given me to use). I remember the other mouse-traps, which killed the mouse as it was caught.I dread the thought of catching a mouse – what will I then do? Dear little dark brown creatures, so quick, so cute and so blasted dirty, the little devils – how do I then proceed? Answers please, folks, before I am face to face with a mouse in the trap. Help!
14/06/2008 @ 12:03 anne said:

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Hi Jomo - sorry this isn't an answer just another question. When I moved into my flat it had traps and poison. After finding one little dead body I had to get rid of them as just couldn't deal. Now I have unwanted pets. Where do you get 'humane' traps? What are they like? Can't you just open them outside and let the mouse go?
14/06/2008 @ 12:16 Jomo said:

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They got the traps at a hardware shop. And of course you can take the mice back outside and let them go - and then they just come straight back in again!
That's the problem - they like it here, it's clean and dry. And I am sure they like giving me a hard time. I picture them behind the skirting boards, laughing a plotting how next to give me a scare - one of them ran across the top of my front curtains, just as cheeky as you please - I shouted at it, but it paid no attention at all.
Not only dirty little critters, but bad-mannered as well.
14/06/2008 @ 12:19 Brown Bear said:

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Drop trap and mouse into a bucket of water. A quick & painless despatch. I put my dead mice out in the garden in the evening - owls or whatever are grateteful for the meal. BB
14/06/2008 @ 12:33 UMxx said:

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Hi Jomo,
Sorry I am laughing at Bear's response. I think the rellies might be just a tad worried about buying humane traps just to drown the little buggers.

I guess my solution would be to get a cat or a small tiger. At least it is within the norms of the animal kingdom. I don't really get the point of catching the mice to let them go again. In some ways the old fashioned traps were kinder - a quick snap would be preferable to drowning (in my human mind at least). The only other thought I had was to inquire at a pet shop to see if they needed them to feed pet snakes. Seems a lot of work though.

What did the packaging suggest?

UM xx
14/06/2008 @ 12:43 Jomo said:

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I am not sure that drowning them is as humane as the old trap-snap that killed very quickly. But thank you, BB, for the suggestion.
There were no instructions. Took me half an hour to find out how to set the buggers - and nearly lost a finger trying to push a pumpkin seed onto the little hook that brings the gate down - any suggestions for good bait? Someone told me Peanut Butter - but I can't seem to get it to stick - they just eat it without setting off the traps - do you think that they have a conversation something like this: "I say, m'dear, let's eat out tonight - let's go to that new Humane place, and have a free feed? Eh? Are you up for it, poking fun at the old woman?"
I can just see that, I can. And I am sure I can hear shrill mousine laughter. Where is Terry Pratchett with his Death of Mice when I need him?
14/06/2008 @ 19:16 Brown Bear said:

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Some recent research has revealed that cheese remains the mouse's favourite - something like 9:1 against everything else. BB
15/06/2008 @ 05:05 Jomo said:

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Mice: 5, Jomo: nil
They have eated the pumkin seeds from all the traps - eaten them IN the traps, leaving little pumkin seed shells for me to clean up - how rude. The trap that has cheese in it is a twist-and-set one, and they haven't set that off at all. They don't like my generic brand cheese, maybe?
Two big metal cage traps, seeds gone. Two little black plastic shut-and-catch traps, the seeds gone. One twist-and-set, cheese ignored. The 57 Oz cents snap and whack you're dead from Woolworths - they set it off once, as they stole the seed. When I reset it, with another seed, they ignored it all night. Is that Mice: 6, Jomo: nil?
I am not allowed a cat here, UM. And I am not allowed poison, as there are two dogs on the premises who might then eat the poisoned mice, and suffer.
I am thinking of trying to come to some sort of pact with them - train them to be a mice circus, or to pull wires down small holes for all you IT guys who have to fiddle with small stuff - waddya reckon? If only I could just talk to them - anybody seen Dr Dolittle lately?
15/06/2008 @ 10:05 UMxx said:

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Year ago when mice plagues used to move through the grain belt where we lived the land as far as I could see was covered with millions of mice running through properties and eating everything in their paths. The farmers came up with a range of tactics to deal with them.

This is an adaptation. Get a bucket - not an ice cream container but a proper bucket - put seeds, cheese, pumpkin, what ever you think the mice might fancy and put it at the bottom of the bucket. Make a little ramp - from a ruler or something similar so that the mice can climb up to the side of the bucket. They will jump in to get the food and won't be able to get out. They will probably squeek their little hearts out and wake you running around but you should be able to catch them like this.

Don't put the bucket in the same place every night and keep the food fresh. At the end of this you still need to work out what to do with the mice - I take it you don't want to kill them so I suggest you try to do a deal with someone who could take them for a nice long drive. Or give them to someone who is not squeamish.

Of course I find this chain of posts quite amusing and might be disappointed that the mice disappear. Have you named the yet?
UM xx
15/06/2008 @ 10:11 Jomo said:

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Thanks for the tips, UM - and so glad that my terrible plight is causing you so much mirth. Gotta be good for summat, eh! I have named them, there are @#$% & *()$%&^ & 09#7)+ & @$%@+@
16/06/2008 @ 12:22 UMxx said:

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Hey Jo,

Is this one of yours?

UM xx

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