Suggestions?
I was writing a new blog entry when I heard a small squeak. I looked up and saw one of our cats coming through the bedroom window with a mouse in its mouth. I kept my cool because it's a way of life, but then I realised it's still alive. Especially when I saw Kane dropped it onto the floor and it dashed across the floor. As it did, three cats - Kane, Raffles and Freak of Nature - turned their 100% attention to it, turning themselves into furry predators. They crouched around a bookcase with the mouse hiding beneath. I quickly tossed the cats [one gave me the "You awe cwuel!" look] to outside and shut the window. I tried to coax the mouse out, but of course, it wouldn't. It's around 2AM, Will is away on a work trip, the mouse could be anywhere in this place [we don't keep our doors closed], the cats are outside, probably waiting, and due to recent events, I don't want them to come in and torment the mouse until it's too tired to fend for itself. Is there a way to capture a mouse? I'm not afraid of mice, so I'd have no problem capturing it with my hands but I really shouldn't be out of bed [one more week left! Yay!]. Any suggestions? Thanks. Be good, be bad & be safe.
posted by lost at 8/02/2005 02:01:00 am
4 Comments:
I'm not sure how you can catch a mouse without getting out of bed, but here are some suggestions.
First, mice are FAST, so this could be a futile exercise no matter what you do.
If you can find a milk bottle, or similar such narrow-necked device but not with a wine bottle diameter opening, you could try putting peanut butter down inside the bottle and seeing if minnie mousie will crawl inside the bottle. Mice like to travel at the back edge of the wall, so the best place to lay the bottle is at the back corner of your bookcase up against the wall with the opening facing the bottom edge of the bookcase. But then you have to be waiting there with either your hand or a bit of cardboard to slap over the opening in order to transport said shocked rodent to the out of doors. This is basically the method aquarium keepers use to trap unwanted snails. Bait a clear bottle and pull it from the aquarium when lots of snails are inside. However, snails do have the advantage of b-e-i-n-g m-u-c-h s-l-o-w-e-r.
And minnie mousie may already be damaged, either by suffering internal bruises or by having had a cardiac event, by your cats' delivery to your bookcase. So he may not want to go scurrying anywhere anytime soon.
I wish you every bit of luck on this little challenge. Please do update us when you've got a minute.
8/02/2005 03:30:00 am
My cats don't seem to be too interested in mice (the one time we found one at home all three kitties climbed up on furniture and just stared at it), but I've had a few episodes with birds.
O'Neill, especially, will bring them into the house, and sometimes I've been able to get him away before he kills them. What I've done in those cases is lock up the cats inside a room in the house and leave everything open to the outside wherever the bird is, hoping it will recover and fly away. So far, it's worked.
8/02/2005 12:42:00 pm
There are cruelty-free mousetraps, Maili! Put in "cruelty-free mousetrap" in google and you should come up with some! (I was involved in lots of animal rights organizations in college.)
8/02/2005 01:41:00 pm
Catching a mouse takes a lot of exercise. You are more important than the mouse. Stay in bed and let nature take its course - eventually either the mouse will come out and run away or the cats will get it.
8/02/2005 11:37:00 pm
Post a Comment
<< Home