symondrake » Mice

Mouse Mansion!

Symon — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:04:00 +0000

I finished my latest DIY project this morning, and I must say I’m rather stoked with it!

A few months ago I scored a fish tank for next to nothing. The glass was badly scratched so it wasn’t much use as an aquarium, but has proved perfect for furry little rodents.

And so, after a few small Trademe purchases, a visit to various DIY shops, some kiwi ingenuity, and about a day’s leasurely work… I present to you ‘The Mouse Mansion’!

(It’s for the kids, of course

18 babies in the palm of my hand

Symon — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:22:00 +0000

The pic says it all.

At least 18 4-day-old baby mice, all in the palm of one hand.

I don’t even know if they are all Zipporah’s either. It seems my other mouse ‘Noname’ may have been pregnant also. Anyway, they are both sharing the mothering role and are raising all eighteen as if they were their own.

So, if any of you would like a cute and cuddly pet mouse for Christmas (only $3 each… what a bargain , you know what to do.

Kate, I know you can’t resist.

Zipporah is pregnant

Symon — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:30:00 +0000

My boys are getting pet mice for Christmas. I reckon every boy should have a mouse at least once in his lifetime. When I was young I had a few, and then progressed to rats. It’s amazing how one can get attached to an animal so small (ask Paisley Jade what happened when one of my pet rats ‘got put to sleep’ sometime).

But I digress.

Attaining baby mice isn’t as easy as you would think. So my plan was to buy a girl mouse, buy a boy mouse, play some mood music (‘Love is in the air’ comes to mind.) and viola… on Christmas day, the boys can pick from about 10 ready-to-be-weaned cute and fluffy baby mice.

Meet Zipporah. A long haired, white and brown spotted mouse. She’s grown on me, and I’m fairly sure I’m the only 34 year old in Northland who has a pet mouse in my bedroom.

She is extremily pregnant, and is the fattest mouse I’ve ever seen! Delivery day is tomorrow.

So, post a comment with your guess as to how many babies she will have, and if you guess right, you can have one for free

Rats… we’ve got mice.

Symon — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:00:00 +0000

The rodent shennanigans continue.

I took a sheet of Jibb off the kitchen wall the other day in search of an elusive smell (but that’s another story, which you can read here). Curious as to whether we only had one resident rodent or more, I set a trap. Morning came, there was no dead mouse, nor was there any peanut butter left on the trap.

Rats… we’ve got mice.

Although I love the furry little creatures, I do not appreciate the thought of them in our kitchen going on midnight pantry raids. I have a cat, Barney is his name. He stays inside most nights. You’d think he would be a mouse deterrant. But no, he seems permanently attached to the sofa. So, reluctantly, I set the trap again last night in the kitchen wall (the MAM01 wouldn’t fit). This morning I was greeted by a very dead mouse.

I gave the poor thing a respectable farewell, then fed it to our eels.

The Revenge of the Rodents

Symon — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:01:00 +0000

Continuing with my recent mouse theme…

Over the last few days a horrible smell developed in our kitchen (no, it wasn’t my wife’s cooking). I have inherited a rather strong sence of smell from my dad, and so went to work trying to find the source.

Two days of frustration, and a sheet of jib off the kitchen wall later… and the mystery was no closer to being solved.

Disturbing clue: It seemed as though every time we used the oven, the smell would worsen.

I checked in the oven… nothing (told you it wasn’t my wife’s cooking).
I checked behind the oven… nothing.
I checked under the stove… nothing.

In desperation my trusty nose and I reconnoitered every inaginable nook and cranny off the oven… Bingo (or should I say Oh-no. I gag easy).

I disassembled the glass top of the stove (not an easy feat), and discovered one dead mouse… one dead rotten, smelly mouse who had either…

a. electrocuted itself
b. got stuck and starved to death
c. died of old age
d. or all of the above

I believe the correct answer is ‘d’, and I’ll tell you why. Seeking revenge on Burton for capturing (and therefore humiliating) it’s great-grandchild in the ‘mouser arrest’, and knowing it was nearing the end of its life, the mouse went on a hunger strike, became thin enough to crawl into the tiniest and hard-to-access places of the oven, wedged itself under the element wiring, and waited for someone to cook some pasta.

Rodent’s revenge.

Mouse arrested!

Symon — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:20:00 +0000

I’m very happy to announce that the ever-so sneaky, and very illusive mouse which lived in my shed has been successfully captured using the MAM01 (Mouse Arrest Mark 01), a feat which standard mousetraps just could not do (even with peanut butter smeared on them).

I thought the culprit had earned the right to freedom, since he was so clever (and because I’m a big softy), so me and the boys let it go in the bush after breakfast this morning.

Cute little thing he was (pictured above minutes before his liberation)… tiny, hyper and covered in slippery cooking oil – thanks to the ingeniously designed MAM01.

Click here for the original ‘Humane Mousetrap’ plans by Manny Leger.

The Mouse Arrest: Mark 01

Symon — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:04:00 +0000

I have some very clever little mice in my shed (you can read about them here). They have been taking great pleasure in toying with the conventional traps I set.

So, in response to their mocking, I have constructed ‘The Mouse Arrest: mark 1′. I scoured the internet to find some fail-safe trap designs, but most of them kill the poor things slowly and horribly. The ‘Mouse Arrest’ (MAM01 for short) doesn’t kill the cute critters, it simply traps them (so I can then feed them live to our pet eels .

I based the MAM01 on ingenious plans by Manny Leger found here and will let you know who wins round 2. By the way, I’m just kidding about the eels.

MacGyver Mice

Symon — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:08:00 +0000

I love mice. As a kid I had many as pets, until I progressed to rats.

I don’t know how people can be scared of them. They are cute and cuddly, not 8-legged and creepy. I was speaking at a camp earlier on in the year and was rudely interupted by one of my leaders freaking out because she saw a mouse. I thought ladies just did that in the movies.

Wild mice, while still cute, are an annoyance, especially when they are thriving in my shed. I set three traps last night and was quite excited (as were the boys) to see the carnage this morning. We were bitterly dissappointed. All the cheese was gone, and the traps hadn’t been set off. The wierd thing was that I had tied the cheese to the traps! The culprits must be MacGyver fans

I will not be defeated. Be assured that I will do research and will be building the mouse trap from nam. In the meantime, have a look at a mouse problem of Biblical proportions.