Just lately we have had a bit of an invasion or tiny furry friends, which I wouldn’t mind too much, but they are inclined to eat my vegetables (these ones seem particularly partial to sweet potatoes) and electrical wires. They don’t seem to be tremendously toilet trained either…
I’m not one for killing creatures of any sort (nope, not even spiders) and fortunately neither was my dad. It was him who taught me this humane method of catching mice-es. I can remember him bringing one of the successful ‘traps’ up to my bedroom when I was quite young to show me the cutest tiny field mouse running around inside.
I believe (never say never) that I have caught all of the current army.. my record was four in one day… and now we seem to be tiny visitor free. However, I would say that once caught you do need to take them as far away as possible to release them, otherwise they are liable to return to the warm haven of your home. This was confirmed when one of our teeny friends damaged his tail and we were able to identify him from that twice more. I think he was a bit gullible!!
Anyhoo…. for those who are as soft as I am, here is my pretty foolproof method for the gentle capture of a mouse:
You will need:
A heavyish bowl
A piece of board – I use an old chopping board
A penny or equivalent coin
Flour and water paste
Chocolate biscuits
Method:
Spread a thick flour and water paste on to the back of a piece of chocolate biscuit
Stick the biscuit fairly high up on the side of the bowl – enough so a mouse needs to reach up and tug to get at it!
Turn the bowl upside down on the piece of board and balance the edge underneath the piece of biscuit on the penny. This is a little tricky but you will win with a bit of patience!
The mouse will be able to get in to the bowl without knocking the penny over, but will disturb it as soon as he tries to get at the biscuit and hey presto…..
You can then lift the board together with the mouse in the bowl and carry both outside where you can watch your unharmed furry friend scurry safely away!
Rebooting 
Brilliant! Have you tried this with peanut butter? That’s how I used to bait our cardboard traps. My daughter ended up raising mice for a bit after a school science project got out of hand….they are prolific breeders, for sure!
Oh no, I haven’t tried peanut butter, but that seems a good idea! My girls had pet mice. They did have hamsters, but they tended to bite and were considerably less entertaining than the mice, who were much more intelligent and inquisitive! Only trouble was, they don’t live too long. We had several tiny graves in the garden.. 😉
I’m not a fan of killing these rascals either so I definitely like this 😀
Good to hear. I thought I might be ridiculed for being such a softie!!
naw life is sacred no matter what form 🙂