Small mammal trap

[Queen bee]

Several years ago I recieved a small mammal trap for my birthday, and today I'm getting round to using it. It has clear sides so I don't need to handle anything I catch and risk hurting it. It has a trip mechanism (little mammal goes in, door closes) and I've set it below some climbing honeysuckle in the garden, baited with hamster food and good old Rice Krispies! XD There's some hay for bedding too and extra food to keep it going. I'm hoping to catch a wood mouse: when we had a peanut holder on the window, we'd get a little group coming visiting right in front of our noses. I'll check it every couple of hours, and if nothing comes today, I'll take it down as it's school tomorrow. I'll tell you if anything appears!

[Billy Wobble Dagger]

Did you catch anything? Hope you've let it go again?

BWD

[m1.carson]

Hi,

Try chocolate or peanut butter, chocolate works a treat with fieldmice, we caught two at once in a humane trap like yours.

Max.

[paulinemiller10]

I would check it every morning, it needs water, and sometimes their tails can get trapped, mice can die from stress or dehydration. Pauline.

[Queen bee]

Well, success, I checked it in the morning and there was a little wood mouse inside. Must've liked Rice Krispies, because they had all been munched. Opened the door, but it decided it liked it in the hay (nice and warm, I expect) so after leaving it for 10 minutes to see if it would find its own way out, I took the tunnel off the nest box and it darted away. I could not see the tell-tale signs of its gender, but I'd guess it was a female by the size. Not that I'm any expert, though. Next week I'm going to place it around our bonfire site, which has a lot of thick, tall grass and nettles, and Max (our dog) likes chasing voles down there, so I might get one of those. Only time will tell though.

[rainmaker]

Be a little bit careful with that sort of thing - I've used them before, and they are supposed to be vole & shrew proof, because those little critters won't survive a full night without food/water - lo & behold, next morning, we had a shrew in one of ours & it was dead

[Queen bee]

Well, I set it down at the bonfire site (I took your advice, carson, and partly baited it with good old peanut butter) and in the morning I had another wood mouse. I released it and it ran into a hole I hadn't noticed before in the bank. I think the wood mice turn up most because unlike voles they are less reliant on set-out runs and roam further afield.
Yes, shrews do need very regular checking. They're the sort that go by "live fast die young". Though it's weird they went into a trap meant for mice, as they tend to go for meat, not grain or whatever...

[thunder]

Originally Posted by Queen bee

Though it's weird they went into a trap meant for mice, as they tend to go for meat, not grain or whatever...

I think they are just nosy - "Let's look in there, see if there is any food"

henrya

[Dan Salter]

always add some frozen carrot or a piece of apple to give the animals moisture/water

[Blackbrook Eye]

I know that I am not too quick on the uptake, but can you explain why you need to catch them anyway, is it some sort of survey or something ?