Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => OT Knowledge => Topic started by: clarion on 10 September, 2008, 11:06:21 am
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We had a mouse scritting around under the bed last night, and Our Kid saw it/anotherone in the lounge too.
Now, I like mices, mesen, and Butterfly does too, and I've spent long enough living in the country, where you'd expect a mouse intrusion at least once a year, and be grateful it wasn't rats, but I ain't keen on getting mouse poo over everything, or the gnawing.
Sooooo...
Bearing in mind that I am a Buddhist...
Anyone any solutions to the issue?
I'm talking humane traps & release plans (do they immediately find their way back into the warm, for example?)
Anyone?
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A cat! That way you'll know they won't be back.
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As a one time 'Small Game Hunter' my solutions tend to be death based (the little gits ate my left over Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi and crapped in my wok. It was me or them from then on).
If you go the humane traps way, remember to check them regularly. Long dead mummified mice smell really bad.
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Er...no. I ain't getting a cat. Not allowed in our current flat. If the plans for a share dhouse had gone ahead, we'd have had two, but right now I don't need any more difficulties getting a place...
But you're right - with a cat, the only wildlife you have is what they bring in (voles, shrews, sparrows, frogs etc)
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As a one time 'Small Game Hunter' my solutions tend to be death based (the little gits ate my left over Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi and crapped in my wok. It was me or them from then on).
If you go the humane traps way, remember to check them regularly. Long dead mummified mice smell really bad.
You're right that death-based solutions won't be deployed. And I concur about checking the traps regularly. I know too well that slightly sweet smell of mice decaying under floorboards, behind washing machines, etc....
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Humane trap and take it a long way away. I've had 'em return * from 25 yards away.
* Not from a humane trap but from the literal Jaws of Death, personified by Tiddles the Destroyer.
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So humane traps work, then? Are there many types available? And what is people's experience?
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Humane traps - like a square tube with a hinged door at one end - yes they work but you have to wait a couple of days for the mouse to find their way in. Can be better than real mousetraps, you often find the trap has sprung, the bait has gone, but no mouse.
Last one we had we caught it by hand rather than wait for it to find the trap cos we were worried the cat might get it first: One of those poster tubes, open at both ends down next to the skirting. Chased the mouse round then quickly shut both ends of the tube as soon as it went in.
Take it a long, long way from the house: for some reason they like to come back to the same house.
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Oh yes, if you go for the humane trap, peanut butter is the best bait, with meusli stuck to it.
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Do you have to bait humane traps? And what works best?
EDIT: Ta ;D
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A cat! That way you'll know they won't be back.
You jest! The mouse will definitely be brought back to you - in bits. :sick:
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Humane traps work, but studies have shown than mice are able to return having been released more than two miles away, and they can cross motorways and rivers to do so!
If you do use humane traps, check them every few hours, as the critter inside (it was always voles with us) will get stressed, dehydrated, and will start gnawing their way out.
Oh, and the humane trap didn't solve our rodent problem, but that was probably because we had too great a rodent population nearby. The only thing that made the voles and meece move out was the rat moving in. :-\
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Also, if you can, blocking up all the holes you can find (they can find their way in through holes that a biro could fit through) and being scrupulous about keeping all food sealed up, might help. Removes their point of entry and the food temptation.
I am so glad I don't have to persuade you away from glue traps. Which are wronger than a very wrong thing.
If Ellington The Rat wasn't so old, I'd send him over for a holiday (meeces don't tend to go where they think great big rats are lurking, just their scent means they tend to stay away).
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A piece of cheese.
A 4lb club hammer.
Patience.
HTH.
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Awww! I wish Ellington (can I call him 'Duke' for short? ;D ) could come for a holiday.
I am actually surprised that w ehaven't had more of a problem, as the supermarket next door throw out old rice for the pigeons onto the pavement outside. >:(
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Like NSTN, don't leave any food around. You don't want them dying in the house because they stink as they start to decompose :sick:
I am actually surprised that w ehaven't had more of a problem, as the supermarket next door throw out old rice for the pigeons onto the pavement outside. >:(
Is that not a H&S issue that could be brought up with someone, erm, like the council or some such body?
