Mice Nest Versus Bec and Matt: Attempt 1
A feisty nest of mice set up camp in what appeared to be an abandoned compost bin. One sunny Sunday afternoon, it seemed to intermittently get brighter as the roof of their home opened and closed. They mostly ignored this interruption to their happy life, although they got the sudden urge to hide occasionally with it. Meanwhile on the surface, two conniving humans plotted the mice's demise.
Could they just fill the whole compost bin with ratsac? No, environmentally too risky.
Could they get a cat and put it in the compost bin and see who won? Nope, don't have a cat, and are sort of allergic too them.
Could they fill the whole thing with cement and hope it filled up the underground holes and drowned the mice? Matt looks at Bec like she's crazy and explains about the viscosity of cement and the fact that such a plan is unlikely to succeed. But he looks at her thoughtfully....
And a plan is hatched
One person to hose the bottom to help create a bit of a general seal, perhaps try and flood the tunnels if possible (we have a pretty clay like ground). Dry ice in the compost bin.... What does this equal??? A little mouse gas chamber! Advantage: at the end there are no poisoned mice that other animals might eat and accidently get poisoned, and there is no impact on the compost in our bin. Practically an organic solution to pest control!
Day 2 of evil plan.
Call local fishing store that always advertises it has dry ice... you need to order it a day in a day in advance. Start madly phoning places to find dry ice. Invite friend to mouse massacre as Matt is at work. Drive with friend to Capalaba (45 minutes), get $40 block of dry ice - meant to last 4 days when camping. Stop at produce store to get some conventional non-killing mouse traps - they have run out (is there an infestation??). Keep going. Stop for sustenance. Get home. Put wire around bin so that if mice run out, they will all be herded towards the mallet wielding Bec and the bucket wielding friend. Hose bottom of bin and drop dry ice in top. Wait expectantly. Wonder where the mouse are. Look in bin. Poke compost. Mmmm.... Go inside to leave the gas chamber to develop. After a while go back outside again. Open compost, sift through it. One dead mouse ($40 later). Not suffocated so much as frozen to death (perhaps after being stunned by a giant block of ice falling on it). Rethink plan. Find mouse entrance to subterranean network. Place dry ice block (which is heavy and cold and difficult to safely maneuver) over hole. Put plastic container over the top of the dry ice, try and pile things around bottom to create a better seal. Hope for the best. Success can only be measured in whether there is a dead animal smell in a few weeks.
Future plan: to put the traps that trap the mice alive (to minimise risk to other animals) around outside. Still need to buy these.
Stay tuned for further attempts on the mice's lives.
Could they just fill the whole compost bin with ratsac? No, environmentally too risky.
Could they get a cat and put it in the compost bin and see who won? Nope, don't have a cat, and are sort of allergic too them.
Could they fill the whole thing with cement and hope it filled up the underground holes and drowned the mice? Matt looks at Bec like she's crazy and explains about the viscosity of cement and the fact that such a plan is unlikely to succeed. But he looks at her thoughtfully....
And a plan is hatched
One person to hose the bottom to help create a bit of a general seal, perhaps try and flood the tunnels if possible (we have a pretty clay like ground). Dry ice in the compost bin.... What does this equal??? A little mouse gas chamber! Advantage: at the end there are no poisoned mice that other animals might eat and accidently get poisoned, and there is no impact on the compost in our bin. Practically an organic solution to pest control!
Day 2 of evil plan.
Call local fishing store that always advertises it has dry ice... you need to order it a day in a day in advance. Start madly phoning places to find dry ice. Invite friend to mouse massacre as Matt is at work. Drive with friend to Capalaba (45 minutes), get $40 block of dry ice - meant to last 4 days when camping. Stop at produce store to get some conventional non-killing mouse traps - they have run out (is there an infestation??). Keep going. Stop for sustenance. Get home. Put wire around bin so that if mice run out, they will all be herded towards the mallet wielding Bec and the bucket wielding friend. Hose bottom of bin and drop dry ice in top. Wait expectantly. Wonder where the mouse are. Look in bin. Poke compost. Mmmm.... Go inside to leave the gas chamber to develop. After a while go back outside again. Open compost, sift through it. One dead mouse ($40 later). Not suffocated so much as frozen to death (perhaps after being stunned by a giant block of ice falling on it). Rethink plan. Find mouse entrance to subterranean network. Place dry ice block (which is heavy and cold and difficult to safely maneuver) over hole. Put plastic container over the top of the dry ice, try and pile things around bottom to create a better seal. Hope for the best. Success can only be measured in whether there is a dead animal smell in a few weeks.
Future plan: to put the traps that trap the mice alive (to minimise risk to other animals) around outside. Still need to buy these.
Stay tuned for further attempts on the mice's lives.
posted by earthkissed | 5:27 pm
5 Comments:
aww, the poor little mice.
how about you live in harmony with cute little furry critters? (not of the 8-legged variety...)
and how's steve? :)
I had such high hopes for this plan. Simple to do, no lasting toxic effects, science at its best. I suppose it's possible that your mice are some of the creatures in the world that are sensitive to carbon dioxide, and ran at the first wiff. There are plenty of critters that will run if you breathe on or near them. (Though there are some that will actually come towards it. Eat or be eaten I guess.)
chortles and hopes for the best
Re appletoppings comment: Because Matt has NEVER been bitten by a spider in his sleep (to the best of his knowledge) and they help control the evil cockroaches that are trying to suck his illogical blood.
yeah, but you probably don't swallow mice in your sleep, nor walk into their webs and have a massive one sitting on you somewhere...
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