Chatterbox Wednesday

All this talk of mousing is very topical. Last night I noticed some chewed plastic packaging in the kitchen, pointing towards the unwelcome presence of MacMouse. Now that we no longer have cats* I need to do the mousing myself, and I'm worried that humane traps won't do the trick. We've tried them in the past and the mouse always kicked the shit out of the trap and escaped, getting stronger every time because we were feeding it.

The other problem is that they need to be released far away from the house, otherwise they'll be back in no time, and the Preferred Mammal is no longer mobile enough to drive the car most of the time. I can't drive, and I'm not taking a taxi to release a mouse. There are limits.

I've ordered some poison from Jeff but the delivery might only be tomorrow or even Friday, so I'll go and see what Homebase can do. I also don't have any boursin in the house, so some shopping is in order.

*Only the younger cat was useful as a mouser anyway. I only managed to get a live mouse off the cat once, luckily it was only lightly played with and I was able to release it. The older cat had no interest in live mice, but was once seen playing with a dead one that its colleague had killed, who clearly thought that this was totally pathetic.

Luckily we never had to do a mercy killing of a mouse caught by a cat as Mr Tent Rooster's method had been learnt from his father** and brings out his Zulu heritage: just stab the mouse with the historical assagai that had seen action at Rorke's Drift whilst muttering violent threats in Zulu. What works on a Welsh Regiment also works on a rodent.

**Later in life Mr Tent Rooster Sen. got a bit more mellow and released any mice he caught on the racetrack of a nearby leisure centre, although there was always the worry that the mice would use the opportunity to get fitter and jog back home.

The trouble with poison is it can lead to dead mice decomposing in inaccessible places. The spring traps tend to work quickly, but they do need to be regularly checked, and aren't for the very faint-hearted. Nutella tends to work very well as bait.

The humane traps worked very well. Jeff done good.

I can recommend Garlic Boursin as bait.
The mouse was very calm in the trap, eating cheese. It did not seem at all stressed, even when moved. There was no scurrying or squeaking. Just a deep appreciation of good cheese.
Mind you it didn't seem very stressed when it was snuggling with the teddy bear either.

Yes, the poison is Plan B, which is why I'm not worried about the delayed delivery. Plan A is spring traps.

I wish just like in Luigi's Mansion I could simply vacuum them up, even turning them into money in the process.

I grew up near to this place and my friends had jobs making their traps when I was a teenager.

ratpak.co.uk/rodent-control/rat-traps/victor-power-kill-rat-trap

I don't think there are humane though.

Bratwurst.

Mousechat! We are visited by the occasional woodmouse, though they have never come into the house, due to dog. They like the garage, as it's where the sack of wild bird food is, and will help themselves to the peanuts and sunflower seeds whenever possible. I've not caught them in the actual act, but finding my wellies full of discarded hulls is usually a giveaway. Last winter I found an old nest of theirs made entirely out of strips of black paper. It was a while before I found that they had completely stripped the cone out of a 100w 12inch celestion PA speaker.
They might be annoying, but they have good taste in classic British audio equipment.

This is truly amazing. 😎

TOOTTM: Japan tomorrow. Suck it nerds.

Well done!