OF MICE AND MEN If youve ever been visited by a mouse in your house (but not mice in your hice - gotta love the English language!), youll know that awful feeling when you first spot the little droppings, or pick up the bag to find theres been a hole chewed in it... Yuk! So how do you get rid of the little visitors? Traps, poison, cats? Or do you prefer a gentler way? Theres a few options you can choose. Cats are OK, if they bother to go hunting (and then do they catch your mice - or the native birds/wildlife?). But theyre likely to leave little mouse bodies as gifts for you... not great if youre squeamish. Poison is my least favourite - I cant stand the thought of any creature dying by bleeding to death internally. Yes, thats how the rat/mouse poison in pellets works. Errghh. And then you have to locate the bodies to dispose of them. But my worst quibble about poisoning rodents is that other creatures might eat the poisoned bodies - especially the carrion-eating birds such as eagles and hawks and other birds of prey. Of course they then die a horrible death. So please think before getting the old rat poison from Bunnings, etc - if you have a further look on their shelves, you will most likely find that they also carry humane traps, similar to the one below. If the idea of going near a live mouse freaks you out, ask someone whos not to release the little critter. Release them far enough away from your house to lessen the chances of it returning. Meanwhile you can try mouse-proofing your house - sealing up holes with metal, keeping food in mouse-proof containers (and remember your dog/cat/chook food is also a big attraction to rodents!), and keeping your property & house reasonably free of rubbish. And please dont do what I did & forget to check your humane trap for months... Poor little mouse. At least his last feed was tasty peanut butter :( crueltyfreeshop.au/products/humane-mouse-trap.html
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 08:22:14 +0000