Judy: I didn't know that was a chow trait to be so fussy about what they are stepping in. My dog is only part chow but he sure is persnickity about his white paws. He sure don't like those sticky traps, but he manages to get stuck on one every few weeks. He digs them out of the corner where I hide them so he won't get stuck.
What IS THIS??!!
I've read several descriptions of Chows that say they're one of the cleanest breeds of dogs there is... I thought Harley was fussy about his feet because since he was a baby, when he'd come in from the outside, I'd be waiting with a towel to wipe his paws so he didn't get the carpet dirty.. but he will refuse to go outside if it's raining... I have to go out with him and he stays under an umbrella... if I push him out the door, he walks to the edge of the deck and hikes a leg over the side so he doesn't have to get on the ground. Spoiled? Perhaps. Clean? Definitely.
Ok, show of hands..., who here has gotten THEIR "paw" stuck in a glue trap???
Well I had to test the thing>!?!?!?
No paws or hands .. but, have had an incident that involved a slipper, then the foot, hair on the arm (of hubby), & then in the hair (on MY head).
Eee-gad .. I thank I mighta done sayed too much already. .. LOL ..
- Magpye
Edited; to correct the grammer, that I wanted to. (hee)
This message was edited Jul 16, 2007 3:00 PM
You just couldn't trust that the little varmints were going to be really, truly stuck, could you, Judy???!!!
Its been many, many years since I used a glue trap (because of the aforementioned problem I have with disposing of the still-breathing remains, and because I have, quite fortunately, raised my standard of living beyond mice-infested student housing) but I seem to recall that it has step by step directions for use, the last of which is something about disposal of the mouse. There were some non-specific (interpret that as non-litigious and non-wrath of PETA inducing..) instructions about "dispose of in accordance with local regulations..".
Does the package still say that? Or does it give you hints...i.e. "leave out in 20 degree weather. When mouse is frozen solid, its dead, throw it away." Or, "place in trashcan ON garbage day only." Wondering...
And, by the way, if any of you are members of PETA, yes, I think glue traps are cruel, and I don't use them, but I find the concept so sadly warped as to be funny.....I mean, really, mouse traps are gross, but you must admit, there is no "lingering problem" to deal with. And, frankly, I can't think of a single humane way to dispose of a mouse stuck in glue, can you?
Exactly why I don't use 'em and haven't since having to wait out a mouse who wouldn't accept defeat of de-feet after getting getting stuck on one.
Watching, and listening, as one of those little buggers try to pry their feet off one of those stupid things was horrific.
Praise be, I haven't had one in my garage since doing a better job keeping my birdseed well secured. But if I see mouse dookie, it's the neck snappin' trap for me.
My apologies to PETA.
I don't think an apology is necessary, as I truly believe a mouse-trap is more humane....I've caught many of them live, but its the same problem--what to do with them? Turn them loose outdoors in the middle of winter? That's cruel, too....You can turn them out in the summer, but they'll just come back in in the winter....or become snake food. Frankly, if I was a mouse, I'd choose the mouse trap over starving, freezing or being a meal! I try to take rodents to a local park whenever I can, but sometimes you just know they won't survive the great outdoors.....
Any way you go, it sucks to be a mouse.
LOL, judy, yep, it certainly would! A friend and I once spent an hour trying to free a poor little mouse from one of those horrible glue traps, and the poor thing was so traumatized, he died anyway. I detest those traps. I use a havahart, and release them further into the woods, away from the house--we get a lot of them, since we live in the middle of a forest. If the weather's bad, they go into a cage with food, water, bedding, and nest box. Then I release them when the weather's ok.
But, yeah, I feel sorry for them, because they normally end up in the belly of a snake or owl out here, I'm sure. Must be rough being at the bottom of the food chain!
Edit: Best thing to do is find where they come in, and seal it off. But the li'l boogers can squeeze themselves into a 1/4" hole, so it'd be tough to find all their entryways.
This message was edited Jul 18, 2007 8:42 PM
Kywoods, you are too nice. I don't like the sticky traps either, but mice get relocated to a graveyard around here.
Do you swat bugs, or do you put them outside too?
LOL, I put them outside, too--except for mosquitos and flies. Yeah, I know I'm weird, but it's a harmless kind of weird compared to some folks. :o
DH swats flies outside on the deck. People kinda laugh, but every year we get less flies.
That reminds me of a friend's neighbor they think is weird--this guy swats flies on the porch, and while he's swatting, he yells at them, cussing them out! LOL
Oh, Oh, your friends neighbor must be ours.
The cussing is sometimes missing, sometimes satisfaction over success. Quite a sport it is.
Equilibrium: Bigger snakes! This was your idea. Now there really is a snake in my stove. He crawled in through the burner and now he's in the oven.
Well. I guess that is where the mice hang out. But this Wildlife Gardening is a little bit too realistic for me.
Ugh.
A snake in your stove!!!!
Run for your life!!!
He is still in there!
Call a wildlife rehabber. Here is a list of them in Alabama:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contactA.htm
Unfortunately, none of them a near me, but thanks anyway. Still hoping he will go back outside on his own. I may have to catch him myself and put him outside. I wonder how I will do that? He is pretty big.
If you're not afraid, to, that's great, depending on if he's venomous. If you can identify him with no doubt as harmless, get some leather gloves, grab him with one hand behind his head, and hold his body with the other hand. He will squirm and poop on you in defense (it's actually musk), but don't let go until he's outside. Good luck, and keep us posted!
You can also check with the local zoo to see if there is a herpetological club that could come get him, if you change your mind, of if it's a poisonous snake.
