A Better Mousetrap

I found a mouse in our bird-seed container in the garage. We keep the birdseed in a covered plastic trashcan, and the mouse had climbed up into it somehow (while it was closed) and had been unable to climb out.

So that gave me the idea to set up the trap in this photo. Where there is one mouse there are usually more. I even put in a small water dish (a jar lid) so the mice would be comfortable while they waited. Before 24 hours two more mice had walked the plank (see them in this photo). There have been no more in the 48 hours since, so I closed up the makeshift seed bin.

All three were released in a wooded stratch near us - no house for a quarter mile in any direction. I took them each time in a jar - it was a shot trip. I have heard that mice released in this way have almost no chance against predators, etc. - but really most mice have little chance (practically every predator eats them) and this chance is better than certain death from traditional traps.

The cats loved the mice in the jars; I let them see them before I took them. Mice are cute standing up against the glass; their feet are so pink, and so tiny. The mice didn't even sem to notice the cats outside the jar - no cat smell, after all.