Grassroots mouse sports? A Saturday afternoon story.

It’s too cold outside to wrench and I’m not motivated to write code. I just want to drink coffee, smoke a cigarette and tell you a story. Pour yourself a beverage, pull up a chair and sit a spell.

I was looking through my Photobucket account and came across some pictures that are out of character for a gearhead like myself. Sometimes the past is easily forgotten and pictures can remind us of moments not often shared.

The story begins on a cold winter day much the same as today. On the outskirts of Ann Arbor in an ordinary office building, an epic battle of life and death raged on. A fat little mouse was discovered in a desk drawer and the situation had escalated quickly. A fearless warrior was summoned to banish the mouse by any means possible. Armed with nothing more than jersey gloves the great white hunter enters the room.

The warrior being of gentle heart does not want to harm his adversary, however the fight was real and the outcome couldn’t be guaranteed. Overturned furniture cluttered the room and the atmosphere was thick with anticipation. The chase continued for an uncertain amount of time when suddenly the ninja like reflexes gave the warrior an advantage. The mouse was apprehended with a gloved hand and elevated tensions eased and soon dissolved into normalcy.

Hopefully my embellishments make the story slightly more interesting.

The prisoner was transferred to an awaiting container and was scheduled for relocation that evening. Food, water and a wad of toilet paper were offered for comfort. Shortly before the scheduled departure it had become apparent the prisoner was injured and had suffered a minor cut near the nose. A decision was made to delay the release for a few days to ensure a proper recovery.

Temporary accommodations were provided in the form of an unused fish aquarium. The little world was filled with a layer play-sand and the mouse was offered bird food, water, toilet paper and a wheel for amusement.

The food tray was refilled every evening, however I never did see the mouse. After a week I decided it was time to give the mouse back its freedom. I carefully pealed back the toilet paper wad to expose the little guy and was shocked to discover the mouse had become a mother in my absence.

Oh great! ,six more weeks before I can get rid of the mouse. This level of involvement was not in the original plan but I decided to just let life happen and maintain a distance.

Out of curiosity, I set up a night vision camera to record what the heck a mouse does with its time. Evidently the mouse loves to run on the wheel. Seriously, this mouse had a sick fascination with the wheel and spent the majority of the night running on an endless journey to nowhere. Brief stops for food, water and a quick pee in the corner and this mouse was back at it.

[URL=http://s62.photobucket.com/user/fujioko/media/mouse4.jpg.html][/URL]

Run, Forest, run!

My life in not so empty that I’ll watch videotapes of mice running, but I have to admit I was fascinated. I decided to rig up a bicycle speedometer and get some data.

The speedometer was calibrated for the mouse wheel and I was surprised to find the odometer recorded eleven miles in one day. As I recall the mouse averaged 10 to 11 miles per day throughout most of the stay. The dynamics of running within a wheel may alter the actual distance covered and it’s hard to say what the correction factor should be. In any event the running was impressive.

[URL=http://s62.photobucket.com/user/fujioko/media/100_0325.jpg.html][/URL]

Mouse wheel GRM style!

For the most part, I kept my distance. Occasionally I took a picture or rattled the cage but the mouse and I never became friends. She was certainly a cute little bugger but she was born free and I was not going alter the relationship between pray and predator. The mouse and her offspring’s uncertain future would remain as Mother Nature intended.

[URL=http://s62.photobucket.com/user/fujioko/media/mouse3.jpg.html][/URL]

Lazy days with momma.

Eventually the baby mice learned to forage for food and had reached a healthy size. The wheel became chaotic mechanical hazard but the mice somehow survived...... It was time…

[URL=http://s62.photobucket.com/user/fujioko/media/headlights_zps4bac9f0a.jpg.html][/URL]

The air was warm on dark moonless night. Twin headlight beams cut through the fog and announce the presence of an approaching car. Gravel softly crunches under its tires as the car rounds the corner of an abandoned road. Headlights blaze across an empty field as the automobile arrives at its destination. The murmur of an idling engine is the only sound when suddenly a loud clack as the remote tailgate lever is pulled. A door swings open wide and a dark figure exits the car.

