How To Build A Better Mousetrap?

[ant-mac]

So... about a week ago, I started to noticed a lone mouse make occasional appearances on my back veranda, to help itself to some of the scraps I leave out for the birds. This normally consists of stale biscuits or bread crumbled up, excess rice and so forth. Apart from briefly thinking it was an odd-looking bird, I didn't really pay much attention... Until about three days ago, when I suddenly realized the mouse had brought a plus one with it. There they were, playing chasey around the outdoor furniture with each other and hide and seek from the birds. In fact, one bird chased a mouse all over the veranda and then back to - what I assume is - its burrow or nest. This was when I realized - rather reluctantly - that I'd probably have to do something about my new neighbours before they took over the neighbourhood.

Fortunately, I happened to have a non-lethal mouse trap in the cupboard and I figured if I could trap and imprison them, I'd be able to take them for a drive and release them near the rubbish tip, where I was sure they'd be able to find food, lodgings and plenty of new friends. So I set up my mousetrap - seen below - on the back veranda two days ago... However, it hasn't been as straightforward as I'd hoped it'd be.


At first, when the mousetrap had obviously been triggered, I'd go outside to check it and find it was empty. This happened a couple of times, so I started watching from the kitchen window after I'd reset it. Before long, a mouse appeared, crept up to and inside the mousetrap and successfully activate it. However, the smug smile of satisfaction had barely appeared on my face, when I saw the mouse come shooting out of the entrance. It seems that the front door locking mechanism was faulty and the mouse could come and go as it pleased. So my contraption functioned better as a mouse restaurant then a mousetrap... and later when I saw the mouse climbing over it and pushing it around in circles, I also realized it made a very effective piece of playground equipment for them.

Of course, what really amused me was when I saw them attempting to break into the mousetrap after it had been triggered. That seemed so absurd and unlikely that it made me laugh... until I got up this morning and discovered that they had found a way to do precisely that. I'm starting to think I'm not going to have any success with my non-lethal mousetrap... especially now that it's disappeared from my back veranda. Yes, that's right - the mice have stolen my mousetrap.

So, does anyone have any ideas about how to capture mice without hurting them? Or, at the very least, stop them from being such smart-arse little trolls? I'm still wondering about whether or not I should go out and ask them if I can have my mousetrap back... 

[Prometheus]

Thank you for your contributions to "Habitat for Rodentia"

I don't mean to sound callous, but I'm thinking that the common field mouse is not on the Endangered Species List and that any lethal action you take won't change that, but I do applaud your non-lethal efforts thus far.

I'm with Ripley on this:

[ant-mac]

[Prometheus]

Feb 1, 2021 17:09:54 GMT ant-mac said:

[ant-mac]

[Prometheus]

[ant-mac]

[gaia1953]

Feb 1, 2021 17:09:54 GMT ant-mac said:

I have an idea... back from my childhood days... but I am going to have to sleep on it! Later!

Edit:
I see from the date on the post that this was some time back, are your little furry friends still around or has some Australian scary carnivore solved your problem?

You already know about my blacksnake, but I don't think that would be an option for you.

[ant-mac]

Dec 9, 2022 3:32:05 GMT gaia1953 said:

Feb 1, 2021 17:09:54 GMT ant-mac said:

I have an idea... back from my childhood days... but I am going to have to sleep on it! Later!

Edit:
I see from the date on the post that this was some time back, are your little furry friends still around or has some Australian scary carnivore solved your problem?

You already know about my blacksnake, but I don't think that would be an option for you.

I haven't seen any around lately, but absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

They could be anywhere and I wouldn't know anything about it.

There's a two car garage next to the house that's full of junk... and I go in there less than once a year, so... 

[Prometheus]

Dec 9, 2022 3:32:05 GMT gaia1953 said:

Feb 1, 2021 17:09:54 GMT ant-mac said:

I have an idea... back from my childhood days... but I am going to have to sleep on it! Later!

Edit:
I see from the date on the post that this was some time back, are your little furry friends still around or has some Australian scary carnivore solved your problem?

You already know about my blacksnake, but I don't think that would be an option for you.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0462200/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[gaia1953]

Dec 9, 2022 4:23:30 GMT ant-mac said:

Dec 9, 2022 3:32:05 GMT gaia1953 said:

I have an idea... back from my childhood days... but I am going to have to sleep on it! Later!

Edit:
I see from the date on the post that this was some time back, are your little furry friends still around or has some Australian scary carnivore solved your problem?

You already know about my blacksnake, but I don't think that would be an option for you.

I haven't seen any around lately, but absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

They could be anywhere and I wouldn't know anything about it.

There's a two car garage next to the house that's full of junk... and I go in there less than once a year, so... 

Yeah, they could have wised up, are hiding in there and creep out at night for food. Or there was a snake in the garage!

[ant-mac]

Dec 10, 2022 1:51:28 GMT gaia1953 said:

Dec 9, 2022 4:23:30 GMT ant-mac said:

I haven't seen any around lately, but absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

They could be anywhere and I wouldn't know anything about it.

There's a two car garage next to the house that's full of junk... and I go in there less than once a year, so... 

Yeah, they could have wised up, are hiding in there and creep out at night for food. Or there was a snake in the garage!

Or perhaps they're quietly biding their time, preparing for the moment when they're ready to strike.

Hey, this is Australia... where everything wants to kill you. 

[Prometheus]

Dec 10, 2022 1:55:04 GMT ant-mac said:

Dec 10, 2022 1:51:28 GMT gaia1953 said:

Yeah, they could have wised up, are hiding in there and creep out at night for food. Or there was a snake in the garage!

Or perhaps they're quietly biding their time, preparing for the moment when they're ready to strike.

Hey, this is Australia... where everything wants to kill you. 

They are awaiting their cousin: The Killer Rabbit Of Caerbannog....

[ant-mac]

Dec 11, 2022 12:59:30 GMT Prometheus said:

Dec 10, 2022 1:55:04 GMT ant-mac said:

Or perhaps they're quietly biding their time, preparing for the moment when they're ready to strike.

Hey, this is Australia... where everything wants to kill you. 

They are awaiting their cousin: The Killer Rabbit Of Caerbannog....

Don't be silly...

'Tis but a flesh wound.

[Opus]

[Opus]

Zebra Mouse

[Opus]

The Zebra mice belong to the genus of murine rodents hailing from Africa, at times people refer to them as the striped grass mouse. They have black stripes that extend from head to tail on their dorsal surface and either side, with a brownish body.

Anatomy
Their length ranges from 18.5 – 29 cm (7.3 – 11.4 in) almost half of which is the tail. They weigh 18 – 70 g (. 63 – 2.47 Oz). Depending on the pelage pattern, the species fall into three major groups. Distinctive dark and light striped “true zebra mice”, the dotted or more broken striped, spotted grass mice, the mice with a singular, deeply colored stripe that runs along the back called the ‘single striped grass mice’.