Catching a Mouse

[canarybird]

We've had a mouse living in the warming oven at the bottom of my big oven for some time!

I haven't turned on the main oven for about a year to do any large scale baking or roasting as I have a smaller countertop oven that does the job just as well. We found bits of the insulation of the big oven laying on the floor of the warming oven (which is underneath at floor level) ) as well as dry cat food pellets behind the sofa in the living room!

Behind the stove we also found a small potato and an eggshell both of which displayed chew marks.

Minnie, the cat, who loves to jump at anything that moves, especially lizards, hadn't shown the slightest interest in hunting down the little creature, but we did see her sniffing at floor level in unexpected places, so we knew we had an uninvited guest in the house.

We bought a humane trap in the hardware shop, one of those little cages with a spring trap door and after being sure that there wasn't a single crumb of food to be found on the floor or countertops of my kitchen, I laid the trap with bits of dry catfood in a piece of mesh. Waited two nights with no luck. So I added a piece of fresh ham....another two nights with no luck. Then I bought some English cheddar and put a small chunk on the bait hook. Waited one night and then.....VOILA...this morning at 7 am I found our little intruder frightened and inside the cage.

So as soon as it was light I covered the cage with a towel, put him in the trunk of the car and drove him down to where the waste ground begins, where walkers begin the trek to Bollulo Beach, and where the wind gliders jump off the cliff over north Puerto de la Cruz.

I chose a thick bush under which some birds were scampering along the ground, bent down and lifted the trap door.
Little creature hesitated a moment until he realized the door was open. He then ran under the bush and disappeared.

The moral of the story is .....nothing tastes as good as a mature English cheddar cheese!!!!

But also.....when you trap and release a mouse (or rat) be sure and take them a good distance away.
Two kilometers has been recommended as a safe distance, to avoid them returning to visit you again!

If you would like to see a photo of this little mouse.....which after checking out Google images, I take to be a HOUSE MOUSE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_mouse) also known as MUS MUSCULUS, you can click on the link below. Only those who are not afraid of mice should do so, however. :)

Mouse Pic Here (http://canarybird.smugmug.com/LIFE/Fallwinter2011-12/i-PkkCpwg/0/M/P1130823-M.jpg)

And if you have one of these....or similar.....they are called in Spanish:

mouse.......ratón

rat.............rata


Canarybird

[Suej]

We've had a mouse living in the warming oven at the bottom of my big oven for some time!

I haven't turned on the main oven for about a year to do any large scale baking or roasting as I have a smaller countertop oven that does the job just as well. We found bits of the insulation of the big oven laying on the floor of the warming oven (which is underneath at floor level) ) as well as dry cat food pellets behind the sofa in the living room!

Behind the stove we also found a small potato and an eggshell both of which displayed chew marks.

Minnie, the cat, who loves to jump at anything that moves, especially lizards, hadn't shown the slightest interest in hunting down the little creature, but we did see her sniffing at floor level in unexpected places, so we knew we had an uninvited guest in the house.

We bought a humane trap in the hardware shop, one of those little cages with a spring trap door and after being sure that there wasn't a single crumb of food to be found on the floor or countertops of my kitchen, I laid the trap with bits of dry catfood in a piece of mesh. Waited two nights with no luck. So I added a piece of fresh ham....another two nights with no luck. Then I bought some English cheddar and put a small chunk on the bait hook. Waited one night and then.....VOILA...this morning at 7 am I found our little intruder frightened and inside the cage.

So as soon as it was light I covered the cage with a towel, put him in the trunk of the car and drove him down to where the waste ground begins, where walkers begin the trek to Bollulo Beach, and where the wind gliders jump off the cliff over north Puerto de la Cruz.

I chose a thick bush under which some birds were scampering along the ground, bent down and lifted the trap door.
Little creature hesitated a moment until he realized the door was open. He then ran under the bush and disappeared.

The moral of the story is .....nothing tastes as good as a mature English cheddar cheese!!!!

But also.....when you trap and release a mouse (or rat) be sure and take them a good distance away.
Two kilometers has been recommended as a safe distance, to avoid them returning to visit you again!

If you would like to see a photo of this little mouse.....which after checking out Google images, I take to be a HOUSE MOUSE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_mouse) also known as MUS MUSCULUS, you can click on the link below. Only those who are not afraid of mice should do so, however. :)

Mouse Pic Here (http://canarybird.smugmug.com/LIFE/Fallwinter2011-12/i-PkkCpwg/0/M/P1130823-M.jpg)

And if you have one of these....or similar.....they are called in Spanish:

mouse.......ratón

rat.............rata


Canarybird


That mouse of yours looks very furry! not like the ones I´ve seen!:wow:

[Vortex Wake]

Yes, been there - done that!

As you say, you DO need to release them a mile or two away.