The sound of footsteps shuffling across the pavement and once again a dark figure emerges to the rear of the car. The tailgate opens to reveal a little glass world in all its glory.

The inhabitants of the glass world are not aware that life is about to change forever. Mother nature will guide them through the rest of their life’s journey. Freedom to live as god intended.

The end

11 miles, impressive.

Growing up in a drafty house in a hayfield, I take more of a scorched and salted earth type approach to mouse issues.

And I thought you had built a better mouse trap, GRM style.

Cool story.

That is a good story,thank you

Good distraction from northern MI woods barflys. Nice.

Much happier than my mouse story. I'm getting pretty sick of it leaving turds in my tea towel drawer. Damn useless cats.

Truth be told, Kenny’s scorched and salted earth policy is more my speed. My garage has a respectable sized armada of snaptraps to ensure the safety of my Spitfire and Mazda. For whatever reason this little mouse got a second chance.

I apologize to my Michigan brothers and sisters for releasing a healthy and well fed family of mice into your neighborhood because I drove them well over eleven miles from my home for release.

I enjoyed the story fujioko!

cute story. I am of the "kill em quick" line of thought. I would not want something suffering due to something I did. Caught in the same circumstances, I probably would have done the same.

Catch one in the house with no damage, and I'd act the same. But find one that's been chewing up wires under my dashboard, and he a dead bastard.

Wow, so many great tales of rodents on the board today!

I periodically check my live traps and top off the peanut butter bait once a week......I'm using the "rats on an island" technique. I'll wait until they eat each other and then set the lone survivor from each trap free. Oddly enough, I haven't had much of a mouse problem around my garage since(previous tennant kept huge sums of dog food in the garage).

The barn, well....the spiders are working on that.

Fiance has a mouse problem at her place--would this work as a humane trap?

Get a big bucket, yard stick leading up to it with a piece of food hanging near the end. Get them to fall in the bucket, and they shouldn't be able to climb out, right? Then I could just drive them to the forest preserve and let them loose to become a meal for something else...

There is something mentally wrong with you. Good story! :)

In reply to mtn:

Just get a pet snake to feed all of those who fall into your bucket to. It'll be as nature intended....and probably fun to watch.

In reply to yamaha:

Hmm, combine the two, bucket trap with a trap door into the snake tank, stick that in a barn with a webcam. Hours of fun.

My buddy used the bucket trick when he had a bunch of hamsters. The hamsters would get out and he wanted them as pets.

He would take a 5 gallon bucket and a stick. Then he would rub an apple slice over the wood. Finally, he would put the apple slice in the bottom of the bucket with some drier lint (apparently a 5 gallon bucket could be quite a fall for teh little critters).

The hamsters would be fine in there for a day or two with warmth and food.

Rob R.

Lesley wrote: Much happier than my mouse story. I'm getting pretty sick of it leaving turds in my tea towel drawer. Damn useless cats.

that made me laugh

'Tea towel drawer'? Dang. I don't even have tea towels, much less a drawer 'specially for them.

Lesley classy.

Curmudgeon wrote: 'Tea towel drawer'? Dang. I don't even have tea towels, much less a drawer 'specially for them. Lesley classy.

No kidding! I don't even know what a tea towel is!

I'm pretty sure she's talking about kitchen towels. I'm a pretty sloppy tea drinker, but I've never needed a towel.

Great story!

Tea towels...hmmm

Mouse Hunting in Central Texas

by Dr.Hess

If you are tired of traditional hunting trips, give mouse hunting in Central Texas a shot. There is no thrill quite like it. I got into mouse hunting several years ago, have experimented quite a bit and have a lot of mouse hunting experience to pass on. I sometimes function as a guide for mouse hunting expeditions, and Central Texas is becoming a Mecca for mouse hunters.

Mouse hunting can be done almost anywhere, but here in Texas the best hunting is done on partially wooded land. Field mice give good sport, and they like to stay under trees and brush. We have a mouse lease about five miles north of Calvert, TX on 24 partially wooded acres. Most hunting guides will know of good mouse leases in the area, and I have even seen day mouse leases advertised. Rates vary according to lease size, etc. A trip to the local gun shop is a good place to pick up tips on local mouse hunting conditions and the best equipment to use.

