Jim,Lynda,and Kathleen's Fun With Some Mice ! UPDATED PAGES ARE NOW INCLUDED In the past few weeks,we have had some fascinating and laugh filled evenings with a family of white-footed mice. These small,cute creatures are also known as " Deer Mice ". In 1962,while growing up in Hawthorne,I caught one of these mice along The Susquehanna Railroad tracks. They love building nests in old logs or railroad ties. I found my Hawthorne mouse along Grand View Avenue,near the railroad station at Diamond Bridge Avenue. It was one of several under a railroad tie,and the only one I was able to catch with my leather gloved hands. Since those days in the 1960's,I have seen many more. However,until now I never kept any more as pets. The following pictures will give you a rare peak at these cute mammals,and how we caught them. I will first show you pictures of my mouse trap and how to build one for yourself. After those pictures,you will see many close up pictures of our new house guests. I hope you enjoy this educational and photo filled homepage !!

This is my homemade mouse catcher

In 1962,my Hawthorne mouse got frightened and jumped out of my shirt pocket. He scampered behind the refrigerator and we couldn't capture him. So my father built an impressive " live mouse catcher " out of wood and other things. A day later my pet mouse was safely caught--unharmed ! This picture shows my version of Dad's 1962 trap.

My Mouse Trap

While Dad used a wooden box,mine is made out of an old tool box I have. This tool box is made by the RubberMaid Company. As you all know RubberMaid products are made of a very strong but bendable rubber substance. An excellent choice because the " trap door " needs to be hinged in some way. The rubber substance this box is made from, gives the required door and hinge area the proper "springy hinged door" I needed. I cut out three sides of a small door,but left the fourth side uncut. When the " door " is lifted away from tool box lid,the newly made entrance door remains open about an inch or so. A wooden ramp extends from the floor to the top of my trap.

Trap door open and ready to harmlessly catch a mouse.

The inside workings of this trap.

As you can see,you need to install a small,narrow ramp down from the lid of the box. This ramp needs to be closer to the front of the box than the back of the box. You need to use a standard mouse trap and fasten it to the lid as shown. The part of the standard mouse trap that normally would kill the mouse,will be used to shut the trap door and hold it closed. A small jar lid is used to hold the mouse food. I used bread and pressed it into place. The food must be made hard to get off the jar lid. The mouse will need to actually climb onto the lid to eat ,and there by set off the door closing device. The jar lid is connected to the mounted "killing" mouse traps food metal piece. This is done by drilling two small holes in the box lid. One hole is drilled directly beneath the metal piece on the store bought trap. The other is drilled through the homemade trap's lid,about an inch from the other drilled hole. You fasten some fishing line to the store bought traps bait piece,through the drilled hole in that trap,then over to the other drilled hole,then down into the homemade traps interior. You fasten the jar lid to the fishing line and allow just enough line that the jar lid is raised off the trap's interior floor about an inch and a half.

A closer look at the new trap door closing device.

As you can see,I used a heavy metal wire to attach to the trap's flexible mouse door to the store bought mouse trap. I allowed enough heavy wire to pull the door closed TIGHTLY !! When the mouse jumps up on the bread filled jar lid,he will set off the store bought mouse trap,and the normal " killing " bar will pull the trap door closed tight !!!

Another view of the trap's interior.

A closer look at the door closing device.

Are you ready to see how good the trap worked ??!!

After seeing the mice in our pantry closet,I built our new trap. We set it up each night and you are now about to see the results. We 've chased them around our kitchen and basement. They feel quite at home with us,but now they can stay safe,warm,and well fed and watered by us. At least for awhile they will remain our newest pets.

Our female white-footed mouse.

Just two weeks ago,I caught a large male mouse and a smaller one. After waiting several days for more to be caught,I released them in Lynda's garden area. No more mice were seen or caught,till this smaller female mouse appeared in our pantry closet last week.

A real good look at the female mouse.

Sensing that we had a " family " of mice,I reset our mouse trap each day. The results of those days are next.

Two real cute young white-footed mice !

These lttle ones were caught one day after the next. There is still one more of these young ones to catch. While quietly working in our basement,the last known un-caught one surprised me. I had on my brand new comfy mocassin slippers from LL Bean. I felt a wierd feeling in my right foot slipper and looked down at my foot. Unbelievably,a small white-footed mouse was IN the side area of my slipper and trying to cuddle up between my soft sock and the furry lining of my slipper !!!!!!!! If you love animals the way I do,then you can imagine my tender responce to this incredible event. I slowly leaned down and tried to gently grab it. The little one jumped out of my slipper and ran up our basement wall. We have not seen it in a couple of days,but the trap is set all the time waiting for its return. This was one of those moments of life that defy your senses !! That little wild animal was actually pulling my heart strings that day !!