#humane traps

[dollsonmain]

Instead of the Mic.com link that leads to their website which is so script heavy my PC won’t load it (thanks NoScript), here’s just the video.

!!WARNING!!

There are graphic images of dead and mutilated mice in the related video previews if you click through to YouTube.

And here are some variations:

This last one seems to be the most effective, but does take more work to build.

[dragon-teapot]

He mocks me

[deweydecimalchickens]

I'm prepared to believe that mice you release in your garden just come straight back in again. I'm prepared to believe a few hundred yards. But now I'm seeing claims of 2 or 5 miles despite roads and sources of food and shelter and just... bullshit? How do people know? Can they tell mice apart? Cos I caught two in a humane trap today and the damn things were identical. I could not pick Bouncy or Jumpy out of a lineup. You just had more than one mouse to begin with.

Like don't get me wrong I know there's issues with catch and release like 'the place where you released them probably doesn't want them either' and 'they probably just die anyway' (which I try to mitigate to the best of my ability). But people talk like they're stalking you home like the bloody Predator and mate. It is a mouse. It burns a ludicrous amount of energy just sitting still. It has very small legs. It is not an endurance athlete.

I've found a study of deer mice but that's mice returning to the sole habitable building in a wilderness area, which is not the same thing.

[imdoingwhateverisnext]

What's Tickling My Neck?

When I was in college, I lived in a tiny trailer. It was the first time I had ever been independent. I lived alone; so no mom or dad to help me if I needed them (but they did live nearby). I loved the idea of having my own place, but living alone was scary sometimes.

One evening, I was watching TV and I noticed a small dark shadow dart across the floor. It ran from the doorway into my bedroom closet. A rat? Oh Hell No!

I told myself, 'It is just my eyes messing with me'. I had to believe this, so I could sleep. I watched TV until I was tired. I turned it off and drifted off to sleep.

I woke up in my pitch black bedroom, unaware of what time it was, but there was no sunlight coming through the window. I felt a tickling on my neck and my hair felt like it was being tousled. I usually kept my hair in a loose ponytail when I went to bed. This night was no exception. I stayed perfectly still as if I were paralyzed. I wasn't sure if I had dreamed feeling something moving my hair or tickling my neck. I suddenly had a horrible idea. What if someting was in the bed with me. I immediately thought about the thing I saw dart across the floor. Was it a rat? I didn't want to think about that. I continued to remain perfectly still. I could feel and hear my heart pounding.

I was imagining things...obviously. I was on my stomach with my arms under my pillow. I kept still and quiet. I felt the touch and tousling of my hair again! I was not imagining it! Oh my God, what was in bed with me?!

I jumped up from the bed and flipped on the bedside lamp. On my pillow was a mouse! What the fuck??!! I screamed! It stared right at me! I grabbed the other pillow and swatted at it, hoping it would run away. It ran from one side of the bed to the other. I grabbed a shoe box from the closet, and I caught it! This guy was obviously unafraid, almost tame! How? Why? Again, 'What the fuck?'

When the sun came up, I drove him to the dump and released him. It probably wasn't the best idea because I had a mouse problem for a year or more. I caught and released more than 10 mice over the next few months.

When I tell people this story, they don't believe me. I have no reason to lie. It is actually pretty gross. I honestly had a mouse trying to make a nest in my hair as I slept.

These are just one of the things nightmares are made of.

[deathbars]

Little man has been cONTAINED

We have named him Mr bean because he jumps like a jumping bean and it's p funny.

[dmollyc]

I use humane mouse 🐁 traps. I catch them and release them outside. Sometimes on the porch, because it's dark, raining or cold. 

My boss heard me talking about this. He then said, "if I was doing that, if release them in a field MILES from my house. They smell their way back if you just release them in your yard. 

my reply was, I could bring them here.

[overthinkingsoulcat]

Managed to humanely catch and release two little mice from my house in the past two days. They’re cute, but they keep making “messes” in my cutlery drawer. Their names were Fievel and Mercutio!

[dimlylitmealsforone]

Arthur thought that his plate looked rather smart. 

Soylent Green on the left, Soylent Pink on the right.

He had taken great care not to let either side touch. 

Arthur couldn't articulate why exactly, only that he had a distant sense of dread that something terrible would happen if the two hillocks of mush were to ever meet.

He left the food for a moment to go and empty the sticky mouse trap from under the kitchen sink.

 It was the usual collection of feet and tails-nothing exciting, like a Leprechaun or a Borrower.

Arthur returned to his dinner and wondered if the telephone might ring that evening.