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[catweazle]

I've been sitting here for the last half hour watching a little mouse-like creature foraging for food around the base of the bird table in my back garden! I've never seen one there before in nearly 20 years. It was tiny and really cute - kept stopping to wash its face with its paws, awwww! I don't know what it was, a field mouse maybe? It was greyish/brown, lighter colour underneath with a long tail and when it ran off it just kind of skimmed over the grass. I don't know what it was eating, bits of food the birds had dropped or insects in the grass? 

Just had a thought - I hope it wasn't a baby rat!  We had one of those in the garden last summer, horrible great big thing it was. What do baby rats look like?  Mice??

Catweazle x

[viv]

This happened last spring but has stayed in my mind ever since. I was driving home from a friends and it was just getting dark when I saw what I thought was a large dog walking along the pavement in a quiet part of town. As I slowed down to see what kind of dog it was, it turned and looked at me. IT WAS A BADGER. I have never seen one in real life before. It was huge and I could not believe my eyes. I sat in the car and watched as it went down  the front path of a house and then turned and walked back up the road and into someone else s garden. There is a small patch of open ground quite nearby so I think it must live there. I have told very few people in the fear that someone would start to hunt for it and disturb it.
It was a great thing to see in a small seaside town in Scotland.

I have never seen it again although I often drive that way in hope.

Viv
x

[CLKD]

Some breeds of mice are protected in this country but I can never tell the difference  our chickens catch them which causes a riot in the run!  It is probably too early for rats that size to be around.  Probably a mouse taking the opportunity of some grain in the sunshine.

[CLKD]

It is SO cold today.  Sunshine has gone.  I spent 2 afternoons weeding etc., not today, having to do housework in order to keep warm  .  Those couple of days have spoiled me 

[Juno Esk 2]

Ive got yellow crocuses coming through.  Sign of spring, hooray!

[catweazle]

Told hubby about the mouse and told him where it went - under his beloved shed ( ). What is it with men and sheds?  Anyway, he's not fond of mice to say the least (scared actually hehe) so I've been instructed to check inside the shed to see if mousey is in there. There's a small gap at the bottom of the door where it doesn't shut properly cos the wood's swollen (new shed) so I have a feeling that it might have taken up residence.
Thing is if I do find it I don't know what to do! I wouldn't want to harm it.

Catweazle x

[Taz2]

Well... we had mice in our garage for ages (the garage is attached to the house) and my husband wasn't at all happy. He hit on a plan of putting down a certain number of peanuts every  night to see if they were still in residence. Each morning I would get up early (am usually up around 6) and I would go into the garage. All the peanuts were gone and so I would just replace them! This worked for almost a year but then I had to go away for a few days and... well you can guess the rest! There was one lovely mouse who would eat my birdseed in front of me. He would be in the sack when I went in there late at night and would leap out and sit on the shelf really chattering to me - he would have wagged his finger if he could! He was the first to be got I fear as I never saw him once the traps went down.

The human traps are good but you have to take the mice at least a couple of miles to release them else they will come back. I always hated the idea of one being murdered that had babies somewhere..slowly starving to death... wondering where their mummy was.

Taz x

[catweazle]

Aww that's a lovely story Taz!

I've just done the shed inspection with my torch and I think I saw a couple of droppings (hard to tell cos the floor's a bit mucky) but no sign of mousey. I've suggested to himself that we clear out the shed at the weekend and fix the door. I think perhaps mousey was just sheltering in there while it's been so cold. I'll know more when we've cleared the floor on Saturday.
I did a bit of research on the net and it definitely wasn't a rat, it's ears were too big and it's tail too long. 
Mice can be sooo cute can't they? If I find him I'm going to give him a name.
Maybe I could feed him on the quiet 

Catweazle x

[CLKD]

Rats and mice carry fatal disease  because they pee all the while in order to trace their steps back to their nests every bit of bird food will be tainted.  As someone who keeps chooks it is important not to have pee in the feed store!

[viv]

I used to keep a big swing bin full of dog food in our garage. Leaned in with my scoop one day and a mouse run up my arm. I am sure people heard me scream miles away.
My next encounter was when we kept a rabbit and a guinea pig in a run in the back garden. Happily mucking out one day and had my head in the hutch when another mouse run up my arm and down my back.
Now, I don't mind field mice, but this was just too close for comfort.


Viv 

[catweazle]

Oooh blimey Viv I bet that made you jump! 
I don't mind mice at all but when they run out from somewhere it is very startling. When I worked in the NHS a mouse once ran out from under my desk and frightened me half to death. My brain couldn't work out what it was straight away and my first thought was that it was a gigantic spider. Ugh now that would be scary!! Hope there's none of those in the shed... 

Catweazle x

[Bette]

Just been for a lovely walk in the sun with OH and dog. Heard the 1st lark of the year - gorgeous!
 
Bixby x

[Meggie]

At the end of November I planted 150 crocus bulbs, in clumps of 3, along the bank at the front of our house.  I couldn't see any sign of life last week so figured that the blessed moles had rooted them out and they were "no more".  However, today I see that we have lovely yellow and orange buds  peering out of the grass, waiting to open - they are lovely.  I can't wait for the Narcissi and Anemone to show their faces.  It's a sign that the ground is warming up and Spring is well and truely on the way.

Meggie

[Deefor]

That sounds lovely, Meggie!  I've got some crocuses and snowdrops in my garden, too - I think Spring is on its way at last.  The local woodpigeons certainly seem to think so - there's a tree branch opposite my kitchen window that they seem to prefer for their - erm - extracurricular activities, and they've practically been queueing up to use it!!

I hand reared a litter of six mice once.  I destroyed their nest when I was digging compost out of a heap; they had fur, but they were still helpless and their eyes were closed.  I'm still ridiculously proud of the fact that all six of them made it.

[CLKD]

In my first job I had an electric typewriter, remember those?  A mouse ran out of the typing basket, you know the bit where the keys sat, coiled it's tail round the wire and slid down to the floor .........