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We try not to leave any food around, and tidy up when we've eaten, but there is a 17yo random factor who might not always eat off a plate... ::-)
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You can call him what you like, he doesn't mind. Rob, for his own strange reasons, calls him Jimmy...
Good luck with the mouse situation. And I would have thought the council would have something to say about the rice thing...
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So humane traps work, then? Are there many types available? And what is people's experience?
Yes, we have used a see-saw type trap: mouse goes thru open door to eat the bait at the otherend of the trap, see-saw does its thing and door slams shut.
You need to release the mouse within a few hours or they die, and then smell nasty :sick:
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I was plagued with them in my flat a couple of years ago. I was almost demented with it; they were scurrying about the bedroom all night, leaving deposits on my pillows, it was awful. I tried snappy traps, ultrasonic repellers and humane traps, but they kept coming back.
You need to make the place as unattractive to them as possible which means ensuring there is no food for them - all food needs to be bagged or boxed or otherwise stored in a secure container and kept in the fridge or a cupboard. Don't leave dirty dishes lying around, wash them up at least before you go to bed. Block up all the tiny holes and cracks you can with something they won't chew through - steel wool, or polyfilla mixed with ground glass. A pregnant mouse can squeeze through a hole the size of a pencil end, so do even the tiniest gaps.
And - my piece de resistance - use peppermint essential oil. Buy yourself a big bottle and pour it liberally around the house, particularly on the places you know they use as routes. Do it at least twice a day to start with then decrease it and once they've gone, you can drop it down to once a week and then just whenever you remember. They hate the smell and they don't like walking across a pepperminty area - I saw it with my own eyes a couple of years ago when one of the little gits started to walk across my newly pepperminted hearth, squeaked, shot up in the air and ran away. Haven't had sight nor sound of one since.
Your house will smell like a humbug factory for a while though.
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Oi! You leave my friends alone. >:(
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We had them in our loft. The humane traps caught the mice but still more came. In the end we had to resort to poison - regrettably. This has solved the problem.
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I like mice. They don't really do any harm and the poo isn't a propblem - if I can see it, I can clear it up, otherwise, it doesn't matter. :)
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The problem with mice is that they chew stuff and electrical cables seem to be highly attractive to them. They've been the cause of more than a few house fires...
If you're releasing mice, don't take them to some piece of wasteland. They'll die. House mice are called house mice for a reason! Drop them off by the cafe on Clapham Common, no-one will be any the wiser!
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I like mice. They don't really do any harm and the poo isn't a propblem - if I can see it, I can clear it up, otherwise, it doesn't matter. :)
I know what you mean, but I can't help feeling that the meeces would be a lot happier somewhere else (and I might get more sleep ;D )
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I like mice. They don't really do any harm and the poo isn't a propblem - if I can see it, I can clear it up, otherwise, it doesn't matter. :)
The poo is a health hazard, especially when it's all over your pillow.
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I like mice. They don't really do any harm and the poo isn't a propblem - if I can see it, I can clear it up, otherwise, it doesn't matter. :)
The poo is a health hazard, especially when it's all over your pillow.
Or in your cutlery drawer.
The other annoying thing the mice did was nibble a hole in the bottom of a bottle of sunflower oil, which flooded and spoiled any food in the cupboards that the mice hadn't already pooped in.
At least all the rat did was dig up the kitchen floor and bite Wellesley's face open!
(The vermin levels were quite extreme in our property in the last few months we lived there. It was an old place, with lots of holes for rodents to enter. It was on a working farm, but that autumn the farm was left derelict, so there was no grain in the silos. Couple that with incredibly cold weather, and it meant that even the Pied Piper would have had to work overtime to get rid of all the rodents who decided to move in to our house for the food and shelter that winter).
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I like mice. They don't really do any harm and the poo isn't a propblem - if I can see it, I can clear it up, otherwise, it doesn't matter. :)
The poo is a health hazard, especially when it's all over your pillow.
