But, Mama, EVERYBODY else was doing it!
N
oh boy - bucket full of mice, then what...?
Well, of course, dump them over the property line, for that Hatefull neighbor!
Our rat terrier would come unglued, if she saw that bucket.
Or fish bait.
Bears love mice. They go to great trouble, to catch just one.
N
@nate-the-surveyor i agree on the fish bait cert. i have caught many nice smallmouths on a litter of baby mice
First you drive to St. Louis in the dead of winter when the Mississippi River is frozen over solid. Then you drive to the midpoint of the highest bridge. There you stop, get out and slowly dump the contents of the bucket over the side.
Dang that's pretty nasty. Wherever that place is they need more cats and snakes or something.
Cats. No snakes allowed.
Cats. No snakes allowed.
I used to catch snakes and bring them home to the barns. Mice and rats would eat through baling twine and burlap bags of cattle feed so I tried to keep the population down. They can get into places that cats can't.
Andy
I have one barn that is partly filled with 15 year-old square straw bales that are (were) twine tied. Several people wanting straw have refused to take it, for free, in the dead of winter, because they are certain they will find too many (one) snakes in there.
What kind of snakes are likely to be there? I wouldn't think they would be very lively in cold temperatures in midwinter.
My back and side yards are full of snakes, mice never show up.
My guess is primarily black snakes. Could be other non-venomous varieties. Have never seen a copperhead or rattlesnake on that farm.
I can remember, as a teenager, shoveling ear corn out of a corn crib and watching the black snakes keep retreating into the pile until there was no longer a pile to hide in. Then it was time for me to leave as quickly as possible. Made sure not to scoop one up and toss it into the truck for fear it might make a U-turn on the way up and out.
Back in those same days we had two wooden grain bins in our barn. Typically filled with wheat or oats, Emptying them through a small square portal not much bigger than the scoop shovel took serious practice. As a bin would near being empty, the mice would appear by the dozens. A couple of minutes of vigorous smashing with the scoop shovel or boots was effective but risky business. The last few scoops found the smartest mice among the bunch. They were especially hard to get. The resulting mess was horrific. Sometimes there would be a rat or two in the mix of rodents. They were far more difficult to extinquish.
Rat snakes, White Oak Runners, Black Snakes, Garter Snakes and any other nonvenomous snake I came across. I can deal with snakes better than I can with vermin
I keep a couple black snakes in the shed. Keeps the vermin from eating up my daughters chicken feed. Although sometimes he is hanging from the rafters as i go in to get a cold drink from the fridge. That’s about where i get concerned. Something about looking one in the eye hanging down. If he is resting on a shelf and such it doesn’t bother me. But when he starts hanging from rafters i am done for a day or so.
