Angel of Death pass by

[pegkerr]

This was a red letter day: I heard something scrabbling around inside the live mouse trap this morning, so I borrowed kiramartin's cat Greta this afternoon so that she could dispatch it. When I opened up the live trap, to my surprise there were three mice inside. One was dead, but two were alive and left in a hurry. Greta, Mighty Huntress, got one, but the other one escaped. Edited to add: Delia just came in to report that kiramartin's other cat, Bianca, managed to land Mouse # 2. On the other hand, Greta took Mouse # 1 into kiramartin's house, where, although it is almost half-dead, it managed to escape into the heating vents. Kira, forgive me. I hope you're right, and Greta will find it again or at least it expires soon. Next time, I will take the live trap further down the alley before opening it.

And I found another dead one in the snap trap. Altogether that makes four mice that I got out of our house in one day.

Comments

[amandageist.livejournal.com]

I'm honestly just curious--why do you live-trap things and then set a predator on them? Wouldn't it be kinder, from their perspective, just to kill them outright with the trap?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

We have all sorts of traps: live traps, sticky traps, and snap traps. We've tried sonic deterence, too. At this point, we're trying a multi-approach, because we're desperate: we'll catch them any way we can to get rid of them. They have been winning, and they've multiplied. They're all over the house now. Anyway I can catch them, I'll do it.

[wildflower150.livejournal.com]

Wow tha tis alot of mice! Do you live in an older house - I have never heard of anyone having so many mice in their house - but then again I live in a not very old neighbourhood.

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

Up here in North NOLa winter is nipping at Our heels. Mice ain't stupid and come indoors both for warmth and food. My apt building has gardens on both sides so we get them mices running in the walls. Miss Tobiko goes nuts trying to get at them, mighty hunter is she.

[vass]

I too would be interested to know why you do it that way.

I don't know how urban your area is, and whether releasing them outside would Just Not Help or not, but snap traps and giving them to the cats both sound like rather painful options, unless Greta and Bianca are unusually clean killers.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

After battling mice and cleaning up their mess in my food cupboard for four years, I will admit I have gotten callous about their sensibilities.

[lenora-rose.livejournal.com]

Is there any way you can borrow a cat for a week?

One week would be devastating to the population in more than one way, as the predator scent alone will deter some of the mice from coming in, as long as it's relatively fresh.

I lived three years in an apartment in a building that had occasional mouse problems. The ONLY time we had mice in the apartment was from about a month and a half after Djelibhien had been put to sleep, and before we got Élise. Admittedly, the poison had put paid to the mice by the time the second cat arrived, but they didn't return when I heard things that implied they'd started to increase in number once again.