It continues to squeak in the night
I just haven’t met you yet…
I would like to apologise in advance. This may not be a post enjoyed by all… and it may be a post that leads to animal cruelty.
Before I begin I would like to say I don’t even hurt insects. I put spiders and flies etc into a glass and pop them outside so that they can continue their journey, putting a pane of glass between us for my sanity. I also move snails and slugs from my garden, instead of removing them from existence. And that is why I’m not overly happy about what I am going to tell you, but it seems it needs to be done. You have been warned!
I have tried the humane traps for mice. We put the first one down a month ago, when Herby (our mouse) was first spotted and we filled the trap with delicious nutella. But to no avail. It stood eerily empty and quiet. Then we put another trap down, filling it with the half-finished cake. Still nothing.
Then two evenings ago Herby struck again. The evidence was some rattling near a black bag in the kitchen and two nibble marks. That was the evening I discovered an addiction to making cakelets (also known as cake pops to the wider population).
They were fresh and warm and covered in chocolate and sprinkles with beautiful designs. I am quite proud of my first batch of cakelets. So I wasn’t overly happy with sharing this perfection with Herby, but it was a necessity. We put some nibbles just outside the door of his trap and some more inside the trap. We left Herby to his own devices for less than ten minutes and in that time he had not only eaten the snack leading into the trap, but he had actually gone inside the trap and nabbed the cakelet pieces. He must have been hungry. So why didn’t the trap activate?
According to a variety of advice from friends, the humane traps don’t work. So tonight I am off to get the real thing. I have heard people say you can do a proper anatomy lesson when the traps are successful. I don’t like the sound of that at all. This also means I may not be writing about Herby anymore. Either way, I will be leaving Jason to clear it up. And as a thank you, I shall make him a load of cakelets.
7 Comments
celia
Poor Herby! :'(
Nice Cake pops by the way!! 🙂
bisous
claire
One thing a friend of mine did was to get a big jar and find a piece of plastic to hold the lid up and let the mouse in, and tied a bit of string to the plastic and a bit of chocolate to the other end, so when the mouse touched the chocolate it pulled the lid closed on it. Simple, but surprisingly effective.. Then he released the mouse elsewhere. Possible idea for future…?
Andrew
The place I’m staying in here uses the most inhuman traps imaginable. They called me over the other day, telling me a mouse was caught in the trap and they were too scared to take it out. The trap turned out to be a square of extremely sticky material; once the mouse steps on it, it adheres like glue. The mouse is then trapped there until it dies. When I came it was still trying to wriggle out. Broke my heart. I quickly put it out of its misery, then told the family that I couldn’t bear these traps. They haven’t asked me to sort out any mice since.
Andrew
Though apparently the sticky traps can be used to free the mice. Why not give it a try?
http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-a-Live-Mouse-from-a-Sticky-Trap
Andrew
Actually, scrap that, don’t. http://www.peta.org/issues/wildlife/glue-traps-pans-of-pain.aspx
Vanessa Abel
Here’s a morning update for you all: still no sign of Herby or anything else. A traditional trap has been set but it is unsuccessful at present.
Thanks for all the advice people. At this rate we may have to get the professionals in 🙁
Robyn
Very lovely looking cake pops! I wonder if they travel well … 🙂