Onoff Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 3 minutes ago, jack said: WTAF? I wonder whether it's viewing the trap as a potential nest, and dragging in some materials to close off the entrance a bit? Possibly hardcore for a ramp to comply with Part M? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 1 minute ago, Onoff said: Possibly hardcore for a ramp to comply with Part M? Cheeky blighter making it out of easily removable materials so he can get rid of it after sign-off. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 1 minute ago, jack said: Cheeky blighter making it out of easily removable materials so he can get rid of it after sign-off. Lot of mice on here have the same idea. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonD Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 2 hours ago, Radian said: You mean it shifted all those stones into it? Why I wonder - was it trying to protect its mates? 1 hour ago, jack said: WTAF? I wonder whether it's viewing the trap as a potential nest, and dragging in some materials to close off the entrance a bit? Yes, it just piled the stones into the entrance and completely closed it off. Exactly the same each time it did it. I wonder whether it knew it couldn't resist temptation to eventually go for the cheese! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wil Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 We have some interesting problems with mice- usually when the contractors move the straw stack near the house and they decide to move in here instead. I woke up to one making a hell of a racket the other night. Lay there for 2mins getting cross before deciding to switch the light on and do something about it. Turned out the bold b@gger was on my pillow! I moved fairly quickly at that point. Put a mouse trap with peanut butter down next to the bed and there was a loud snap a couple of mins later. Took the mouse outside to give to the feral cats who I'm fairly sure now consider me their butler... Proud moment was getting two with the same trap... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simplysimon Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 get some stainless insect mesh, rollup and stuff into holes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radian Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 1 minute ago, Simplysimon said: get some stainless insect mesh, rollup and stuff into holes? Funny you should mention that. I found a pack of SS pan scourers in the workshop today and wondered if they might bung the gaps. I can picture the mice pulling them out though so I' was thinking of applying some acrylic caulk to the edges of the opening to glue them in place. But on closer inspection, the lead valley above gives shelter to these areas so I'm not even sure it's necessary to worry about filling the gaps entirely with caulk. It's not like there would be torrents of water flowing past under there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radian Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 11 hours ago, Onoff said: Got exactly the same issue in 4 places on my dormer. Mine is a lot more jerry built than yours though. I did think about folding some stainless mesh into a V. Are you talking about this Jerry? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundtuit Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 39 minutes ago, Radian said: I found a pack of SS pan scourers in the workshop today and wondered if they might bung the gaps. I can picture the mice pulling them out though I'm in awe of the prowess and tenacity of your vermin. I can only assume that you live adjacent to the boathouse at Hereford! Is there a clear route to the roof for them without an overhang? Maybe a gap in a soffit is a possibility? Also, difficult to judge the perspective from your original photos, but if that's a vine or something growing up the house wall, may be consider reducing the height (to ground level). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 10 hours ago, Radian said: I found a pack of SS pan scourers in the workshop today and wondered if they might bung the gaps I bought a roll of stainless steel wire wool, as used in racing exhaust systems, and I didn't have problems with mice or sparrows. I might just have been lucky though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radian Posted January 20, 2022 Author Share Posted January 20, 2022 10 hours ago, Roundtuit said: I can only assume that you live adjacent to the boathouse at Hereford! The SAS should give a job to these mice. I googled can mice climb walls and watched some of the videos. Our Purbeck stone elevations offer numerous easy routes up to the roof. This is my actual house where the two roofs meet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radian Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 Last night the Mouse set off my see-saw trap without getting in. Time for a new design: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jimbo Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 I have an old friend who is a pest controller. He told me a choc button is the best bait. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radian Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 1 hour ago, Big Jimbo said: I have an old friend who is a pest controller. He told me a choc button is the best bait. That's interesting. Up until now I've always used peanuts and had plenty of success with them but this particular mouse just doesn't seem interested. Last night however I tried a couple of sultanas and he took that bait somewhen after midnight. Only the crafty so-and-so somehow managed to extract it from the neck of the bottle and get free leaving it in the locked position. I don't know how he did it as he also managed to evade the motion detection running on the video camera overlooking the trap! This one's a proper ninja. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundtuit Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 1 hour ago, Big Jimbo said: I have an old friend who is a pest controller. He told me a choc button is the best bait. I use chocolate on snap traps; you can melt the bottom and stick it to the trigger plate to stop the little feckers stealing it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 In my (previous) farmhouse which was a ~18C stone-built construction in a village, we used to get a repeat invasion most winters as the little buggers decided to opt for life indoors. IMO, the only good indoor mouse is a dead one; the worst kind is at least one of each sex as this will turn into an infestation in weeks. So we used a mix of poison boxes, and snap traps baited with chocolate which seemed to get any incomers before they could breed. Still, it could a lot worse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radian Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 Finally got the electronics wired up to the motor on the new mousetrap... The circuit board has an IR LED and IR Phototransistor on opposite sides at the end of the bottle, at about half the height of a mouse. These are connected to a transistor circuit which latches on the power to the shutter motor at full current for 250ms, the instant the mouse breaks the beam, then backs off the motor current to hold it down in stall indefinitely. The latch is reset by lifting the shutter via the back EMF from the motor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radian Posted January 23, 2022 Author Share Posted January 23, 2022 Got it. Unfortunately it crept in so slowly and cautiously that the motion detection timed-out before it got to the beam breaker so there is no video of the shutter coming down. This video is about 1/4s after that moment and the mouse has already turned around and got back to the entrance. You can just see the shutter bob up slightly as the current reduces to the holding level. vi_2892_20220123_032113_Trim_Trim.mp4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 (edited) A quick snap is a lot simpler, but quite so satisfying a project. ? BTW, you would be better off posting this sort of video to YouTube and including the link here. The forum S/W is clever enough to convert a YouTube link into an embedded video. This also has two advantages: You might end up getting more hits directly on YouTube anyway. This uses up less file space on our server. ? I use YouTube quite often: not so much for public consumption, but more "non-searchable" links of snippets for friends, insurance claims, background info and context for suppliers, etc. Edited January 23, 2022 by TerryE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radian Posted January 23, 2022 Author Share Posted January 23, 2022 13 minutes ago, TerryE said: A quick snap is a lot simpler But not my style. Besides, the mice lived in this pleasant field long before I did ? 13 minutes ago, TerryE said: BTW, you would be better off posting this sort of video to YouTube and including the link here. Sure, but I don't want to waive my anonymity. Posting YT's anonymously is way too much of a faff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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