weasels by the bucketful

One of the few drawbacks of rural living is the copious amount of mice that share our living space. A milder than average winter has yielded a greater than average amassment of our furry friends this summer, judging by the chocolate sprinkles they leave us every morning. We use the traditional snap traps and electronic zap traps, but our most effective device is one Jude made. She put a rigid steel wire through the top and bottom of an empty one-pound coffee can and smeared the can with peanut butter.

She then laid this rig over the top of a five-gallon bucket with a board spanning the bucket and a nearby bench on our front porch. When mice go for the peanut butter, the can spins and sends the little critters to a watery grave. This has been very effective. We average four mice a night. I throw them on the roof of a nearby shed for the ravens Lee and Anabelle.

I have to change the water often due to this heavy traffic. I did so yesterday but forgot to re-water. When Jude checked the bucket this morning, a weasel was breakfasting on the mice. We’re not going to add water for awhile to see if this new system is more efficient. We night pitch it on one of those entrepreneurial TV shows.