Even I might clean it if it was on my pillow - otherwise it's only poo, it won't come and get you. ;D
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A chap at work said his folks had success with the ultrasonic repeller gizmos (in contrast to Kirst's experience). Possibly depends on make/model?
I'm considering something similar for the constantly yapping dog my neighbours can't/won't control >:(
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A chap at work said his folks had success with the ultrasonic repeller gizmos (in contrast to Kirst's experience). Possibly depends on make/model?
I'm considering something similar for the constantly yapping dog my neighbours can't/won't control >:(
I had an infestation a few years ago in my garage. I got one of the ultrasonic things, and fairly soon, there weren't any more mice! So my bike collection was safe from their evil little paws.
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But that might upset them! :(
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I know I'm going to put a few noses out of joint with this, and possibly lose a few friends.
But the solution to this vermin is poison, poison and more poison (actually - not that much - the first batch will suffice, especially if it is Neosorexa)
I too love all of the Baby Jesus's creatures, but that love diminishes rapidly when they present a threat to my health and well-being.
I kind of lose a little interest in the 'living side-by-side' thing when the prospect is that of me being ill.
Some good advice is offered in the posts above - some of it may even work - Not leaving food out is a definite biggee. The ultrasonic solution once did for me, although it didn't for the three households to which I subsequently lent the device.
The word "cr@p" was used.
I've tried most of the above mentioned methods - with varying degrees of success.
Neosorexa rocks! and could be your friend - just remember to wash your hands after putting it out - and no, they'll not expire under your floorboards (unless you live on a houseboat) it makes them thirsty, they'll go looking for water before they expire.
Sorry. :-[
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But they don't need to die :P. They can stay. :D I like having mice. Every now and then you catch one peering at you curiously, waiting for you to do something interesting, they're cool. Everyone else knows that we never do anything remotely interesting. :)
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Er...no. I ain't getting a cat. Not allowed in our current flat. If the plans for a share dhouse had gone ahead, we'd have had two, but right now I don't need any more difficulties getting a place...
But you're right - with a cat, the only wildlife you have is what they bring in (voles, shrews, sparrows, frogs etc)
And mice, which they then let go in the house and sometimes loose.
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They like your food.
They'll climb into it and then you come into the room to see what they're up to.
They get scared and as a result of which will shit in your food.
Other than that they're quite cute. ;)
Edit - cat is not the solution. Not unless keeping cat entertained surpasses the need to be rid of mice.
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And mice, which they then let go in the house and sometimes loose.
Ours had a small captive breeding programme at the last house. It was pretty mouse-proof so he brought voles in and let them go all the time. They grew fat and happy behind the kitchen cabinets; we'd be watching TV and look down and find one sitting by our feet :)
One wily bugger escaped the humane trap for so long that he was almost too fat to fit in the tube when he finally squeezed his way into it and got caught
I expecting the new house to be a haven for rodents come winter, as Kathy described. We've already got newts in the lounge and mice in the chimney.
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They like your food.
They'll climb into it and then you come into the room to see what they're up to.
They get scared and as a result of which will shit in your food.
Other than that they're quite cute. ;)
Edit - cat is not the solution. Not unless keeping cat entertained surpasses the need to be rid of mice.
This is why I only store food in sealed jars.
I used to live in a mansion with the larder in the cellar and we had all sorts of wildlife to share the food. The slugs were the worst. Therefore all open food here is sealed. :)
Therefore they aren't pooing in the food. (Except possibly leftovers in Stig's room, but that's his problem ;D).
So they can stay. :)
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So they can stay. :)
Fairy snuff.
But you share living space with the stig (http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:PV7qoWnivIkDlM:http://www.socialpicks.com/photo/name/2869/lil_stig.jpg)? :o :o :o
;D
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Mice are OK in the right place. The right place is not near humes. You can see the poo, but you cannot see the wee, and they are incontinant. Infestation is awful. We had them in loaves of bread, and cereal boxes once.
