Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m the kind of gal who hardly fits the stereotype of ‘possesses female biological bits. Must love shopping.’ Indeed no. Can’t abide the activity.
And yet when I heard that a good pal/colleague of mine; international coffee and barista expert, Paul Meikle Janney, had just appeared on a BBC 2 show entitled ‘What NOT To Buy’ I was somewhat intrigued.
Because at the same time that the programme was broadcast, my own little household were engaged in a war of words appertaining to a certain device that has featured in our house for some time. Such as… was this particular item useful? Deemed to be a successful buy? Or was it indeed, a total and utter pile of tosh. I began to wonder what readers and fellow bloggers might have to say about their own household Naughties and Nicies, in terms of gadgety-purchases.
So for this blog and for the next one, I’m going to attempt to address these issues and will also some of my own personal favourite ‘Must Haves.’
But to begin with, let’s go for the item that caused the minor domestic between us:
The Humane Mouse Trap
If you’re fortunate (or stupid) enough to live in a house that happens to be faced with a load of cows at the front of it and also has to contend with a flock of sheep at the back – you’re more than likely to have to entertain the odd mate of Mickey during the nippier months. The countryside is a bugger for that. Now, the smaller rodents don’t freak me out too much (I once caught a mouse with my bare hands actually. Well – I scooped the dratted thing up in my little lad’s Iron Man costume. Which he – rather ungratefully – refused to wear again afterwards, until I had washed it) but I’m not totally laissez-faire about living in a vermin ridden residence, so yeah. Mouse traps might well be required eh?
However, the man what lives with us happens to have some big issue with the thought of squishing the blood and smashing the guts out of the little blighters. And fair do’s. I mean, I wouldn’t have a problem with this stance on things *IF* the guy was a vegetarian or a pacifist or a Buddist or something. But no. He is in fact, the son of a butcher. Spent his youth chopping up limbs and the like during the 80’s with his father. And dietary wise, he also happens to worship his red meat. Will be developing gout any time soon, no doubt. And yet he wants to have mercy. He wants to give pardon to those filthy-dirty-nasty little mice that to scamper in and around our family home and that rip apart the clothes that I’ve stockpiled in the loft for the kiddies in dozens of carefully labelled-by-age-and-size boxes (‘just so you know dear – these boxes of stuff in the attic mean that … if I happen to get run over by a bus any time soon – you won’t ever have to buy clothes for the kids again. Not that you ever did anyway.’)
But I like to humour his little whims. So I purchased several ‘humane’ mouse traps. If you aren’t familiar with them, this is how it works; you place a yummmy snack in the bottom of the trap (peanut butter and chocolate combo works best) – and when the mouse enters the rectangular tube, the tunnel snaps shut on them. Harmlessly sealing them in there until you arrive. What you have to do then though, is to take them at least 1 mile away from your house in order to release them – as the little swines are clever at sniffing out the same preferred nooks and crannies again.
Sounds great doesn’t it? And perhaps it IS a wonderful little invention in the hands of some individuals. But not in the mitts of my other half; the man who has been charged with checking the traps. Because so far we have had the following issues:
- Mouse Incident No.1
– Caught 2 mice which husband duly drove away down a long country lane for release. But the 3rd rodent captured during this spate must have been Mighty Mouse. Because it actually managed to chew through hardcore plastic in order to liberate itself. (Impressive stuff. Perhaps indeed, this was the dude that later I had to catch whilst grabbing him with our Marvel superhero costume. Would make sense.) So I then went onto purchase trap number 2.
- Mouse Incident No.2
– Caught mouse in the trap. Fella drove it down the country lane. Arrived back home 5 minutes later with a look of abject horror on his face. He goes; “I … let it go free. Placed it at the back of the car next to the field. I had to reverse quickly as I was blocking the entrance to the road. But… I thought it would scamper away. They usually do. So I just assumed that it had done … And …”
I got the drift; “And… you reversed over it. Oh dear.”
He told me off for laughing. But I defy you not to.
- Mouse Incident No.3
– Caught mouse in trap. Fella drove it down the country lane. Arrived back home 5 minutes later with another look of abject horror on his face. “I … let it go. And this time it moved – but as I was pulling away in the car I saw a kestrel swoop down right on top of it.”
