Very determined Mouse!

[Tobi]

...Well, that little mouse has been marauding. It has been taking over my kitchen. I thought we could live with the diplomatic solution but apparently that mouse seeks world domination   (or at least kitchen domination! lol)

I have a humane trap. I bait it every night, but don't activate it. I put food in so the mouse gets used to it (terrible treachery!) Then one night I shall activate it and stay up very very late, and wait for the mouse to be in there. Then I shall take it to a perfect hay barn a quarter of a mile away. I shall also leave with it the rest of the peanut butter.

I can't leave it in there from whatever time in the night until morning, as the mouse would have to spend hours in the trap and would be frantic. That would be too horrid.
So we will wait until I can spend all night on guard.

[Catherine]

The little mouse has overstayed his welcome. House guests often do that. If only he had behaved better you would have been able to spend time together all winter and he would have been warm and safe. Silly mouse.

The hay barn sounds ideal.
Catching him is tricky, but I am sure you will find a humane way to do it.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Tobi]

Aww! I know he isn't silly. He is just doing normal stuff for a mouse. Exploring....'going out to work'....getting to know his environment....
If only I could say to him, "stay down on the floor and you are okay." I tried to convey that to him, but it hasn't worked.

Unfortunately I am not sure I can do this. I have found I am scrubbing everything down every day, and he has even been inside my little oven, leaving little poops there....I can't wash the whole kitchen down every day.


I keep wavering. I make up my mind to re-locate him, then change my mind again because winter is coming, and I don't like putting him out in winter. I keep thinking "Is there a way I can make him living here work?"
The hay barn is big and there are huge bales of new hay stored in there. I know it would be warm, sheltered, and I am sure he would find food. But yes it's out in the big wild world, where he would not be totally safe.
The hay barn is the best option though. Sally-cat's sheds -not such a good idea!
The barn up the hill....no, that's feral cats' territory! The hay barn is in a whole different direction.

[Catherine]

Quote:Unfortunately I am not sure I can do this. I have found I am scrubbing everything down every day, and he has even been inside my little oven, leaving little poops there....I can't wash the whole kitchen down every day.

You can't keep this up. He will wear you out. How one little mouse can make such a mess is beyond me. Better he goes now while it is not too cold. The hay barn is good shelter. You can take him some seeds to start off his winter supply.  Inside your place he won't hibernate like he should. In the hay barn there are probably other mice he can share space with and they can keep each other warm.

As much as you hate to do it the little mouse needs to be moved very soon. It is clear he won't leave things alone in the house. The only other way to keep him is to get a large mouse cage, but I don't see you caging a wild creature.

Good luck catching him.

[Tobi]

Well....it's bitter cold tonight and I am too soft for my own good! Mouse stays -for now. I gave him some brown rice tonight.
No-one's fault but my own! (yeah I know....nuts)  

He's found a warmer place to stay through the winter. It's a survival choice. I know I would worry if I put him out right now. Maybe in the Spring.

It was my fault for leaving the little oven door open. The other scrubbing I can deal with. I can also put some more stuff in glass jars. I have 25 2-litre jars stacked in my spare bedroom for goodness sake!

[Catherine]

Quote:It was my fault for leaving the little oven door open. The other scrubbing I can deal with. I can also put some more stuff in glass jars. I have 25 2-litre jars stacked in my spare bedroom for goodness sake!

Glass jars keep things better anyhow. They sit nicely on shelves and you can see what is in them.

I live in Toronto...mouse central, so all my food is always in glass or metal or hard plastic.  I am used to it. You will find out what part of your kitchen he can't reach and keep your bread there. Mice can't climb onto my kitchen table for some reason so I can put food there.

It does seen dangerous to put him out now if it has become so cold. Maybe you and the mouse can still work out a deal so that he leaves some things alone.

I actually haven't had mice since I brought a snake into my place. The snake can't get at them, but they know the snake(s) are there.
I still keep things in glass just in case the mice figure out that the snakes live in terrariums. Mice are smarter than we think.

[Tobi]

The mouse and I seem to be getting on okay.I saw it the other evening. Dear little tiny thing. I drop some little treats near its hole every night and it isn't marauding. No signs of that anyway. I hope I am not doing the wrong thing for that mouse by providing bits of food. They don't live long and I think it is too harsh outside to put it out even in a cat-free hay barn. It has a good survival chance in my place. At least it will have a nice life.
If I start to get over-run when the spring comes I will set the humane traps and we'll have a massive re-location! All mice caught to the same destination so they can meet up.

[Catherine]

It is almost winter(or if you live in Toronto it is seriously winter) so maybe the mouse is going to semi hibernate. He would only need a little food to keep him going.

Come the spring he might be happy to move to the great outdoors where there is so much good food.

I like your relocation plan. You can even hold the whole family(if there is a whole family) and relocate them at the same time.
That seems much kinder than separating them. They form bonds with each other too.

[Tobi]

Yes if I decide to re-locate him/her/them? I am thinking of building a little cage first.
I only have 2 humane traps. One can never be sure how many mice there are. If I catch one, put him out, then have to wait a day, two or three days or more to catch the rest, they might get separated, even though I'll put them in the same place. It would be nice to move them all together.
For a mouse, it would have to be a wire cage as they can chew through anything. I have some fine mesh chicken wire so might be able to build something yet.

[LPC]

A couple of years ago we had a cold winter and lots of field mice were helping themselves to all the apples we had stored in the cellar. One night, about twenty apples had been nibbled! Tamara set up her own humane trap system, involving large plastic bottles which tip upwards when a mouse goes inside to get some bait. It worked and we put them back in a field about a kilometre away. We just couldn't feed about five or six mice all winter.

Tobi, it is wonderful what you are doing for this mouse. As long as it just one and you are happy to feed it, then why not keep him over the winter? There are only two snags:
Are you sure it is just one mouse? (If there are two of the opposite gender....well, you know!).
Will s/he forget how to look after him/herself if fed long term? (I don't know the answer to that question - but probably over one winter s/he probably would still have enough survival skills in the wild).

I'm sure that you will reach the right decision. Maybe mousie will behave him/herself a bit better in future!