Re-incarnation in the Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)

[Vagabond]

Note for the pedantic. The italicise option is not available for topic titles

 

Norma's seedlings in the greenhouse have been nibbled !

Kill ! Kill ! Kill !!!!

 

Well, ...er set the "humane"*** mousetrap, baited with birdseed.

 

Mousetrap set Saturday. Sunday morning yielded a woodmouse which was released half a mile away in a wood the other side of the ghyll. Trap cleaned and reset

 

Monday morning - another woodmouse. Some discussion as to whether it was the same one. Releasedi it 1.7 miles away. Cleaned and reset trap

 

Tuesday morning a third woodmouse - released at same point as the Monday mouse

 

Wednesday morn... fourth woodmouse - This one driven to Norma's favourite birdwatching site 3 miles away

 

Thursday morn fifth woodmouse, again driven to site three miles away.

 

Now is there an infinite queue of woodmice waiting to get into the birdseed-baited trap ?

 

Or is it the same woodmouse each morning with prodigious speed and homing instinct ?

 

Or have we the first known case of reincarnation in mice ?

 

**** Although we see no reason to kill the mice trapped, trree-huggers in general should be under no illusions - if any of the mice were females (I didn't look) and have a nest somewhere, the youngsters will starve.... "humane" ??

 

 

 

 

[ayjay]

  On 4/13/2017 at 11:32 AM, Vagabond said:

Now is there an infinite queue of woodmice waiting to get into the birdseed-baited trap ?

This is closest for me, but only almost infinite.

 

There's a pond I fish near me and there are woodmice there. I'm sat watching a margin floater out for Carp one day and happened to glance down to where a Woodmouse had chewed through my rucksack and was gorging itself on the bag of peanuts in there. It just sat there large as life until I shooed it away.

[Steve Walker]

I thought I had mice in the greenhouse last year. My beans were dug up and eaten. Then I noticed a hole in the greenhouse bed which indicated a somewhat larger rodent had taken up residence.

 

His warding off required a more permanent solution than a live trap. A fine, sleek beast he was too.

[Vagabond]

  On 4/13/2017 at 11:55 AM, Steve Walker said:

A fine, sleek beast he was too.

Full of beans, no doubt.

[corydoras]

  On 4/13/2017 at 12:01 PM, Vagabond said:

Full of beans, no doubt.

I like it. Does your wife wear nail varnish? If so marking the next capture between the ears with a wee bead of nail varnish will maybe solve he homing mouse question.

Edited April 13, 2017 by corydoras

[Vagabond]

  On 4/13/2017 at 12:08 PM, corydoras said:

Does your wife wear nail varnish?

Answer No I do not have much time for women who habitually wear nail varnish, and to be fair, such women do not have much time for me.. I regard it as one of nature's signals - analogous to a stickleback's red chest - or lack of it. This mutual antipathy has, over the years, doubtless saved both of us much time and trouble'

 

I have however several coloured varnishes for salmon and trout flies, but I do not seriously think a woodmouse could regain its home terriitory from 3 miles away ( across two main roads and a stream) in about 15 hours - as AJ pointed out, my first option was nearest the truth - the alternatives were just whimsies;

 

In my youth I made a fortune from the "shilling a tail" bounty for grey squirrels, until it dawned upon the government there was an *infinite* supply of squoggies out there.

Edited April 13, 2017 by Vagabond

[corydoras]

  On 4/13/2017 at 3:30 PM, Vagabond said:

Answer No I do not have much time for women who habitually wear nail varnish, and to be fair, such women do not have much time for me.. I regard it as one of nature's signals - analogous to a stickleback's red chest - or lack of it. This mutual antipathy has, over the years, doubtless saved both of us much time and trouble'

 

I have however several coloured varnishes for salmon and trout flies, but I do not seriously think a woodmouse could regain its home terriitory from 3 miles away )and across two main roads and a stream) in about 15 hours - as AJ pointed out, my first option was nearest the truth - the alternatives were just whimsies;

 

In my youth I made a fortune from the "shilling a tail" bounty for grey squirrels, until it dawned upon the government there was an *infinite* supply of squoggies out there.

I was never a fan of the nail varnish type myself. You're probably right. Even Speedy Gonzales would have a problem maintaininng a mean speed of 5 metres a minute. Of course without the experiment we will never know. Fame fortune and a Nobel Prize may only be a dab of fly varnish away ;-)

[chesters1]

Our sheds and loft are full of mice and even shrews get caught in the traps ,why they cant live in the hundreds of acres surrounding us is a mystery .

4 poision stations under the sheds even slugs have a feed!

My old employer insisted we used tunnel traps for the mice in the veg patch they came home at night and were released into the wild for the owls to eat (lots of tawnies around here) lots of warm winters like the last decade means lots of critters dont freeze to death as nature intended ,a great number of big queen wasps about as well ,my rolled newspaper is ready for action they to should live in the wild not my sheds or roof!

Edited April 13, 2017 by chesters1

[corydoras]

  On 4/13/2017 at 5:39 PM, chesters1 said:

Our sheds and loft are full of mice and even shrews get caught in the traps ,why they cant live in the hundreds of acres surrounding us is a mystery .

4 poision stations under the sheds even slugs have a feed!

My old employer insisted we used tunnel traps for the mice in the veg patch they came home at night and were released into the wild for the owls to eat (lots of tawnies around here) lots of warm winters like the last decade means lots of critters dont freeze to death as nature intended ,a great number of big queen wasps about as well ,my rolled newspaper is ready for action they to should live in the wild not my sheds or roof!

Get a moggy.

[Ken L]

Bucket, length of dowel, a tube to make a roller, a smear of peanut butter and a ramp. See how many you can catch in one night.