Mice!

[dandysmom]

Or at least one mouse! Last evening Leia was acting strangely, kept crawling under the loveseat and back out; restless, not napping after dinner as she usually does before pre-bedtime playtime. She went back in and a very very small mouse darted out and promptly fled to the dining room , hotly pursued by my mouser, to hide under the china cabinet, which is too low for Leia to get under. She proceeded to stand guard by it the rest of the evening, and did not come up to bed until sometime in the wee hours.

So, I don't know if she got it (no small corpse this morning) or if it's still at large! :shock: And if it was an outlier, or brought it's family with it! :roll:

Oh, the joys of Autumn when the field mice decide to Winter indoors! :-D

[Elaine]

Oh dear, do you think Leia failed in her mission and the mouse is still at large?
Eva herself was really demanding to be let out this morning, so i let her and with in 5 minutes she was runing back upstairs with a mouse between her teeth:roll:

[dandysmom]

The mouse didn't play fair, Elaine! It hid where she couldn't get at it! :-D

[angieh]

Poor little thing! Did you expect it to come out with a white flag of surrender??? :lol: :lol: :lol:

We have only had mice (so far!) in the garage, which is now MIL's annexe. Merlin is a rubbish mouser, Smudge was the rodent operative and Chloe next door's female cat, next door's male Smokey Joe also doesn't seem to turn a whisker. Those lazy boys! I used to set humane traps baited with honey and peanuts and then take the mice for a walk! Stupid, yes, I know!!! :oops:

[HappyKatz]

Ooo a mouse in the house! Wonder where it went off to...hopefully outside!

Our boy Snowball who otherwise just likes to lay around was acting strange like Leia was but with our couch. He kept putting his head underneath the couch & making little meowing sounds. We had no idea what was going on at this point. The other cats tried to come towards him & he would let out a big growl. He popped his head out with a white mouse in his mouth! :cat14 Snowball never catches anything so he was proud of himself even though it was unfortunate for the mouse :cat26

[dandysmom]

Ooo a mouse in the house! Wonder where it went off to...hopefully outside!

Our boy Snowball who otherwise just likes to lay around was acting strange like Leia was but with our couch. He kept putting his head underneath the couch & making little meowing sounds. We had no idea what was going on at this point. The other cats tried to come towards him & he would let out a big growl. He popped his head out with a white mouse in his mouth! :cat14 Snowball never catches anything so he was proud of himself even though it was unfortunate for the mouse :cat26

HK, it's been my experience over the years that once they come in, they never go out! Like Hotel California! :-D But Leia gets them all in the end. She's been completely relaxed all afternoon so it's either well hidden somewhere or she's stashed it away in a hidey place to play with later, ugh! Two years ago she found a quite dead mummified one that she'd tucked away, brought it out and I had the delightful experience of stepping on it barefoot in the dining room!!! :shock: Not the sort of thing you forget....:roll:

Congratulations to Snowball, the mighty hunter!

[dandysmom]

Poor little thing! Did you expect it to come out with a white flag of surrender??? :lol: :lol: :lol:

We have only had mice (so far!) in the garage, which is now MIL's annexe. Merlin is a rubbish mouser, Smudge was the rodent operative and Chloe next door's female cat, next door's male Smokey Joe also doesn't seem to turn a whisker. Those lazy boys! I used to set humane traps baited with honey and peanuts and then take the mice for a walk! Stupid, yes, I know!!! :oops:

Oh, I asked for that, didn't I? :-D For all you know, Angie, Merlin may have woven a protective "anti-mouse" spell to protect the house so he needn't bother!! :)

[angieh]

Now funny you should say that Eileen .........

Before we started on the extension and conversion of the garage, I did have a word with The Great Mouse! There was a programme on TV here and there were a couple of mouse charmers that did that to banish mice from a cottage. Seemingly it worked, so I did the same!!!!

Spookily it worked for me too, so (don't say anything to the wizard) it MAY have been my spell and not his. :shock:

:-D :-D :-D

[Moli]

Aww Bless her, she probably waited all night for it to come out....

[dandysmom]

Maybe. She wasn't in bed when I turned the lights and TV off about 12:30, but was about 5 am when I got up to go to the loo.

[Moli]

At least you were not welcomed by a headless one DM, they are frequent here!!!

[dandysmom]

At least you were not welcomed by a headless one DM, they are frequent here!!!

:smt005 :smt005 :smt005

[Phoenix]

Beauty only ever brought one dead mouse home, even then it may not have been a mouse! Something dead and squeaky it was though! :shock:

[meep]

Good girl Leia for trying to get the pesky mouse! Has it shown up yet?

