The Mouse-erator

One of the hazards of keeping grain around to give to the horses is the attraction to mice. They're everywhere in the stable, jumping out of the grain bags and running for their lives when we go out in the evening to take care of the horses and goats. They also hide in the straw in the stable during the day and yesterday when I was pitching the straw around a mouse came flying out of the forkful as it landed and ran to hide under the gate.

So Isabella and Doug have several mousetraps in the tack room and in our housesitting instructions is a reminder to dispose of mice every day. This we have been doing and our skill at knowing where to put the mousetraps is now finely tuned. But there were so many that drastic action was called for. We learned from WSU organic farm manager Brad Jaeckel about a trap they use to catch scores of rodents every night. The contraption is a bucket full of water, with a bar or thin pipe across the top edge, with a pop can or tin can skewered through the pipe the long way so that it can rotate freely. The can is smeared with attractive bait such as peanut butter or cream cheese, and a board ramp goes up to the edge of the bucket. The mice go up the ramp, make a leap for the can, and when they land it turns and they slide off into the water.

We created one of these things for the first time yesterday and this morning discovered 5 victims, along with the 3 in the tack room in the regular traps. Walt was mighty pleased that something he made worked exactly right the first time.