Shoes make good nests - mounds of dog biscuits hidden away are a tell tail sign.

[AL JAY]

It looks like a Timeshare salesman to me...:whistle: :wink2:

[tonypub]

It looks like a Timeshare salesman to me...:whistle: :wink2:its a mouse not a rat

[dixie4]

Cute little mouse looks more like a young rat. This would explain the bits of insulation. Rats front teeth never stop growing so they constantly have to chew things.

Years ago I found small pieces of Mars Bar totally irresistable to the little blighters. It was at my place of work and in the warehouse we caught 15 in one day. Strange place for the mice to set up home as the warehouse was full of engine parts and engineering equipment.

[canarybird]

Oh no Dixie!......my brother saw the photo and said he also thought it was a young rat!!!!!!:wow: Eeeeek.

We haven't found anything else in the house being chewed so thought he was just trying to make a nest in there.

I compared photos (http://www.maine.gov/agriculture/pesticides/gotpests/othercritters/images/mice/house-mouse-big.jpg) and sizes with mice details online and he seemed to match but of course a young rat would be the same size as a mouse I guess.

Well he's gone now but I'll set the trap again in case he has relatives still lurking around. :confused:

Problem here is that if doors and windows are open in this warm weather they can just walk in the door from the garden.

Canarybird

[cainaries]

That looks like a rat to me - it's got a rat's tail!

I expect Minnie brought it in and it escaped and she just got bored with it. The mice here - and I would have thought yours would be the same - are very cute little grey mice with white tummies, infinitely nicer than anything I ever saw in the UK.

[warbey]

Sorry Canarybird. I say it's a RAT Too....

[canarybird]

:confused::confused::cry::cry:

You mean I had a rat living in my oven????:wow:

....and here I was thinking he was kinda cute. :cry:

[AL JAY]

I was trying to let you know earlier on in the thread Sharon but breaking it to you gently by saying it looked like a Timeshare rep :wink2::D

[Susief]

Sorry CB but that is a young rat! Their tales are a lot thicker than a mouse!
Maybe Minnie did bring it in and lost it. Ours did that with a young bird!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cainaries]

:confused::confused::cry::cry:

You mean I had a rat living in my oven????:wow:

....and here I was thinking he was kinda cute. :cry:

'Fraid so. Suggest you take Minnie to task.

[Andy0210]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOwubys-CuY

Ewwwww, think i would be removing the oven, sorry, but mice and rats are both health hazards and as much as i love all animals sorry but no messing about there is only one way to get rid of them.

I daren´t show you the mouse i had in my trap this morning, sufficed to say i didn´t take a pic i just flushed its body down the loo! :(

[canarybird]

Thanks all.....yes I guess he was a young R-T (can't even say the word!

Luckily he made the nest (?) if that's what it was, in the warming oven, which I never used, which is a small compartment at floor level totally separate from the main oven. He must have crawled in through the back ventilation hole. And my cleaning girl has been taking care of disinfecting everything twice weekly in case it's been visiting other areas.

Minnie did catch a little mouse yesterday....it was definitely smaller than the one above.

The local gardeners say that rats live in and around palm trees, which are abundant in our area. We also have a couple of palms in our yard.

Sigh......I've set the trap again....just in case he had relatives. http://www.pbase.com/canarybird/image/140922406.jpg

Canarybird

[Nic]

we had mice too, not just one though! Our neighbours cat moved in and killed five in the back garden and we put traps down, sorry we were infested and that got four more and if you have more problems, try chocolate to tempt them, they love that! oh and here's a picture of ours before the cat got him (or her!)

2171

[primrose]

How did you know it was a HE?

[Suej]

Oh! it´s definitely a girlie! :laugh:

2173

[canarybird]

Thanks Nic.....yes yours definitely has a tail that's different to the one mine had!

I'll try the chocolate and the cheese to see if I can lure any others out from hiding.

Hmm chocolate and cheese....could be a new flavour! :yum:

[Andy0210]

Friend of mine had rats living in an outdoor sofa in his garden, didn´t know a thing about them until he moved it and 5 ran out and ran up the palm tree in his garden. Couldn´t do a thing about them they stayed up their for two days, his dog stayed on guard at the bottom of the tree.

In the end he got that sticky paper, wrapped it round the tree trunk then took them out with a shovel as they came down and got stuck on it.

[Bazz]

Do you think this should be renamed "How to catch a rat"? :crylaughing: :D

[Nic]

Ours lived happily with us for a year in the house during last winter then she moved outside when it gor warmer, found herself a fella and then we had lots of them! I really didn't want to kill them but with an 18 month old and a three year old I didn't want to risk them picking up any droppings and catching something nasty from them! Just hope mice don't get migraines, cheese and chocolate, not a great combination!