Watty's Awakening

beanielou

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863237#Comment_81863237

Eek. I hate when the cats do this.

Suffolk_lass

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863275#Comment_81863275

RSPB (and Dunelm) sell them…I like the idea but we don't have them. Just wasps in the thatch!

Cherryfudge

I would so love to have swallows but for some reason they never come within sight of our house. In 30 years I've never seen one here, though there's always a family of swifts based about 8 houses away. I wonder if a swallow box would draw them in, but if they never come near, how would they know it's there?

We do get bats. I love watching them but I don't know where they nest or what kind(s) we have.

As to mice, ours are an ongoing saga but we've not caught one recently. I've read that you have to take them two miles or they can find their way home. Ours go a mile or less but I put them where there's food, water and shelter, and hope they will find somewhere else to settle before they work out where we are. The only time I'm fairly sure one came back was when DH dropped it off in sight of the house.

Slinky

I've always been a bit doubtful of the idea that a mouse brought in by a cat would 'home', certainly not 2 miles! I'm sure that must be an urban myth.

Cherryfudge

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863770#Comment_81863770

I think 2 miles is probably the most they've tracked a mouse! But honestly, how did they know it was the same one? I got it from some company's website but elsewhere I've seen a mile removal recommended.

We don't have a cat, so 'our' mice probably get in from outside (washing machine outlet is the suspect). I think a mouse brought in by a cat probably spends its time cowering from the cat, which is different from getting in out of the cold or growing up indoors, where it knows its way around. A captured mouse has to look out for the predator while trying to find food and an escape route - so the chances of it finding a way out are a bit more limited.

It's all conjecture on my part as the only time I think we've had a returner was when DH dumped it at the end of the garden! It probably just watched how he opened the door and waited till his back was turned to copy him. 😂

Watty1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863275#Comment_81863275

For the first time I've understood why the nest building is so poor around here - thank you. I'm on a sand vein - not sandy soil but genuine sand (quarries around the area) so of course they have poor materials to work with. I'm going to see if I can get some clay soil for them.

I love this forum!

Watty1

Lots of mice on the yard. They come in when the weather is poor and then tend to stay because however careful I am there is always food around. Fell pony does not believe in eating out of a bucket. He tips his up then eats from the floor.

I tell myself it is ok because at least I don't have rats. I'm fairly sure feral kitten would have no truck with them in the house. She might be an indoor cat but she was a born killer.

Watty1

A little bit of fun - when I was not so depressed last year I saw a mention of a "railway cafe" on social media that was not to far from us so we tried to book - they were fully booked for the following three months. We booked for the first date we could get which was yesterday. I got up feeling my usual very down, not wanting to go outside etc but, well it was booked so I made myself go.

Within a minute of sitting down I was smiling. The place was tiny, just a few tables, and around the ceiling and just above table height were tiny train tracks with trains running. We ordered our breakfasts and the drinks arrived on a train which stopped beside our table so we could remove them. The toast came by train too. Every child was loving the place - as were the adults. Such a happy place to go. It was fabulous. We were out by time limit which seems to be 3 hours at the moment.

daisy_1571

That sounds a fabulous fun place to go, sounds like it was very worth your while to think positively and shove yourself out the door :)

someone I used to work with had meeces and used to put them out to the back garden or a piece of waste ground over the road. We all said they'd be back before he was but he painted one's back with beetroot as a test. As far as I know he never saw the one with a purple streak reappear. Possibly that rather snazzy mouse was too busy strutting his stuff showing off to the rather common, merely brown, mice to go back there 😆 till the rain washed him clean ! So I've never been sure if this proves or completey disproves the returning theory

Suffolk_lass

What a lovely idea! Glad you had fun at the Railway cafe. I would certainly try one of them, if there was one near me