I tried humane traps but that just moves the problem to someone else. Safe and sure traps work well. Peanut butter as bait. Nine dead-uns in a week for my shed (they like the bird food).
Rats also like bird food, but are not so keen on guns.....
Worst of all was when we got mink. They chewed through the outhouse door and got in. Fortunately two of them were fighting just outside the back door as I was cleaning my 12 bore. I then invited the local mink hounds down to flush out any others along the river.
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More like: Stig. (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/clive-king/stig-of-dump.htm)
::-)
This is the pot calling the kettle black.
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Every now and then you catch one peering at you
They breed like nothing else. OK, so they are pleasant looking little critters but they quickly go from "every now and then" to over-running the place. They piss everywhere. They chew through things including cables.
If there is the odd one, not too bright, you might be ok with traps. But once the numbers reach a certain threshold I'm afraid Jurek is right.
[Edit: that's electrical cable. No need for concern about your brakes :P ]
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And never leave food (even crumbs) in your car. The wee beasties will set up home in your car, then you'll realise what mouse piss smells like! The smell never goes away - until you sell the car.
Not that it happened to me, you understand, it was err, a friend ..... :-[
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[Edit: that's electrical cable. No need for concern about your brakes
Quite. When they manage to chew through the cable, they get electrocuted, then warm gently for a while as the body fluids are boiled away - then they burn. Rodents are a disaster in a house, and they need to be dispatched. Mouse piss is also not funny from a health POV.
Never seen the point of humane traps for anything, unless you are going to look after that thing for the rest of its life. In a mechanical trap, it is dead in an instant, job done. In a humane trap, you'll release it far from its own territory where it will starve to death or be predated upon rather quickly. Humane trapping makes you feel better because you don't kill the animal - it still dies though.
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Rae, forgive me but you sometimes deliver in an entirely mercenary fashion IMHO :D
But, in this instance, I find myself entirely agreeing with you. :)
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In our last house we had loads of mice. I'd set the traps downstairs just before we went to bed, and by the time I was undressed I would hear at least one go off, so I'd go downstairs, dispose of the body, reset the trap... I killed dozens but still they'd come.
We never solved the problem: we ran away from it and moved house.
Sorry Clarion, I'm not into gratuitous slaughter for its own sake, but where our food and health are at stake, the buggers have got to go.
I've never seen any signs at all in this house.
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Never seen the point of humane traps for anything, unless you are going to look after that thing for the rest of its life. In a mechanical trap, it is dead in an instant, job done. In a humane trap, you'll release it far from its own territory where it will starve to death or be predated upon rather quickly. Humane trapping makes you feel better because you don't kill the animal - it still dies though.
It works for voles, that don't want to be in the house but have been brought in and set free. They're quite happy being put back out in the garden with their little voley friends. I know this to be true ;)
Same with woodmice.
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Mouse traps don't always kill instantly either. I remember the kids and Mrs Wow being upset when a trap caught a mouse by the leg and it screamed and screamed until Mrs. Wow whacked it with a shoe.
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Rae, forgive me but you sometimes deliver in an entirely mercenary fashion IMHO
I just tell it how it is.... ;D
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Liberal use of peppermint oil will stop them coming in in the first place, honest.
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I still think there's nothing better than a cat...
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I still think there's nothing better than a cat...
Way too much information
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I still think there's nothing better than a cat...
Way too much information
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Keyboard, screen and tabletop replacement please!
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But they don't need to die :P. They can stay. :D I like having mice. Every now and then you catch one peering at you curiously, waiting for you to do something interesting, they're cool. Everyone else knows that we never do anything remotely interesting. :)
I'm afraid I read that as 'you catch one peeing at you curiously...', which might be true, as it's well-known that they dribble pee all the time, not in organised batches, like us (most of the time)!
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This is a real mouse plague:
YouTube - Guinness Worlds records Worst Mouse Plague (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3RLmErp43k)
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Mice breed faster than anything and by the time you have noticed you have 'a few' around the place you may well fing you have a really serious infestation.
