Mice and Company

[Chuckles]

I think mice are soooooo cute don't you, I've seen a couple on the top of the compost bins lately when I've taken the lid off ;D they look at me and then scutter off, bless them they are such cute little things.

Mmmmmm, I've had a huge change of heart in the last few days. The little so un so's have been in the shed and rummaged through my seed box and had a feast. I had a variety of seeds and seedheads on the worktop in there drying out. Well, I did have, the little beggers have had a right party eating Sunflowers, Aquilegia, Cucumber and lots of other seeds Can't believe they even ate the tiny garlic bublets I'd saved I tried to salvage some that had been scattered about but there were dropping all over the place too, YUK.

Then to just rub salt in the wound, I got the mower out and put the canvass grass collector bag on, started mowing only to have grass cuttings blowing out the bag at my feet and legs. You've got it, 3 holes made by my not so cute furry friends.

[4pygmies]

Chuckles...they are rodents you know.....what are you like?? Although when I was watering the GH today with a hose spray a teeny little mouse shot out of the strawberry runners, did a quick hop skip and jump over the chilli pots, did the wall of death over an old bin I keep the tools in and then teetered on the edge of a spade before disappearing down into the bag with all the old fleece in. Then blow me if she/he didn't do it again and end up sitting under the trays of dead plants looking at me. Quite a sweet little thing.....and that's from an avowed and passionate rodent hater.......although I shall have to find somewhere else to overwinter my plants and corms now.....

[oldmoleskins]

I had the tops of some basil seedlings nibbled down to the compost, and thought it was a slug til I saw a hole in the side of a sack of birdfood I keep in the GH... an epicurean mouse, no less.

Anyoldhow a liking for crunchy peanut butter was its ultimate downfall...

Concrete floor and tight-fitting door - it must have got in through the side vents, shinned up a handy bit of comfrey and in like Raffles.

OM.

[Dr Bill]

Little so and so's wrecked my lawn mower a year or two ago - nibble through the wiring. Shame it wasn't plugged in

[nightowl]

Unlike slugs and snails, which are easy to hate, mice are sooo damn cute aren't they!!

And just like their close relative, the r*t, they are soo damn clever!!!

[thecleaninglady]

Eek! I can't stand them, dead or alive. I am shuddering just reading these posts.
We had one in work a couple of weeks ago - I didn't see it, but when I heard about it, I went so pale, everyone was worried about me.

[Deleted]

I was in the garage two nights ago looking for something and one got so startled it started shreeking and almost scared me to death. I couldn't see it, but I sure could hear it.

Newt

[Spruance]

I used to have a pet mouse when I was about eight, and remember being devastated when it died.

I don't think I would be quite so keen now though and fortunately we don't seem to be troubled by them outside. I suppose that's the one advantage of Poo Cat's regular visits.

[Plocket]

I don't mind them outside in the garden but I HATE it when they get into the garage. The little whatsits seem to be able to climb up anything

[Weeterrier]

My cats bring in mice every night, sometimes dead, but mostly alive. I am now really good at catching them. They brings voles too, once a rabbit. I think they are all cute, but then, I even like slugs and snails.
Chuckles, I opened my compost bin last week to find a little pair of eyes with a very startled expression. Bedding down for the winter.

[Barbara]

mice made a nest in my hubbies trainers that he keeps in the shed,
and they ate through the cushions for the swing, we used to keep them in the shed to.
but they are sooooo funny to watch in the garden,
they pinched my grandsons cheese sandwich that he had put down while he played in the sand ;D

[Jonah]

Yikes, reading this thread has got me very concerned for the trailer tent tucked up in the garage. Time to purchase a deterrent methinks....

[oldmoleskins]

Heard about a new Rentokill service this morning: they have a box trap and Bond-style infrared beam, which when broken by mouse entry, closes its doors, injects a puff of carbon dioxide and snuffs mousey - then sends you a text... presumably "Congratulations!! We gottit!!"

OM.

[Barbara]

oldmoleskins said:

Heard about a new Rentokill service this morning: they have a box trap and Bond-style infrared beam, which when broken by mouse entry, closes its doors, injects a puff of carbon dioxide and snuffs mousey - then sends you a text... presumably "Congratulations!! We gottit!!"

OM.

[Cheerypeabrain]

They are sweet...but pesky

Our cat Priya is an ace mouser........and where there are mice....you know there might well be rats....EW!

[Weeterrier]

Fortunately, mine are pretty little field mice. ;D I have never seen a rat, thankfully, but I suppose they must be around here somewhere.

[oldmoleskins]

weeterrier said:

Fortunately, mine are pretty little field mice...