I agree with Angie, I couldn't kill one myself, especially via a mouse trap. I'd probably catch it and release it to the wild. But I have no qualms with a cat catching them, as that's natural :)

[dandysmom]

In our unfortunate catless period after Scamper disappeared and Mom wouldn't let us have another one, we used traps. I don't really like them, but you can't have mice in the house. Leia is normally a very good mouser but this one was too quick for her and hid where she couldn't get it......I think. No signs of it again today and the Princess is not in mousing mode .....

[random]

Personally i have never had mice but in my new place they said they had trouble with mice a few times, I suppose as it backs onto an open field, the neighbors have had them too and under the floor and in the attic was littered with traps and a poison box in the garden.

I too would have to go the humane route if I got them here but if the cats got them well thats just nature isn't it, I wouldn't mind that but I couldn't poison or trap the poor wee b****rs, i'm far too soft! Got my dad to safely remove all the traps and haven't had any visitors...yet...

I know Tucker and Vitaani are very good hunters, not sure about the rest as they have never really ventured out but even Tarny and Tuck only go out on harnesses 'til the garden it cat-proofed but I don't suppose they'd ever loose the skill would they, I think Ani will be a good hunter too should he ever get the chance.

[dandysmom]

Random, Leia is a house cat and always has been; not harness trained like the others as she's for some weird reason scared of outdoors! But instinct apparently is so ingrained that she knew exactly what to do with mice without ever being taught, and the one time we had a RAT! she didn't mess about with the toying with them thing like with mice but killed it instantly with the nape bite! And it was a very large rat! I am so proud of her!

[debbiepem]

Be grateful it is only mice.

My two bring home slow worms!!!

[random]

Random, Leia is a house cat and always has been; not harness trained like the others as she's for some weird reason scared of outdoors! But instinct apparently is so ingrained that she knew exactly what to do with mice without ever being taught, and the one time we had a RAT! she didn't mess about with the toying with them thing like with mice but killed it instantly with the nape bite! And it was a very large rat! I am so proud of her!

I suppose then having 6 at least one of them is bound to do the job! I can't ever see Princess getting her paws dirty though, she has certainly lived up to her name!

Be grateful it is only mice.

My two bring home slow worms!!!
:shock:

[angieh]

I like slow worms!

[dandysmom]

:smt017 Slow worms?????

[Mags]

:smt017 Slow worms?????
Here are some slow worms Eileen........I take it you don't have them in the US?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/sites/species/amphibians_reptiles/slow_worm.shtml

http://www.herpconstrust.org.uk/animals/slow_worm.htm

Cassie has never caught any but my old Sam has been known to bring a few home:roll:

I didn't realise that Slow-worms are protected by law in Great Britain against being killed, injured or sold or traded in any way.:?

[dandysmom]

Ahh! Thanks, Mags, had never heard of them. Think I'd rather have mice ....

[angieh]

They are actually nice creatures - I used to find them when I was a child and had one as a "pet" before I was encouraged to let it go in a safe place. They are warm and silky to the touch and are of no danger to anyone. I haven't seen one for ages. I am glad they are protected.

Thanks for those links Mags.

[borderdawn]

Good old leia, she is as sharp as a tack!

[Phoenix]

I like slow worms!

I don't! :shock:

*shudders*

[Tina]

Here are some slow worms Eileen........I take it you don't have them in the US?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/sites/species/amphibians_reptiles/slow_worm.shtml

http://www.herpconstrust.org.uk/animals/slow_worm.htm

Cassie has never caught any but my old Sam has been known to bring a few home:roll:

I didn't realise that Slow-worms are protected by law in Great Britain against being killed, injured or sold or traded in any way.:?


Wow! I've yet to see a slow-worm......and I've been in UK for 7 years.....how unfair! I definately want one of them! LOL!

With regards to cats and mice, we've had a few that we've had to catch in "humane" traps and let go (far from the house!) outside. Miw is terrified of mice, runs and hides if she sees one. Don't think Mouse has encountered a mouse yet (how weird does that sound??!! LOL!) and if she ever did, I doubt very much she could catch it....she isn't terribly graceful or accurate when trying to catch things LOL!

[kado]

A neighbours cat visited us last night and sat at the end of the patio for at least an hour. She was just starring at the fence and she didnt even go near the rabbits or guinea pigs either. There is a mouse around where she was looking and she was guiding it so proudly she did leave and her brother came and stood watch until she came back. I told there owner this morning and she said the male (mickey) was realy playful yesterday batting a piece of carboard around the living room. He than ran under her desk still batting it when she looked closer and it was a mouses tail sticking out. I asked a realy stupid question where was the rest of it, she said it was in his mouth. I just hope they take the creatures back with them i arnt bothered unless there out of my garden i hate them.

jane

[Rosie]

I think mice are endearing little creatures and little shrews are so cute. Unfortunately Rosie doesn't think so and Alfie eats them!!

[angieh]

Voles are even cuter - I had a couple over-winter in my compost heap last year.

[dandysmom]

I agree mice are cute .......outdoors! :-D