The First Victim

In April 2007 I returned from New Zealand to discover that the garden shed had been completely - and I mean completely - over-run by mice. I love mice and would never really want to hurt one. However when you open a door and find many dozens have colonised your space and eaten or ruined all the grass and other seeds and made nests in every pair of wellington boots and soiled every corner of the shed you accept that they cannot be allowed to do that again; the clearing up takes too long. So last year I resorted to an electronic device plugged into the mains which seemed to deter them from the shed and the house. Not that they've ever been a problem in the house but it did occur to me that a whole colony displaced from the shed had to find a home somewhere.

I set traps before I departed for New Zealand but never a mouse was caught and never a mouse sullied the shed.

This year I've been watching the mice in the garden running hither and thither and decided that I had better take pre-emptive action before the one or two signs in the shed turned into a show of confidence and defiance. So last night I set the traps. This morning I found the first victim. I've now found and plugged in the electronic deterrent. Hopefully the first victim will also be the last.