- Mouse Incident No. 4
– As I mentioned above, I’m quite happy to catch mice with the aid of polyester dressing-up outfits. But inexplicably, I don’t like checking to see if they’re in the trap or not. So anyway, there I was adding some ‘Girl Aged 12-14 yrs’ clothes to the OCD-esque hoard in the loft and I noticed the trap nearby. I gave it a rattle to check there was no scrabbling inside. And took it downstairs to wash it out. Only to discover a mummified mouse.
Now as I said, I’m really not the squeamish sort – but this little revelation very nearly caused me to throw up onto the shag-pile. Not because of the smell or the shock or anything. But simply because of the look on it’s poor little face. What a way to die. Like some sort of Yorkshire version of an Edgar Allen Poe horror-story.
I mean, for God’s sake! If you’re going to insist on human traps – then at least bloody well check them every day. Or clean them and keep them out of the way of mice who want to experience the worst possible method of death. Or fix a little bell to the outside of the trap so that Missy Mouse can mimic the medieval practice of ringing for attention, should a corpse have unwittingly been buried alive.
Far, far better to have bludgeoned it with a rolling pin or summat, I’m beginning to think.
Anyway. I still haven’t learned my own lesson. I’m still pandering to his strange whims. The other day a friend told me all about these plug-in devices that send out high frequencies that rodents hate, thus deterring them from entering your home. So yeah, I bought one and yeah, so far so good.
Although the kid’s hamster seems to have been acting even more like a bit of a lunatic recently. So perhaps I need to Go-Google why that might be.
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If you’re interested, read more about Paul M-J, BBC 2 and what coffee brewing equipment you SHOULDN’T buy here:
http://www.darkwoodscoffee.co.uk/paul-meikle-janney-reviewing-home-espresso-machines-on-bbc2/
The problem with the high-frequency-noise rodent-deterrents is that it’s hard to prove that they work. I’ve had one in place for four years, after a traumatic Christmas listening to a rat gnawing though the back of my kitchen cupboard, and there haven’t been any more rats. So maybe the deterrent does work. But I had previously had 25 rat-free years without benefit of any deterrent (apart from a cat), so who can say? You’re better-placed to know if it’s effective and I’ll be interested to know if the mouse incursions stop. But please make sure that the hamster is as far away as possible from the device or the poor thing will go mad!
Hey, thanks. But. Urgh and Bleugh and double-Urrghh – having had rats-in-the-garden-what-am-a-gonnado a bit back (never mind Dassies in the African loft – which are far, far cuter creatures, let’s face it than either mice or rats) I am shuddering here, to think of you … faced with Xmas and a ruddy rat ripping out your walls!
Next door neighbour reckons that the cat there might well nudge the mice through to us (i.e. ‘stinks of cat here! Let’s sod off next door and eat all and sundry there!’)
So like you – I’m all at sea here. I’m feeling exactly the same. Yes here we are – with this new swanky plug thing in the wall – allegedly keeping out rodents. And so far… no shuffling of teensy little paws around my stockpiles of ‘BOY AGED 10-12 YRS OLD’OCD-esque collection of clothes
Anyone else out there with views on the contraptions to counter the critters, please do post…
The problem with the high-frequency-noise rodent-deterrents is that it’s hard to prove that they work. I’ve had one in place for four years, after a traumatic Christmas listening to a rat gnawing though the back of my kitchen cupboard, and there haven’t been any more rats. So maybe the deterrent does work. But I had previously had 25 rat-free years without benefit of any deterrent (apart from a cat), so who can say? You’re better-placed to know if it’s effective and I’ll be interested to know if the mouse incursions stop. But please make sure that the hamster is as far away as possible from the device or the poor thing will go mad!
Hey, thanks. But. Urgh and Bleugh and double-Urrghh – having had rats-in-the-garden-what-am-a-gonnado a bit back (never mind Dassies in the African loft – which are far, far cuter creatures, let’s face it than either mice or rats) I am shuddering here, to think of you … faced with Xmas and a ruddy rat ripping out your walls!
Next door neighbour reckons that the cat there might well nudge the mice through to us (i.e. ‘stinks of cat here! Let’s sod off next door and eat all and sundry there!’)
So like you – I’m all at sea here. I’m feeling exactly the same. Yes here we are – with this new swanky plug thing in the wall – allegedly keeping out rodents. And so far… no shuffling of teensy little paws around my stockpiles of ‘BOY AGED 10-12 YRS OLD’OCD-esque collection of clothes
Anyone else out there with views on the contraptions to counter the critters, please do post…