Renee'
No local zoo & if I asked anyone for help here they would kill the snake.
Im pretty sure he is not poisonous. He probably did come in because there are mice in here. But he is pretty big to consider grabbing onto. He is about 5 ft long I estimate, although he is curled up in the oven. Got to get the dogs out before I can deal with him. Thanks,
gloria
If he's that big, get a garbage bag to stuff him into, then twist the top closed until you can release him outside. Geez, I wish Iived near you so I could help!
Renee'
Edit: I just had another idea, Gloria--call pet stores and animal shelters for a referral to someone who can help.
This message was edited Jul 20, 2007 5:46 PM
I live in a rural area. The closest pet store or shelter is 35 miles away.
All there is here is the vet, and Im sure he is a snake killer. People here don't like snakes, to the point that they have killed so many King Snakes (this might be one), that the poison snakes are over populated.
(King Snakes are predators of the poisonous snakes). Ill give him over night to leave. If not Ill do the garbage bag routine. I have a small bamboo rake (for cleaning out hedges). Maybe I can gather him into the garbage bag with that.
Wish I had a camera so I could take a picture of him. Thanks for your encouragement.
Gloria
Hmm....whatever you do, don't turn on the stove!!! (Of course you knew that, didn't you?). I once burned up an unsuspecting mouse who came in the house and built a nest just under my gas burner when I was out of town...you can deduce the rest. Very sad. It was a really poor house---more wildlife in, than out, as I recall. That's the place where I developed my hatred of glue traps.
If you can stand it, I'd just leave the snake alone. Its nice out, and assuming there is more food outside than in, eventually he will leave. Of course, if you have mice indoors, he might be tempted to stay..
Well. Mr. Snake appears to be gone this morning. thanks, everyone for your concern and helpful suggestions. I still am leary that I will open the lid of a pot and he will jump out at me. But, I did check the oven and he doesn't seem to be in there. (No light in there).
The snake NOT being there would be worse for me, because, now where is he. At least in the stove you knew where he was.
Threw back the covers on the bed once and found a great big old ugly spider. It got away. Let me tell you, the bed was striped down and checked every night for a while.
I hope he is gone.
Yea!!!!!!! Now you can finally use your oven! And if he is still in the house, he will likely hide in a place where he won't be in the way. We have them up in the attic, where the mice get in, so they're doing us a favor. Rarely, we'll see the shadow of one inside a light fixture, but they don't get in the house. So happy for you, Gloria!
cpartschick, that same exact thing happened to me once, in an apartment. It was a new complex, and they had to tear down some woods to build it, so this giant hairy spider needed a new place to sleep. He chose my bed. LOL
I don't think Id get upset if a spider was in my bed, but I would get upset if a snake was in my bed.
I saw a movie once where there was a snake in Ava Gardener's bed. She told him to get gone and he did.
OOPS--just noticed the double post....sorry!! LOL
This message was edited Jul 22, 2007 1:21 PM
The spider in my bed was a wolf spider that would cover almost the whole palm of my hand. At the time, I was terrified of them--now I rescue them. LOL
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/images/rabid_wolf_john.jpg
Are they poisonous or just big and fuzzy?
They aren't poisonous, but I read that their bite is similar to a bee sting. I just scoot them into a jar and release them outside in the woods.
I made a concious decision to overcome my fear of spiders a few years ago, with the help of a friend who had pet tarantulas. I made him put the spider on my oustretched hand, looked at it a couple minutes, then made myself pet it! Afterwards, I worked at a pet store, where I was the only employee who would handle them. I never was afraid of the snakes, as I used to catch them as a child. My mother never approved, and tells me I musta been switched at birth...LOL
I never was afraid of snakes since none of them were poisonous where I grew up in Michigan. In Alabama, I learned a healthy respect for snakes because many of them are poisonous. There has been an explosion in the populations of poisonous snakes here, because so many people kill King Snakes, who are their natural predator.
Most poisonous snakes though are quite small, not always. But the big snakes are usually rat snakes. The the big black snake that was in my oven.
If you keep the spiders, you don't have as many bugs coming in. If you keep the snakes, you don't have mice. I guess its subjective, which you'd rather have. Personally, except for the cobwebs, from a health standard, I'd rather have the spiders and snakes. We let all the harmless house spiders live and never have to exterminate, ever. Plus, my mother-in-law is deathly afraid of them...just a little extra plus!
Excellent mother-in-law control. May your family thrive and prosper!
LOL!!! My mother always said that if I owned a pet snake, she would never come to my house...something to keep in mind should the need arise.
Black rat snakes are what we have out here. They can get really long.
One of my earliest childhood memories is of my Dad and a friend of his shooting a gun down into a kingsnake's hole, and the horrid, sinking, sad feeling I had. This was in New Orleans, where I was born. Now I have my Dad just relocating them, like I do!
that's quite an accomplishment. Sometimes older people don't want to change their ways.
Hooray for everybody willing to deal with snakes in non-lethal fashion! I know more people fear them than love them, and I'm sympathetic with not wanting venomous ones close by, but snakes are some of the best friend your garden ever had -- especially around here, where the voles are just out of control!
My grandmother couldn't abide snakes. If she saw one in the field, she'd just go her way and let the snake do likewise... but if a snake stuck so much as the tip of its snout into her yard, she'd yell "Snake!! Get the hoe!!!!" and total mayhem would ensue. It's no surprise that my mother has a phobia about snakes, but what is surprising is that I didn't know Mom hated snakes until I was in college. She was so determined not to pass her fear along to me, and I can only imagine what I put her through during my childhood "herpetologist" phase!