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Off Topic / Re: The Dream Warriors
« on: 23 January, 2022, 08:26:19 PM »
Similar problem here (with mice, not aristocratic weasels and undead Knights Templar, although that wouldn't particularly surprise me either).
Non-dream related segue to mouse shenanigans follows...
The mice are field mice (aka wood mice), which despite their name have decided they're far comfier living in a house, are a lot less stinky than actual house mice and don't seem to venture any further than the walls, attic and under the sink, so must be getting most of their sustenance elsewhere. They do make a hell of a noise, though and sound like they're ripping strips off something in the attic.
They're also slightly too light to always set the humane trap off, so I've added a couple of two pence coins to the ramp to weigh it down a bit.
A few months ago I checked the trap to find a mouse within making a heck of a racket and discovered that it had picked up one of the two pence pieces, had stuck it in the gap at the bottom of the 'door' to the trap and looked very much like it was using it as a lever in an attempt to prise the trap back open. It then seemed to get frustrated and lobbed the coin towards the back of the trap, then chucked it against the back a couple of more times in what may have been an attempt to break through that way.
Upon googling "field mice and tool use" I found an article from a couple of decades ago which informed me that it had only recently been discovered that they do indeed use tools, making their own signposts from twigs, leaves and small stones because it keeps them safer from predators than what house mice do, which is to scent mark by peeing all over the place. So that'll be why field mice aren't as stinky.
Non-dream related segue to mouse shenanigans follows...
The mice are field mice (aka wood mice), which despite their name have decided they're far comfier living in a house, are a lot less stinky than actual house mice and don't seem to venture any further than the walls, attic and under the sink, so must be getting most of their sustenance elsewhere. They do make a hell of a noise, though and sound like they're ripping strips off something in the attic.
They're also slightly too light to always set the humane trap off, so I've added a couple of two pence coins to the ramp to weigh it down a bit.
A few months ago I checked the trap to find a mouse within making a heck of a racket and discovered that it had picked up one of the two pence pieces, had stuck it in the gap at the bottom of the 'door' to the trap and looked very much like it was using it as a lever in an attempt to prise the trap back open. It then seemed to get frustrated and lobbed the coin towards the back of the trap, then chucked it against the back a couple of more times in what may have been an attempt to break through that way.
Upon googling "field mice and tool use" I found an article from a couple of decades ago which informed me that it had only recently been discovered that they do indeed use tools, making their own signposts from twigs, leaves and small stones because it keeps them safer from predators than what house mice do, which is to scent mark by peeing all over the place. So that'll be why field mice aren't as stinky.