Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: MickyB on October 25, 2013, 21:19

Title: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: MickyB on October 25, 2013, 21:19
Where, right there on my allotment  :dry:

It was sat a cool as a cucumber at the back of one of my raised beds, it didn't even flinch when I got down to check if it was dead or alive, (it was alive). I just let it be, I figured that finding a mouse in the wild, albeit a cultivated wild, is only to be expected but should I be worried about the presence of a mouse?

Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: gypsy on October 25, 2013, 21:30
They are very partial to sweetcorn, peas, beans, pumpkin, blackberries etc so I would ask it to find a new home.
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: Eblana on October 25, 2013, 21:37
I was the only one on our site yesterday as I walked up to the toilet there was one of your mouses bigger cousins sitting in the middle of the path.  I didn't bother going to the toilet as he didn't seem to interested in moving out of my way :(
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: Mrs Bee on October 25, 2013, 21:50
OH was discombobulated whilst digging up the spuds. Very painful I hear you squeal :lol:

As he was digging a whole family came up from the ground where he was digging. He said there were about 8 of them.

I didn't ask what the outcome was, but I suspect it involved the spade. ::)
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: finleyfreyaseth on October 26, 2013, 06:09
I fook the heavy cover of a manure and green compost pile in the late summer to check its progress to be greeted by a whole family mum dad and plenty toddlers lolol then when I was harvestin my sweetcorn that was close to it found out what theyd raised there toddlers on tey all looked very healthy lol
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: snowdrops on October 26, 2013, 07:12
When I was turning the compost bin the other week,there was I right in the bin(it's big,needs to be) when all of a sudden I saw a movement,from a safe distance of outside the bin I saw 4 or 5 tiny mice vacating the bin but 2 got lost, I  helped 1 on the right way  to join it's siblings with the spade but the other 1 I ended up picking up by it's tail & popping through the gap. I know I'll curse when they eat my crops,but they were very cute & I really couldn't have clobbered them with the spade :nowink:
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: cadalot on October 26, 2013, 07:52
MickyB - there is never only one mouse  :lol: you may see one on his own but see .....

IOwinLWrEIw
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: MickyB on October 26, 2013, 08:05
I will have to check around the area of the sighting as there are a couple of cut off pieces of plastic pipes which might make a nice nesting site  :ohmy:

The spade technique is not for me but if I can catch them I might relocate them to the local woods.

Thanks for the video link! If they wasn't so cute it would give me nightmares.   ;)
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: allotmentann on October 26, 2013, 08:39
I would just leave them be on my plot. I am sure there are thousands of rats, mice, badgers etc in the area and my killing the odd mouse will not make a scrap of difference. I can't bear to kill creepy crawlies, I would have nightmares if I killed a mouse!    :)
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: cadalot on October 26, 2013, 08:42
They are closing Euro Disney because of mice...

They found a 6 foot mouse in the kitchen

Sorry only taking the Mickey  :nowink:
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: allotmentann on October 26, 2013, 08:45
 :lol: :lol: :lol:
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: Mrs Bee on October 26, 2013, 16:34
I will have to check around the area of the sighting as there are a couple of cut off pieces of plastic pipes which might make a nice nesting site  :ohmy:

The spade technique is not for me but if I can catch them I might relocate them to the local woods.

Thanks for the video link! If they wasn't so cute it would give me nightmares.   ;)

One or two might look cute but the little beggars breed. I used to think they were cute until I had a family move into my kitchen store cupboard 9 years ago.  Have spade will wallop. Now I keep multi traps outside the house and in the garage and utility.
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: Rich72 on October 27, 2013, 10:03
I think mice ate every single one of the peas I sowed this year. But recently, I have a seen a weasel both in my shed and in the pile of old stones in the corner of my plot so I'm hoping he will hang around come spring
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: MickyB on October 27, 2013, 12:01
One or two might look cute but the little beggars breed. I used to think they were cute until I had a family move into my kitchen store cupboard 9 years ago.  Have spade will wallop. Now I keep multi traps outside the house and in the garage and utility.

Yes I think I might feel differently about them if they were in or near to the house. The mouse looks to have moved on and a tidy up revealed no nest  :) So hopefully I can move on and concentrate on worrying about how the greenhouse is going to fare in the predicated hurricane  :dry:
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: strider84 on October 28, 2013, 19:21
I lifted my carrots today half of them I pulled up rather easily because the entire root had been gobbled up...... The tunnels under my grass are to such an extent that when walking I feel like the earth is going to collapse beneath me! Sweet corn was stripped bare. 

Though they haven't touched my autumn sown broadbeans (yet)
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: Daamoot on October 29, 2013, 14:41
I spotted one last winter while chopping some wood in a steading.  Eventhough I was making a lot of noise, he just scurried around behind me.  I left him be as he wasn't doing me any harm.  I have seen many tunnels while I'm digging but haven't noticed much damage to crops at all.  It was probably him who ate my pea seedlings in 2012 but I took precautions this year and they were fine with some mouse/pigeon barriers.  Guess they could multiply rapidly and cause problems in the future but I'll deal with them if that happens.
Title: Re: I Saw A Mouse.......
Post by: Trillium on October 29, 2013, 15:01
It's the time of year when the little beasts are out fattening up for winter.

I keep a big, flat headed shovel handy and....