When I was a student we had a few - and frankly I wasn't worried because I too thought they were cute. Then suddenly they were everywhere and evrything was coverd in mouse shit. They were in the draws, behind the cooker, any dark place. All the cutlery was shat on, all the cerals shat in, anything left out for a moment got footprints and turds on it and the flat started to smell of mouse piss. They were nesting in the mattresses, sofas, behind skirtings - bloody everywhere.
Every time you wentintoi a room and turned a light on they would be there or scuutling about.
We had to move out, throw out all the furniture, get the council pest control in and it was horrid. I was so pleased to move on because the place smelt bad afterwards.
So I say don't make a home for them and as soon as you see one you know you have a few weeks to act.
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Well, I caught it last night. The munching in a bag in the bedroom woke me up and I grabbed it and emptied the creature outside. :) Hopefully he'll be happy enough out there and not find his way back in. Now we'll see if he had a family... ;D
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Never seen the point of humane traps for anything, unless you are going to look after that thing for the rest of its life. In a mechanical trap, it is dead in an instant, job done. In a humane trap, you'll release it far from its own territory where it will starve to death or be predated upon rather quickly. Humane trapping makes you feel better because you don't kill the animal - it still dies though.
I've got to agree. I'm not into killing fluffy things unless it's absolutely unavoidable, but if it's their well being or mine, the best I can do is to take responsibility for their necessary death and make sure it's as clean as possible.
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IM(sadly extensive)E, once you've seen one running across the floor, you've got an infestation, and nothing will get rid of the little bastards. Moving house can help.
Our Islington house ended up smelling like a vagrant's armpit, mouse poo everywhere, you couldn't leave a bag of shopping out for half an hour without finding a bloody mouse in it. They woke me up by prancing round my room all night (underneath the sonic repeller thingy), ate my flapjack, chewed the oven cable so we had no oven, and crapped in the microwave and I still don't know how they even got in there.
They regarded humane traps as a a little rodent version of Challenge Annika, were perfectly capable of retrieving Mars Bar from a non-humane trap without getting caught, learned to love peppermint oil, danced the night away to the vibrations from the sonic repeller, and bred fast enough that the poison didn't have much effect on their incredibly fast-growing population.
The only thing that worked was glue-traps placed cunningly across their usual paths, but that really is cruel so I didn't like to use those.
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We had them in the attic a couple of winters ago. I thought I could hear something but my girlfriend dismissed it as "birds on the roof". We went away for Christmas and when we came back heard them gnawing through *something* in the attic. We then knew something had to be done.
That something was Murder Death Kill on a grand scale.
24 hour poison x 2
Mouse traps baited with Nutella x 4
Number of mices killed in 48 hours: just 8 bodies recovered. I'm sure that there's little mouse skeletons left under the insulation.
Really, it's the only way. They are pretty little creatures but are a hazard to your health and sanity!
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I've just met a tiny teeny ratlet. Ever so cute, a little ball of fur 3-4 cm long with big brown eyes...and a naked tail about twice as long as its body :o
Luckily it was out in the yard, and though it was young enough not to be frightened of me, it soon scuttled off into one of the old barns
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Mouse traps don't always kill instantly either. I remember the kids and Mrs Wow being upset when a trap caught a mouse by the leg and it screamed and screamed until Mrs. Wow whacked it with a shoe.
Hire out Ms Wow as a Hit Person?
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I've moved onto moles if anyone needs assistance.
I am the mole-reaper.
3 in one week-end.
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Ooh dear. Either it's got back in, or we have another...
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By the time you see one, you've got hundreds. And they're breeding.
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Not necessarily. We have caught one at work, and the activity is down to a minimum. Rentokil chap said he thought that it was probably only one in the first place, so the fact that one spoor has been found means that we maybe have one left.
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When I were a lad and worked on a farm, we had a load of rodents. The farmer put down a load of warfarin for the rats and poisoned several farm cats through the Warfarin Recycling Scheme.
I remember one hen-house seemed to have a number of mice. The farmer had used a paper chicken food sack to block up a gap in a partition between the two halves of the hen house and I saw a mouse run in there. II tore the sack down and many dozens of mice came tumbling out, running around pursued by hens. If a hen caught one, she ate it. Very impressive!
