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mistletoeOK I live in an upstairs flat. So how did a mouse get in? I have had my suspicions for a couple of weeks that I had a new flatmate: a squished chocolate in the bathroom that I assumed had somehow got carried there on me, then a biscuit that had been nibbled. On Wednesday I got up to discover a caramel shortbread had had most of the chocolate nibbled off with tell-tale little toothmarks on the rest. Ah ha, mousey!
What to do? I consulted friends at school. Pat suggested the Council pest control people which seemed a bit overkill to me; after all. I wasn't infested. Yvette, who has experience of such things, knew of the whereabouts of one of those humane trap thingies at the Hardware shop in her village, So, as it was a free Wednesday afternoon, I drove down post haste and purchased a nifty little box thing for £4.99.
The mousey obviously had a sweet tooth so I sacrificed a Marks and Spencer Florentine full of chocolate and scrummy nuts as bait. I left the trap in the same place as the caramel shortbread had been and went to bed....
Next morning - the trap was sprung! I studiously ignored it even though I could hear gnawing noises from inside and waited until I had to go to work. I carried the trap downstairs and popped over to the hedge near my house. With great trepidation I opened the box. Would it leap out and go for the jugular? Pointing the box towards the hedge I waited. Nothing. I gave it a little shake. Nothing. Daringly I looked in the box. The tinker had gone back down the other end away from the open end. So I gave it a real rattle and out it popped and leapt for the hedge. It was a lovely little field mouse, looking remarkably plump. Not surprising really as I discovered it had eaten the whole Florentine.
e.t.a. Caught another one this morning. I suspect the bathroom as port of entry. We have covered the hole round the sink pipe with brown parcel tape and set the trap nearby to await further developments.
What to do? I consulted friends at school. Pat suggested the Council pest control people which seemed a bit overkill to me; after all. I wasn't infested. Yvette, who has experience of such things, knew of the whereabouts of one of those humane trap thingies at the Hardware shop in her village, So, as it was a free Wednesday afternoon, I drove down post haste and purchased a nifty little box thing for £4.99.
The mousey obviously had a sweet tooth so I sacrificed a Marks and Spencer Florentine full of chocolate and scrummy nuts as bait. I left the trap in the same place as the caramel shortbread had been and went to bed....
Next morning - the trap was sprung! I studiously ignored it even though I could hear gnawing noises from inside and waited until I had to go to work. I carried the trap downstairs and popped over to the hedge near my house. With great trepidation I opened the box. Would it leap out and go for the jugular? Pointing the box towards the hedge I waited. Nothing. I gave it a little shake. Nothing. Daringly I looked in the box. The tinker had gone back down the other end away from the open end. So I gave it a real rattle and out it popped and leapt for the hedge. It was a lovely little field mouse, looking remarkably plump. Not surprising really as I discovered it had eaten the whole Florentine.
e.t.a. Caught another one this morning. I suspect the bathroom as port of entry. We have covered the hole round the sink pipe with brown parcel tape and set the trap nearby to await further developments.
