Wednesday 25 November 2015

An unwanted guest

We have a mouse.  I say 'mouse' because although I know they don't live solitary lives, I don't like to think we have a family of them.  He's in the garage and he's a cheeky little thing.  The first we knew of his existence was a hole appearing in the bag of Coco's food.  Now, if Coco had been out there and got hold of that bag, there is no way that she could have made such a small neat hole, she'd have been head first in the top, so we knew it was a mouse.

So the mouse traps came out.  I don't like the thought of killing anything, even an unwanted mouse, so we have a humane trap which just captures them.  It's like a black square tube, slightly angled at one end.  You paste peanut butter on the end, the mouse comes in, the tube overbalances and a door shuts behind the mouse.  You know there's something in there, because the trap is lying on it's side.  With a happy mouse covered in peanut butter inside.

The first morning, we came down and the tube was on its side.  My husband was summoned, well, actually I screamed 'get in the garage now, we've caught it!'  He picked up the trap, took it to the nearby field and opened it.  But it was empty.  The peanut butter was gone so we knew the mouse had been in there, but how on earth had it got out?

The second morning, the tube is on its side again.  Again, nothing inside.  Very curious.

The third morning, the tube is on its side and as he picked it up, my husband said 'there's definitely something in there this time' and took it over the field.  It trotted off in a peanut butter haze and we reset the trap in case he'd left his brother behind.

The fourth morning, tube is on its side, something inside it but as my husband picked it up, the door flipped open and the mouse ran out, into the safety of the far corner of the garage.

It has not been seen since. 

Our garage is integral to our house and we have to walk through it to get to the utility room where the washing machine is.  Needless to say, I will not be doing much washing until that trap is on its side again! And you've never seen me park my car and run into the house so fast. Now, does anyone have a cat I could borrow? 

8 comments:

Ruth said...

I wonder hot it/they managed to get out? I like the thought of a mouse in a peanut butter haze!

Ruth said...

Sorry, that should read how, not hot!

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

Oh gosh, Deb. This would be my worst nightmare. I'm not afraid of spiders or snakes or anything, really...except for mice. I hope your unwelcome guest leaves immediately!!!

Alison said...

We had one a couple of years ago...to say I was terrified of opening any cupboard till it was caught (courtesy of dad, who was visiting at the time) is an understatement!! xx

Sian said...

I like your picture!

I hope you find it soon

Louise H said...

Living in an old house we have spent many a winters evening watching a mouse run from under the fireplace, across the lounge and back again (ok so i did scream the first time). I'm afraid we use poison (which we once found hidden by the mouse under a settee cushion - urghhh!). We have a cat now!

Sandie said...

It's good you have been catching them. One of my biggest anxieties is having a mouse run around in my space. My husband left the back door open in the summer and one ran into the lounge while I was peacefully watching tv. I immediatly ran from the room and shut the door with my husband and mouse inside! In the end I had to put on my big girl knickers and lend a hand, as the mouse ran behind the tv unit among all the cables. It took us about two hours to catch it - with me wearing wellington boots and standing with a large sheet of thick corrugated card as a barrier infront of me!
We used to have occasional mice before we rebuilt the house, and had to resort to using poison as sometimes they bred faster than we could catch them. I hope you catch the mouse soon and that it is not living there with a family.

Susanne said...

Hopefully by now, your mouse has moved on. When we used to live next to a corn field we would always get a couple every fall at harvest time. Hubby uses the humane traps now too.