So there you are, Clarion: get a hen. She'll eat the mice and you might get some eggs.
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Well, a hen is one idea... ;D
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They've overstepped the mark now. I've had a mouse in my Carradice chomping on a chocolate bar I'd put aside for this morning. >:(
Could be revenge for the trap I bought that they are carefully avoiding... ::-)
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Can I borrow Mrs Wow and her shoe? The mice are back in my flat. One was having the time of its life exploring this morning.
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I've moved onto moles if anyone needs assistance.
I am the mole-reaper.
3 in one week-end.
One of the most disturbing things I've ever seen was about 30 dead moles strung up on barbed-wire beside a field in the Scottish Borders....like some sort of warning to other moles....
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We have mice again, as well. Two dispatched so far!
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We have mice again, as well. Two dispatched so far!
With your avatar, I have this vision of you swooping down on them from above, before swallowing them and regurgitating their bones. ;D
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One of the most disturbing things I've ever seen was about 30 dead moles strung up on barbed-wire beside a field in the Scottish Borders....like some sort of warning to other moles....
I've seen that sort of thing - never really sure what the point is. I've dispatched 6 of the buggers now.
The mice are coming in for the winter - we have about 10 traps set in the attic, and I empty them weekly. I've been sorting the insulation and boarding it over. The amount of mouse shit is amazing.
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The cold snap and teh central heatring has triggered mouse action at our place. The cats are now working nights again. They line the corpses up each morning - 1 per human. Very touching except the dog blunders over and scoffs them.
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I'm pretty certain we left the wee beasts behind when we flitted.
And there's no new evidence at work, either :thumbsup:
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With your avatar, I have this vision of you swooping down on them from above, before swallowing them and regurgitating their bones. ;D
Yum, yum, yum. Belch!
(Actually we used the tried and trusted traps'n'poison. An owl would be far cooler!)
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One of the most disturbing things I've ever seen was about 30 dead moles strung up on barbed-wire beside a field in the Scottish Borders....like some sort of warning to other moles....
I've seen that sort of thing - never really sure what the point is. I've dispatched 6 of the buggers now.
The mole catcher was paid by the farmer to clear the moles, so the dead ones were hung on the fence as proof. It's an old tradition.
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It's an old tradition.
I always thought the severed tails were offered as evidence. Hanging them up just means that foxes will bugger off with them - as I found when one of my traps was dragged 100 yards and left with a well chewed mole in it.
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Saw two this morning and heard another one at the same time so it must be a proper infestation again. This lot aren't bothered by the peppermint oil, unfortunately, but they do think Sorex Mouse Killer II is delicious. I'm so stressed about it, I can't go through another 6 months of massive infestation like it was last time.
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Oh no. Can the council help? they do have a pest control bit, don't they?
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Last time I went to talk to Environmental Health cos they were upstairs from where I used to work. Their advice was "don't bother asking us to do it, we'll put poison down, come back a few weeks later to renew it, and charge you £80. Get Sorex Mouse Killer II and use it."
So I did. They do eat it and it kills them but I'd rather they just stayed away in the first place.
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Ah. Bugger. Good luck with getting rid of them this time.
We have a wee plug in thing that is supposed to get rid of them - Nutty recommended it ages ago.
I bought it earlier this year - Corvine saw a mouse a few times, and we heard some scratching in the walls, and I got all in a panic. And we don't seem to have them any more. I have no idea whether the noise is working, or they just went away...
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Saw two this morning and heard another one at the same time so it must be a proper infestation again. This lot aren't bothered by the peppermint oil, unfortunately, but they do think Sorex Mouse Killer II is delicious. I'm so stressed about it, I can't go through another 6 months of massive infestation like it was last time.
Need to borrow a cat?
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I had those ultrasonic things and I might as well have shoved them up my arse for all the good they did at keeping mice away.
