Mid December I posted that we had a mouse and I'd bought a catchem-alive mousetrap. Well, we still had a mouse two weeks ago. One day Joan saw him scampering along the wall from the kitchen to the living room.
The next day she had an arsenal of mouse catching weapons. No more Mr. Nice guy. Now it was no more mice guy.
There were two chic little white plastic mouse traps - variation of the old wooden ones that snap shut, but these you opened more like a clothespin. Much less danger of trapping your own finger. And there were sticky strips to put in their paths. Sounded awful and I mentioned calling PETA. She was undeterred. There's even something called 'better than cheese' that you put in the trap.
Long story short - the next morning there were two dead mice. One on the sticky strip and one in a trap. Now, it was my job to get rid of the mice. She was finished with her work. I rarely use the page break option - not even sure it will work - but I don't want to offend anyone with a dead mouse picture. [I had trouble with the page break option long ago when I tried to use it. ]
I did realize that most of my mental mouse images come from Walt Disney - particularly the mice in Cinderella which is what makes this so disturbing. But, while we'd never seen both mice at the same time, I was beginning to think we needed to end this before there were babies.
[I tried it and it didn't work on Safari or on Firefox. The right code is in, but there's no page jump option. If anyone has some tips, please let me know. Meanwhile, I'm leaving the pictures off. If you must see them,email me. I also did leave the page break code in, so if you DO see it, let me know that too. ]
The next day she had an arsenal of mouse catching weapons. No more Mr. Nice guy. Now it was no more mice guy.
There were two chic little white plastic mouse traps - variation of the old wooden ones that snap shut, but these you opened more like a clothespin. Much less danger of trapping your own finger. And there were sticky strips to put in their paths. Sounded awful and I mentioned calling PETA. She was undeterred. There's even something called 'better than cheese' that you put in the trap.
Long story short - the next morning there were two dead mice. One on the sticky strip and one in a trap. Now, it was my job to get rid of the mice. She was finished with her work. I rarely use the page break option - not even sure it will work - but I don't want to offend anyone with a dead mouse picture. [I had trouble with the page break option long ago when I tried to use it. ]
I did realize that most of my mental mouse images come from Walt Disney - particularly the mice in Cinderella which is what makes this so disturbing. But, while we'd never seen both mice at the same time, I was beginning to think we needed to end this before there were babies.
[I tried it and it didn't work on Safari or on Firefox. The right code is in, but there's no page jump option. If anyone has some tips, please let me know. Meanwhile, I'm leaving the pictures off. If you must see them,email me. I also did leave the page break code in, so if you DO see it, let me know that too. ]
[Yet another Feedburner problem. This seems to be getting all too common. Though I seem to have made it two weeks this time without having to post something twice. I add these notices for two reasons. 1. For those who found this post another way, I'm sorry if you were fooled into coming back. And 2. I'm also keeping track of how many times Feedburner takes more than an hour or two to kick in.]
Original Victor Metal Pedal mousetraps. Accept no substitutes! I will occasionally use a sticky trap, but that's really a slow cruel way to kill any creature.
ReplyDeleteSlightly modified traps work better- using a pair of pliers close the bait holder on itself- just give it a squeeze- to make a tube just a little bigger than a nail.
Bait by forcing peanut butter all the way through tube from both ends, so that all the peanut butter is inside the tube. It takes a fatal amount of work for the mouse to access any more than a taste of the peanut butter. Increase the attractiveness of the baited traps by removing all access to food other than the peanut butter in the traps.
If the bait is ever robbed from the trap without the trap being triggered then make the trap more sensitive by slightly bending the metal pedal where the wire is held to keep the trap set.
Anon, Thanks for your info. The white plastic trap is probably as quick as the Victor traps. I agree about the sticky traps. My wife was going to use the various options in hopes of getting something. The humane trap didn't catch anything.
DeleteSteve, a lot of us grew up hunting and fishing. Two dead mice are not a problem to see, but why? You have two dead mice. Check,
ReplyDeleteAs to the fact we humans are creating a mass extinction event in the world, our mouse population is the least of my worries -- when they compete, we delete! (Currently dominant, arrogant species we are.)
Basic stuff. Funny how we now could spend days pondering our little mice, but let's have Robbie Burns step in for us:
To A Mouse
On Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough,
November, 1785
Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murdering pattle!
I'm truly sorry Man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion
An' fellow-mortal!
I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen-icker in a thrave
'S a sma' requet;
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't!
Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
Its silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's win's ensuing,
Baith snell an' keen!
Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,
An' weary Winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.
That wee bit heap o' leaves and stibble,
Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!
Now thou's turned out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the Winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld!
But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best-laid schemes o' Mice an' Men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!
Still thou are blest, compared wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I cannot see,
I guess an' fear!
Robert Burns
Ah yes, a reminder of one of the few lines of English poetry that many Americans remember -
Delete"The best-laid schemes o' Mice an' Men
Gang aft agley,"
I did rather enjoy watching the mouse scamper around, but I was beginning to get concerned that there could soon be many, many more.
The percent of hunters who read this is probably lower than the percent of vegetarians. I thought I'd give folks a choice. But I couldn't make the break page function work.
Thanks for the Burns!