When I was at school, oooo, about 1743, we had a glass case with some stuffed mice and a mousey home, a ball of woven stems in some wheat or barley stalks, about a foot above the ground. "Harvest Mice" they were called... does anyone know if they still exist? And (a question I never thought to ask at the time) where do they go when the corn is cut?

OM.

[Barbara]

i know harvest mice are britains smallest rodent,
i suppose they hide in any hedgerows when the field is being harvested

[andy]

Damn things...they get into our cupboard under the stairs by coming up from under the floor through a hole for the central heating pipes. A piece if chocolate or some peanut butter usually prooves to be too tempting for them on a trap though, and our cat Daisy is a superb mouser.

[Chuckles]

Pesky little blighters have now had a bag of grass seed I'd forgotten I'd got. Scattered it everywhere Saw two again today in the top of the compo bin.

They are cute but the traps will have to come out if they don't behave in the shed ;D

[Chuckles]

Ok enough is enough the little monsters have started chewing at the plastic container I put the grass seed in.

Bought 4 traps today because I couldn't find the one's I had, shed tidy up and you can't find a thing

Trapped my finger in one as I set it the blasted thing went off

2 traps set with a Sunflower seed in each and for extra temptation althought I don't think they'll need it, I've rubbed chocolate across the wooden trap just below the seed. Mmmmmm they won't be able to resist ;D BTW did you think I was going to waste a chunk of choc on them, I ate that ;D

[purplejulia]

Hi Chuckles
I tried peanut butter on mouse traps and cheese and they didn't go for it. What do you do with the dead bodies? I am very screamish!
PJ

[Chuckles]

Oh that doesn't bother me PJ as long as they are dead I can pick them up. Normally by the tail and then I'll throw them over the hedge into the field. I caught a live one once and they do give you a nasty nip

Daft as it sounds I'll feel terrible when I have to trap them, coz I'm a big softy really

We've had them in the house many a time and I put up with them until they get naughty and start to do damage, like they are in the shed at the moment. If only they had stayed in the compo bins I'd not have set the traps

[carolann]

Our 3 cats are always fetching mice home but last week I was in the GH and the old cat was sat outside when I heard a scream, I flew out telling her to put the bird down then saw it was a stoat she had caught so I told her to kill the little bugger I dont want it going for my chickens seeing as I have 5 little chicks now. The little black one fetches rabbits, squirrels and young ducks home, anyone would think he never gets fed. The other cat hides its mice under the carpet at the top of the stairs which can be tricky when walking up and you stand on a lump.

[Weeterrier]

You are right Chuckles, if only they would stay outside. If they come inside and chew the wiring in the house, it can lead to very costly electricians' bills.
And Carolann...........Last time I took one of my cats to the vet, he told me off because she was too fat. I had to point out that it wasn't my fault, as she eats so many rodents I can hardly lift her, she is so heavy.

[Chuckles]

So, I've just been to check traps Scores on the doors (as Bruce Forsyth would say)

Chuckles 0
Mice 2

The traps had gone off and the sunflower seeds had gone, traps now reset. Look out mice Chuckles is gonna get you come hell or high water she is ;D

Sounds like I could do with borrowing your super cats Wee and Carol ;D Love the lump on the stairs Carol ;D

[Shrubrose]

Mum went into her wooden bread bin one evening - it was one of those with large round ventilation holes at the back. She took the bread out and noticed it had been 'chewed'. She looked into the bread bin to find a mouse stuck in one of the holes, his rear end and tail facing her. He'd obviously been thin enough to get through the hole but following his feast on the bread had swelled to such a size that he couldn't get out again! Dad extracted him and let him go at some distance from the house. No doubt though he would have come back!!

[carolann]

Chuckles try baiting the traps with soap. In Winter we get them coming in through the waste pipe in the kitchen and they always head straight for the block of soap, don't know why as soon as I see signs of them then the traps go down with pieces of soap on and I always get my mouse.
Carol.

[jean]

Cold chips are good too Chuckles Seen a variety of live and dead this week, the cats are on the case. My seed box in the PT has now been moved indoors and they were getting nibbled.


At my last house we used to put peanuts in a feeder on a quince which was right outside the house and at night used to watch the baby mice climb up and feed, that was before the cats

[Rosefriend]

A few years ago the buds of my climbing Hydrangea was being eaten by something and I found out eventually that it was mice. My first thought was to put cheese in the traps - they never touched the stuff. Then I tried smoked bacon - got all 6 of them!!

Keep trying Chuckles, you are bound to find out in the end which cuisine they prefer.

RF