I've declared war!

[treeturner123]

It brings to mind an announcement some 10 or more years ago as I was standing on a VERY chilly Evesham station platform to the effect that the first train in the morning (at 6.45) was cancelled as the wiring in the diesel engine at Hereford had been chewed through overnight by rats!!

Phil

 

[Dodge]

BUT>>>>>whilst the early bird may well get the worm..........the second mouse gets the cheese/chocolate/peanut butter

How true!!

 

[Jonzjob]

We had what turned out to be a single mouse. Several tries with a humain trap failed as the little sod got away, so a simple sprig trap sorted the problem. He was in our main food cupboard!

lanemaux I just wish that we could have loads of grass snakes here. They are beautful things, but we do get a number of ladder snakes, a cousin. Lovely things and always send me running for my camera!

 

[lanemaux]

Are they not quite decorative though? Really John , we are quite proud of some of ours. Some find them disturbing. I admire the sharp colours (black with either yellow,orange or red stripes) as well as the fact that they are harmless to humans. Mind you it is the size of ours that puts some off. When we first moved in I went to the back door to bring in some of my shop items as the back door leads into the cellar. As such ,the path leads down between earthen berms. I turned my head and very nearly let out a shriek. The head and first 10 inches of a meter and a half specimen was eye to eye with me. I became quite fond of that snake and nicknamed it Gertrude (long story there). It was out back most every day just before noon to sun itself. I have named a dozen or so others as well for various traits, my favourite being Lucky who seems to have survived a run in with a lawnmower and is about 6 inches shorter for it. Not a few of them top a meter or so, and while I admit it was initially a bit unnerving to sidestep them on the way to the mailbox , I would now miss them were they absent.

 

[Losos]

What waters me off Mike is the fact many seem to prefer poisons so that they don't have to deal with the corpse.
If push comes to shove the old fashioned 'break back' trap is quick and deadly.

Roy.

I entirely agree Roy, I gave up on poisons and the 'humane' traps long ago, the former at best leave dead bodies under the floor boards and the latter I found never work.

I'm also not much in favour of the 'old fashioned' trap, as shown in the OP, they are difficult to bait and even more difficult to set properly.

By far the best IMO are the Rentokill 'Clam shell' type which are bigger and have an automatic setting procedure which only requires a foot on the lever, and to bait them a little 'bait bucket' unscrews from below, so there is no need to fiddle around trying to get chocolate or cheese on a stupid little spike (and it never stays on unless you wire it on which takes ages)

Because they are bigger and the mouse has to get right under the 'shell' before it triggers they are 100% effective, death is instant, unlike the old 'traditional' types where I have had the mouse caught by one leg and running around in circles which made me feel sick.

Finally I made a pair of long tongs so I can lift the dead mouse of the trap and into a bucket and the whole operation from baiting and setting to removal of mouse is done with out the need to touch any part of the trap OR the mouse. This Autumn I caught about 20 (mostly in the workshop) and since then have not seen any.

 

[Losos]

We had what turned out to be a single mouse.

I would be very surprised if that was the case, all the books I've read, and all the people I've talked to, and all the forums where the mouse problem has come up have said that there will never be a single mouse.

My experience also confirms that, we live in a very rural area and I've never had just one mouse (Unless it was the last of the tribe that was caught)

 

[Jonzjob]

Well, since we caught the one I thought the same and put another 2 traps out in where we were sure they were, including where we caught the first. We have had no more caught and no more damage from mices. That has got to be about 5 weeks now..

So th eonly conclusion we can come to is that there is only one? Correction, there WAS only one :mrgreen:

 

[devonwoody]

Tidying up the garden this morning I found a drowned mouse in one of the watering cans. I expect it was empty when it crawled in, got stood upright and then it rained. I wondered were my friend had gone the past week, he used to clear up the peanuts laying around.

 

[Benchwayze]

Dont let Melinda see your replies.. :wink:

Provide more straw or sawdust. :mrgreen:

I get field mice in my shop from time to time, but they soon depart if disturbed.
Thus far I haven't had any damage because of them. House-mice are more of a problem and if I see those, I have no compunction in killing them. But I favour an instant despatch if possible. So traps or the Jack Russel for me.

John

 

[wobblycogs]

Old style traps for me too. Seems cruel to poison them compared to the instant death a trap provides. The traps we've got have a little trough rather than a spike for the lure. It's easy to fill with peanut butter / cheese and then set the trap, I think we got them from B&Q. We briefly had a rat in the house too which we got with a larger trap. The spring on the rat trap scares me, I reckon you'd break a finger if you got caught in it.

As for the dog, bleedin' useless. She smelt a mouse once, had a stab at getting it, realized she couldn't and so just gave up.