Unfortunately, Scallywag is not a fan of cats. So, whilst he is a member of our family, that eco-friendly solution is not an option.
But, the mouse problem has spread from them just attacking my veggies, to their attacking the wiring on the ride-on lawnmower and the tractor. Probably the genny is next...
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| Recycling two cooldrink tins from our trip to Cape Town last December |
Here's his version of the trap:
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| A dowel rod is threaded through a hole in the centre of the tin, which in turn is suspended through two holes in the paint bucket. A couple of litres of water, and the trap is set. It even has an entrance ramp... |
Given the number of field mice, we opted not to leave the bucket empty - letting a field mouse free wouldn't help the scourge, and it would probably just follow it's urine trail right back to the alpaca's "larder".
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| A dab of peanut butter completes the trap |
We have managed to catch half a dozen so far...
Field mice are a real pain in the whatever. Once they discover a food source, they are everywhere. And they are tough to get rid of. Looks like your trap is working well. I'm lucky in that my dogs and cat get along. But then, the cat is bigger than either of the pooches! Might have something to do with it.
ReplyDeleteVicki - LOL - so, which is more ferocious - your cat or dogs...?
DeleteMy dogs are all bark and no bite! If the three of them ever got into a fight, my money's on the cat. She would wipe up the floor with them!!
DeleteAh - bless them :)
DeleteWe feel your pain! Around here it's voles. We lost more than a third of our sweet potato crop last year. We have one cat. She does a pretty good job. This winter we've coaxed a second stray with food to hang around. To my delight, last night I saw the stray in our back yard pouncing a vole like a fox in the snow! Your trap is a great alternative to cats! And you don't have to feed it!
ReplyDeleteJody - Could the trap not be adapted for voles?
DeleteYeah - one of the plusses of the trap is that it doesn't scratch furniture, shed hair, require preventitive measures for it's toilette habits in veggie beds, nor need feeding LOL
You need a ferret!
ReplyDeleteJust kidding. I use a trap that catches them alive and then I haul them off into the woods. I let them go out there. I know this is nonsensical and I couldn't tell you why. I just do.
Harry - You may be right!
DeleteThe woods sounds a good idea - they've probably got plenty of food there. Here, all they have are the farmer's crops in the fields, my veggie patch and the insulation from the wires in the engines - including my car, as we discovered yesterday...
Good luck Dani! Pests are so frustrating when you've done so much work. The idea looks so simple but clever!
ReplyDeleteLinda - The whole idea is to solve the proboem with as little impact as possible. I think we've succeeded :)
DeleteI made one of these a few years back! After having a King Skink drown in it I stopped using water but then still had to deal with the live mice...It is now sitting empty out the back but still sometimes gets a skink, no mice as there is no bait but I really should bait it and set it up in the shed again...
ReplyDeleteIt's all well and good to release the live mice but really that doesn't solve the long term problem does it? Sad but our food is for us not them.
Barb.
Barb.
Barb - I agree - given the field mouse population a few mice which die is not going to impact the species. And the unpoisoned dead ones will provide food for other carnivores / insects - so a win-win sitaution.
Deletethe trap looks like something from an its a knock out programme.
ReplyDeleteSol - I don't know that programme, but I promise, the trap works :)
ReplyDelete