28th February 2010

Strange noises in the house. Ghosts? Don't panic.
A neat hole on the bag of dog-meal under the sink gave the game away. The farmer's Spring-time cultivation must have disturbed some field mice, who've moved into our house. (Brings to mind the time when I sent Him indoors to the computer shop in Caussade. Did you buy a new Mouse? No, the assistant just grinned at me. What? Oh, you must have asked for a 'sourire' (smile) instead of a 'souris'!!)
I remember trying everything last year to get rid of the real mice humanely but to no avail. These French are very clever. They work out how to extract the cheese then run away! But then, in desperation, I did something extremely foolish. I threw a mouse-poison sachet behind the office cabinet, thinking Bruno couldn't possibly reach it. But, yes he did and nearly died.
So, this time I've come up with a foolproof plan. Get a very large glass jar, grease it liberally on all inner surfaces, sprinkle some seeds or cheese inside, then - la piece de resistance - put a ruler or polystyrene ramp up to it. The mouse is certain to run up the ramp, fall inside and then, in the morning, I can deliver him to safety far away.
If not, Him indoors says that if we've run out of cheese, we could put a picture of some cheese in the mousetrap, but then in the morning, we'd find a picture of a mouse!

1 comment:

SueC said...

Your tale reminded me of the time the class hamster escaped and set up home behind the built-in classroom cupboards. It provided a great opportunity for a real life design and technology lesson. The winning hamster trap design ( ie the suceesful one) used the big metal classroom bin with a ramp leading up to the rim with a trail of food. I hope it works for you too. xx