shrews

fryup

I placed a few mouse traps about the house > garage, attic and back hall.

In all but one shrews were caught in all of them, feel bad about it now:( they're protected aren't they?

Don't know whether i should set any more traps but they're droppings are all over the place and this can't be healthy.

swifts need our help!

what did you bait the trap/s with?

Mark

fryup

cheese

Pissmire

There are live traps available, ebay and the like. Gives you the option of releasing whatever's in it. If you can't check the trap frequently, at least 12 hourly, make sure you put plenty of food in it, shrews don't last long without food. You can also put in a small ball of hay/dried grass, the animal will be less stressed if it can sleep.

Hope it's ok to post link, I'm not the seller by the way.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-X-REUSEABLE-HUMANE-LIVE-MOUSE-MICE-TRAP-TRAPS-CATCHER-/220918517966?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item336fc510ce

swifts need our help!

Any photos of your shrews?

I wouldnt expect shrews to go for cheese. They eat live food only.

F.R.

Where are you located? There is a possibility that it is the Greater White Toothed Shrew, our newest invasive species, that you have caught. They are in Tipperary and Limerick.

More info on them here

fryup

i'm in tipp, don't feel so bad now if its these non-native types

mathepac

Interesting, thanks. Is the "field-mouse" a synonym for our native shrew (pygmy)?

Seanergy

Ah shucks, know the bad feeling, I switched from kill traps to the relocate traps for the mice, I felt better and got rid of the problem.
Do try the friendly relocate version of the traps, I used to set the traps just before bed, and collect the little fellas in the morning and bring them for a drive and drop them off about 3 mile away always to the same place.

cuddlycavies

mathepac wrote: »

Interesting, thanks. Is the "field-mouse" a synonym for our native shrew (pygmy)?

No its Long tailed field mouse or wood mouse. Mouse is mouse, shrew is shrew.

.

F.R.

fryup wrote: »

i'm in tipp, don't feel so bad now if its these non-native types

I assume you have disposed of the bodies by now but for future reference

Pygmy shrew note the red on the teeth


Greater White Toothed Shrew no red on teeth


Images from google

googsy

F.R. wrote: »

Where are you located? There is a possibility that it is the Greater White Toothed Shrew, our newest invasive species, that you have caught. They are in Tipperary and Limerick.

More info on them here

Happy days for the Barn Owl pity about the effects this will have on the pigmy shrew...

fryup

F.R. wrote: »

I assume you have disposed of the bodies by now but for future reference

Pygmy shrew note the red on the teeth

Greater White Toothed Shrew no red on teeth

is that the only difference? would there be a difference in body size, colour?

F.R.

fryup wrote: »

is that the only difference? would there be a difference in body size, colour?

Pygmy Shrew
Tail length: 3.2-4.6 cm
Head/ body length: 4-6 cm
Weight 2.4-6.1 g

Greater White Toothed Shrew
Head & body length: 6-9 cm
Tail length: 3-4.6 cm
Weight 5.9-11.3 g

So I guess the answer is not really both have grayish - brown fur.

cfitz

mathepac wrote: »

Interesting, thanks. Is the "field-mouse" a synonym for our native shrew (pygmy)?

A little bit off topic, but this document (http://ucd-ie.academia.edu/AllanMcDevitt/Papers/187025/Genetic_Variation_In_Irish_Pygmy_Shrews_Sorex_Minutus_Soricomorpha_Soricidae_Implications_for_Colonization_History) suggests that Pygmy Shrews may have arrived in Ireland long long ago with some help from man.

fryup

here's one i caught this morning, is it the invasive species??

swifts need our help!

I find it amazing that shrews are coming to eat cheese in mouse traps.

Can I urge you to buy live traps and not wipe out your local shrew population.

It looks like the White-toothed shrew which is really important in maintaining and helping the barn owl population

swifts need our help!

Just been reading that this shrew lives close to people
http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/News/NewshrewspeciesdiscoveredinIreland/tabid/528/Default.aspx

fryup

swifts need our help! wrote: »

It looks like the White-toothed shrew which is really important in maintaining and helping the barn owl population

but these white-toothed may have a negative impact on the native pygmy shrew population

F.R.

fryup wrote: »

here's one i caught this morning, is it the invasive species??

It certainly looks like the Greater White Toothed Shrew, there does not appear to be any of the Iron build up on the teeth which is seen in the Pygmy Shrew.

swifts need our help! wrote: »

I find it amazing that shrews are coming to eat cheese in mouse traps.

Can I urge you to buy live traps and not wipe out your local shrew population.

It looks like the White-toothed shrew which is really important in maintaining and helping the barn owl population

Considering they breed up to five times a year and each litter can contain up to ten young I doubt that fryup's activities are going to make that big a dent in the population. The Pygmy Shrew only produces two litters a year with up to seven young in each.

jmkennedyie

Just to say I have used the live/humane traps from B&Q with success both times. First time last winter, prebaited, checked regularly, took a few days, but then two house mice in it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siIWv5qNToE

Had to set it again recently. Took about a week this time for the one house mouse to find its way in. I hear crispy rasher is good, but chopped up mini snickers/mars did the trick.

fryup

F.R. wrote: »

Considering they breed up to five times a year and each litter can contain up to ten young I doubt that fryup's activities are going to make that big a dent in the population. The Pygmy Shrew only produces two litters a year with up to seven young in each.

so by killing the invasive species am i doing a service to the pygmys??

as in time they'll only encroach on the pygmys territory ala grey squirrels on reds

F.R.

fryup wrote: »

so by killing the invasive species am i doing a service to the pygmys??

as in time they'll only encroach on the pygmys territory ala grey squirrels on reds

The jury is still out on how they will ultimately affect the Pygmy Shrew though they have displaced other Shrew species in parts of Europe due to their prodigious breeding rate.

I doubt if the amount you are going to catch will seriously affect the situation.

recedite

Interesting that these new shrews invade peoples houses and eat cheese.
I've never heard of the more established pygmy shrew coming indoors, except in a cat's mouth.

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^

i recall my old man catching shrews in mouse traps back in the 70s using cheese and i presume it was the pygmy shrew

its not surprising really as they do have a ferocious appetite and are constantly on the look out for food