The best technique for mouse hunting is to walk through the brush and flush out the mouse. Some people have experimented with mouse blinds and mouse stands, waiting for the mouse to come out, but they have met with very limited success. Mice are quite clever and won't come out if they know a mouse hunter is nearby. I have found that flushing them out on foot is by far the most effective hunting technique. Mice provide rather small, fast moving targets and provide quite a challenge in hunting. When you flush them out, the ranges are usually within five to ten feet. The best time seems to be just before dusk.

A certain amount of special equipment is needed for a good hunt. Of course, gun selection is very critical. On my first mouse hunt, I used an AR-15 with a 30 round magazine. This proved not to be the ideal mouse gun. While it would be a quite effective mouse killer at say, 30 feet, at five feet it is extremely difficult to aim effectively because the sites sit a couple of inches above the barrel. Accurate shooting is a must, and a mouse provides a very small target. I surprised a mouse under a tree, and it took off running. My shots were consistently low, and I was having a hell of a time trying to hit the mouse. I mean, how much do you aim high at five feet, oops, seven feet, oops, eight feet and moving? I did manage to bag my mouse, but only by shooting from the hip and walking the bullets in to the mouse. Fortunately I did have that 30 round mag, so I had plenty of firepower. You can see that a typical hunting rifle with a scope would not work either. (Be sure to check your local hunting laws regarding mouse hunting with large capacity magazines. Some states limit you to five rounds in a rifle.)

Experience has shown that handguns make for the best mouse hunting. My personal choice is a Ruger Blackhawk Convertible in .45 ACP with a 4-5/8" barrel. The gun is a fast handler, and when coupled with a western style quick draw holster is a good mouse gun. Proper technique involves stomping through the brush to surprise the mouse into running, then drawing, aiming and firing in one smooth motion. Suggested loads are 230Gr cast bullets with 4.6Gr of Bullseye powder. This provides shooting economy, plenty of stopping power, and functions properly in semi-auto's as well. Other loads with hollow points will work well, and Glaser Safety Slugs or Winchester Silvertips are excellent off the shelf loads for the wealthy mouse hunter.

Stopping power cannot be over emphasized. You don't want to know how it feels to be facing an enraged, cornered, wounded mouse. Think of a cape buffalo, only smaller and you can see that it is important to drop the mouse with the first shot. For this reason, .22's should not be used for mouse hunting. They just do not have the stopping power. In fact, several states forbid the hunting of mice with .22's, so even if you wanted to use one, it would be against the law. The mouse hunter who insists on using a .22 would be well advised to pick another gun, have a guide or helper with a larger caliber backup, and to check the local laws before heading out for the mouse lease.

A friend of mine insists that the best mouse gun is his Winchester Defender 12 Gauge. He has a pistol grip for it and an extended magazine. I think it holds 10 rounds. He prefers to use number ten bird shot, but the local taxidermist will not stuff his trophies any more. He tried once, but things did just not go well and no one was satisfied with the end result.

I have hunted mice with my .22 Hornet Contender, but only when my friend with the 12 gauge was with me to back me up. It is just like hunting other game with a single shot pistol: grizzly, cape buffalo, elephant, and so on. You can hunt with a single shot pistol, but would you really feel safe if there was only a single shot pistol between you and one of these critters? Gotta have that backup. A good load for the Hornet is a 45GR Hornady #2230 in front of 12GR of Winchester 296. On the chronograph, this load clocks out at "moving right along."

Iron sites are by far the best for mouse hunting and I usually keep a Burris 2-3/4X long eye relief on the Hornet barrel, so it is rare to take the Contender out and change over to iron sites anyway. Plus, you almost have to have a partner with you to back you up if you only have a single shot pistol. Of course, if you carry the Contender in a shoulder holster and the Blackhawk in the cowboy holster, I suppose that would be safe. The same could be said of hunting with .22's.

Give mouse hunting a try and you too will find the thrill inherent in this unique sport.