Anth, I might resort to borrowing cats and just suffer the asthma as a price worth paying. My friend has a pair of Singapuras he'd be happy to lend out for a while (mainly cos they jump on his head in the middle of the night) but I think they're too stupid to catch mice. If I'm still having problems next week, I'll swap your cats for my Cycle magazine!
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I had those ultrasonic things and I might as well have shoved them up my arse for all the good they did at keeping mice away.
Careful this is going NSFW
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... but they do think Sorex Mouse Killer II is delicious. ...
I misread that as Soreen, and wondered why you were feeding malt loaf to them ... (http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/smilies/doh2.gif)
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Seems that there are a lot around at the moment. Must be ideal breeding conditions. I have trapped 11 in the last two weeks, including two today...
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You ought to free Pudleglum up from the carpentry duties (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=10447.msg182666#msg182666) so she can catch the mice
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My cleaner killed two yesterday by stunning them and then stamping on them. I'm delighted and suggested she change her title to cleaner and Mouse Killer Extraordinaire. Yay for dead mice!
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We have now left the (mouse-infested) building. :D
Finished cleaning and went. Lots of dust from the mice doing demolition work, getting between rooms, but all looks sparkling. Any poo the next tenant finds has been placed in an SEP field.
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My cleaner killed two yesterday by stunning them and then stamping on them. I'm delighted and suggested she change her title to cleaner and Mouse Killer Extraordinaire. Yay for dead mice!
How did she stun them? I have visions of a cleaner in a pinny doing a one handed handstand and juggling with her feet.
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She probably nagged them about my untidiness - it stuns me how cheeky she is to me when I'm the one paying her!
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I found a rat today, and ended up having to batter it to death with a hammer. It was caught in a mouse trap behind the dishwasher, but being designed for smaller prey, the trap only seemed to be enough to trap its head, rather than despatch it. It was scuffling about trying to get out, although I imagine having been hit in the neck by a mousetrap bar it was probably injured.
I've never directly killed a vertebrate before. I've ordered a bunch of easy-set rat traps just in case it invited some of its little friends along as well. They're a lot more straightforward than a hammer :-\
Regarding 'humane' traps: I was under the impression that was against the law to release vermin? What are you meant to do with the critter once you've caught it?
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I found a rat today, and ended up having to batter it to death with a hammer. It was caught in a mouse trap behind the dishwasher, but being designed for smaller prey, the trap only seemed to be enough to trap its head, rather than despatch it. It was scuffling about trying to get out, although I imagine having been hit in the neck by a mousetrap bar it was probably injured.
I've never directly killed a vertebrate before. I've ordered a bunch of easy-set rat traps just in case it invited some of its little friends along as well. They're a lot more straightforward than a hammer :-\
Regarding 'humane' traps: I was under the impression that was against the law to release vermin? What are you meant to do with the critter once you've caught it?
That's you, that is (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9nGyPz9uT0&fmt=18).
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Regarding 'humane' traps: I was under the impression that was against the law to release vermin? What are you meant to do with the critter once you've caught it?
If it's a grey squirrel, you *could* apply for one of the 200 release licences issued each year and legally release it some months later after all the paperwork has been completed (by which time it would be quite fed up of the humane trap, I imagine). But otherwise, kill it.
Either with bullet/air-rifle pellet to the base of the skull, or the more complicated but fewer-legal-complications-of-gun-ownership method of a half brick: put a large plastic/hessian sack over the mouth of the trap, transfer the vermin to the sack, work the critter until its head is secured in a corner of the sack and apply half-brick forcibly to rear of head. Works every time. Wear gardening gloves to avaoid being bitten through the sack.
If you get a squirrel, hang it for a day before skinning - it's much easier then - and substitute it for rabbit in recipes. No-one ever notices the difference if you take the bones out before serving it. ;)
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Or just bite the head off! :demon:
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Wear gardening gloves to avaoid being bitten through the sack.
Yes indeedy - having one's sack bitten through is, I'd imagine, extremely painful.
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I think the rodenty little fuckers are back, and what's more, they've hidden the peppermint oil. >:(