[GNUmoe]

On a peaceful Sunday afternoon of work at a rural Vermont confectionary shop, a wonderful mouse met a tragic end.

I had to move aside a large door that had come unfastened from the lower cabinets to get to a certain box of chocolates, and was horrified to discover the sad remains of Kirk, the most kind-hearted of all mice.

For the last two weeks he had made my unbearable and unsatisying high school job a little bit more fun, made the workload a little lighter, and made the non-vegan chocolate a little less smelly. I remember when he first ran out from under the pantries and looked at me with his tiny eyes. I fed him oat bran sesame sticks, and in the meantime waited patiently for my mom to purchase our PETA approved mouse trap.

But we were too late. The last day I was at work I found him - poor little Kirk, crushed to death by a cruel metal wire.

Trying hard not to be too upset by the sight, I proceeded to search every inch of the store for other moustraps, and smacked them with a roll of wallpaper to set them each off. One broke. That one was for Kirk.

What else can I do? I know the owner as well as anyone could - she's a mean, shrew old woman who would not care if a person were snapped in half under a wire. There's no reasoning. I'd hoped to put my own mousetrap in to catch Kirk and free him into a field a few miles away. But after talking with more experienced employees, I've learned that this wouldn't fly either. Is there any way to spare the lives of Kirk's buddies?

-Maureen

 

[Amy SF]

Poor Kirk. I don't have any advice, but I'm sorry you had to deal with the death of an innocent mouse.

 

[Tom]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but mice in an area that sells/stores food are probably going to be a problem. They might not eat much, but they can soil food with their droppings and possibly contaminate it with germs.

That said... I definitely advocate non-lethal means of livetrapping and relocating them. You might also want to find out how they are getting into the building and close off those entrances, making sure that you don't trap any mice inside a wall with no access to food or water. This last might be easier said than done- mice can get through surprisingly small openings- I forget how small.

There is also a free plan how to make a live-trap: you balance a cardboard tube (such as paper towels come on) over a waste basket, with a trail of food crumbs, so that they tip the tube when they go inside it and land in the waste basket. I'll try to find my link to it...

ETA: I'm sorry about Kirk.

 

[gas4]

Oh that's terrible, poor little Kirk.

You know I had an experience almost exactly like this, except with baby birds, whose Mother had built a nest where I was working but when the owner returned from holiday he chucked them out. There were four of them, song thrushes. So I took them home and tried to raise them myself but two died. I released two in the end but I don't know if they were old enough, I had to let them go because they had stopped letting me feed them.

On the same day as the birds were chucked out the old dog Kim which had been around the whole time I worked there was put down because she had cancer. That was such a hard day. Doesn't it suck having to work with people who couldn't care less about animals?

 

[havocjohn]

I care a lot about animals however, mice and rats are not exactly healthy individuals to have running around.

If they wanted to stay alive they should have stayed outside, instead of moving in.

 

[gas4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by havocjohn

I care a lot about animals however, mice and rats are not exactly healthy individuals to have running around.

If they wanted to stay alive they should have stayed outside, instead of moving in.

You can't blame animals for adapting to the environment that we've provided, it's not like we put up warning signs. Urgh, blaming the victim really rarks me up.

Havocjohn do you realise that you've gone into a support thread and blamed poor Kirk for his own death? That's not cool man.

 

[havocjohn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gas4

You can't blame animals for adapting to the environment that we've provided, it's not like we put up warning signs. Urgh, blaming the victim really rarks me up.

Havocjohn do you realise that you've gone into a support thread and blamed poor Kirk for his own death? That's not cool man.

this isn't in the support threads it's in the Activist Forums.

Having been dealing with mouse invasions for a couple of yrs now; I have no more sympathy for the little [email protected]#ds. I have tried live trapping and moving them down the hill to the woods; I have tried natural and sonic deterents; they doesn't work. I have plugged holes, etc and some how they keep getting back in.

I have no sympathy for Kirk and his cousins when they come inside.

 

[Pescas]

they come inside for food and warmth during the winter and move out in the summer. I have pet mice. Still, any mouse with some sense would go inside for vegan chocolate instead of freezing outside in a hole

 

[havocjohn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pescas

they come inside for food and warmth during the winter and move out in the summer. I have pet mice. Still, any mouse with some sense would go inside for vegan chocolate instead of freezing outside in a hole

odd, the last day of summer was Friday and I have been dealing with mice for a month or so. Maybe we should let them all move to your house.

 

[gas4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by havocjohn

odd, the last day of summer was Friday and I have been dealing with mice for a month or so. Maybe we should let them all move to your house.

Mice aren't involved in some kind of conspiracy to piss you off. They're just doing the most sensible thing for their survival as they see it.

And I still think you shouldn't be taking a stance that implies that the mouse this thread is about was stupid enough to get himself killed when the thread was posted by someone who was really upset about his death. It's just insensitive.

 

[Pescas]

odd, the last day of summer was Friday and I have been dealing with mice for a month or so. Maybe we should let them all move to your house.

No thanks, I have cats =)

Well, any cute little mouse with some sense will also stay inside in summer if theres more food there, but usually they come in in wintertime.

 

[havocjohn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gas4

Mice aren't involved in some kind of conspiracy to piss you off. They're just doing the most sensible thing for their survival as they see it.

And I still think you shouldn't be taking a stance that implies that the mouse this thread is about was stupid enough to get himself killed when the thread was posted by someone who was really upset about his death. It's just insensitive.

they might not be involved in a conspiracy to piss me off, however they have and the most sensible thing for their survival would be to move back outside, and stay out of Havoc's food.

I think it is wrong to advocate that it is okay to allow mice to live where food is stored and prepared at a high school or anyother place that stores, sells and prepares food.

It's not the mouse himself I found stupid it is the attitude of some that it is okay for them to stay in food supply areas that I find to be stupid.

 

[Tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by havocjohn

I think it is wrong to advocate that it is okay to allow mice to live where food is stored and prepared at a high school or anyother place that stores, sells and prepares food.

It's not the mouse himself I found stupid it is the attitude of some that it is okay for them to stay in food supply areas that I find to be stupid.

I thought the point of this thread was to keep the mice out- but without harming them?

GNUmoe- I googled for that "humane mouse trap", and although this isn't the exact website I was thinking of, it's the same idea:

http://glass.typepad.com/journal/200..._catch_a_.html

Of course, you'll be sure not to let the mice bite you, and wash your hands after emptying the trap.