Rodent Ranching, I duz it..

[denbot]

Our kitty's like to bring friends home. Two years ago they brought us a Campbell's Dwarf Hamster, we named Lucky, and still have. My kitty's seem to release as much as they kill, the worst part being all the action takes place once they come in through the kitty door.

Saturday morning Mini-Alley noticed the both kitties posted up in front of the stove. When I got home, my son and I used flashlights to look under and behind the stove but could not see anything. Later that evening Mini-Alley announced that she just saw a "mouse" come out from the back of the stove on to the kitchen counter. I hustled to the Mega Depot just before closing to grab the only non-kill mouse trap they stock, baited it with peanut butter and figured the problem was handled.

The next morning the trap was empty. Last night I went into the kitchen and saw the "mouse". It was a huge Kangaroo rat that I could not have stuffed into that tiny mouse trap with a hydraulic jack.

I did not get a good look at it but the suspect could be one of these:

Pacific Kangaroo Rat, also ominously also called the Agile Kangaroo Rat:

[IMG][/IMG]

http://www.sibr.com/mammals/M103.html

If it's this guy, Lucky may have a room mate seeing as these little fellas are endangered.

or

The Merriam's Kangaroo Rat.

[IMG][/IMG]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merriam%27s_Kangaroo_Rat


Over the years I have used a jury rigged trap using a 5 gal bucket, ramp, toilet paper roll tube and peanut butter bait (I leaned to make this home made trap from a DU post). The mouse enters the toilet paper tube to get to the bait at the far end, which cause the tube, mouse, and all to drop into the bucket. Last night I set up a modified bucket system using a 12oz plastic cup instead of a toilet paper tube.

I don't think it will work because the "mouse" in question looks to have enough vertical leap to punch holes in the ceiling. This morning not only there was no joy in the bucket trap, Mini-Alley spotted another little mouse under the book case by the side door (where the kitty door is located). At least I have a use for the mouse trap I bought. Sigh..

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Mice: 1...Denbot: 0

Good luck with your endeavors!

[RebelOne]

2. Hate to say this, but if these little critters were in my home,

they would be dead little critters. I had an invasion of rats a few months ago because a field was being cleared in back of my house. Well, those critters decided my house would be a perfect new home. After many sleepless nights of hearing them scratching everywhere, I had to hire a pest exterminator. Within 2 months, he killed 15 rats. There was no way that I would rig live traps and release them so that they could come back inside. I love animals and hate to kill any creature, but when they invade my house, they are facing a death sentence.

[pink-o]

6. You're a better man./woman than I, Gunga Din!

If that were me, I'd've been at the Motel 6 the first time I heard scratching or saw droppings. I am an animal lover, but rodents are the ONE exception to the rule. I'd rather encounter arachnids or reptiles in my kitchen than a mouse or (especially) a rat.

Actually, I can think of one worse genus: Blood-sucking insects. Nothing is more hideous than Mosquitos, unless it's bedbugs or fleas.

[RebelOne]

7. I guess I am a better woman.

For over a week, I would hear the scratchings every night. I would get up in the middle of the night and bang on the walls to shut the critters up. Finally, I could stand it no longer and called a pest control guy who dispatched them. Took a while, but he had traps everywhere.

[LWolf]

3. Kangaroo rats were everywhere

when I lived in the mojave. They never invaded the house or the barn, and I appreciated that about them. I'd see them at night, hanging out on the porch or out at the barn, enjoying the evening breeze, or leaping across the roads in my headlights.

These days, 1200 miles to the north, the mice are occasional irritants, but the pack rats are rampantly destructive. When I catch a mouse, I toss it to the chickens. If it escapes, it gets another chance. If not, I've added protein to the flock's diet. But the pack rats...nothing catches them but the water troughs. If I let the water level get low enough, they'll fall in and drown.

[HopeHoops]

4. That's so CUTE! Cuddle, cuddle, cuddle.

I cuddle our bunny a lot, but lately he's been taking advantage of his ability to put me to sleep so he can sneak off and curl up somewhere else - next to the dog, under the bed, in a laundry basket, whatever.

[pink-o]

5. Rodents might be cute out in the country

But when you live in a port city...like NYC, SF or Boston, not so much! We have rats here the size of beagles, and they are disgusting, plague-carrying vermin.

There's a reason Mitt Romney's real name is Willard, I'm convinced!