wlaidlaw Posted September 26, 2012 Share #1  Posted September 26, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) This a picture taken today at my house in Tourtour, Provence of a "Loir". The English for this animal is an edible or "fat" dormouse (and no, I have not tried eating one). These animals are an absolute pest. They can squeeze through the tiniest of gaps into a house, where they will make a nest in the roof space insulation or a dark shelf, depositing faeces everywhere and their urine stinks. They also chew through electrical cables, with the attendant fire risk. They may be pretty but they are very unpopular. They have become almost wholly resistant to all publicly available rodenticides.  Picture taken with M9 and 75/2.5 Summarit  Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 26, 2012 Posted September 26, 2012 Hi wlaidlaw, Take a look here Edible or "Fat" Dormouse. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
SJP Posted September 26, 2012 Share #2 Â Posted September 26, 2012 nice picture, animal looks good as well, great furry tail. Â Still how about the spring mouse trap? Â You need to make them more sensitive by judicious filing of the holding wire, standard off the shelf things need brute force to set them off, enough to support a fat mouse safely. I think it is a fast and humane death, contrary to trapping in cages or using poison. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share #3  Posted September 26, 2012 nice picture, animal looks good as well, great furry tail. Still how about the spring mouse trap?  You need to make them more sensitive by judicious filing of the holding wire, standard off the shelf things need brute force to set them off, enough to support a fat mouse safely. I think it is a fast and humane death, contrary to trapping in cages or using poison.  Stephen,  I have tried all sorts and sizes of traps. I have baited with bacon, cheese, chocolate and peanut butter. I have adjusted them to be "hair trigger". Totally without success. They are usually kind enough to leave me a thank you note for the food!  The worst aspect for me is that during the winter, when I am not there, they trigger the burglar alarm. As they are nocturnal, and my local guardien seems to be a sound sleeper, if the alarm does not get a response from him, it then rings my French mobile phone. I then get it ringing about 3AM, shouting "INTRUSION, INTRUSION" at me.  Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJP Posted September 26, 2012 Share #4 Â Posted September 26, 2012 Aaargh:D Â How about hiring an insomniac Kung Fu master, with a large mallet? Â Anyway joking apart yes they can be infernal pests! Â Re. allowable rodenticides, in the good old days there were Thallium based things. Nothing likes Thallium & even after extensive exposure the rodents do not stand a chance. (I think Thallium Sulfate is the primary deadly ingredient, would need to check.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted September 26, 2012 Share #5 Â Posted September 26, 2012 I have seen some pest control devices in Italy (I believe). They emit ultrasonic noise which the mice are believed to hate. Â The same kind of device at somewhat lower frequencies is also used to discourage young people from hanging out at places where they are not wanted. The young ones hear it, the older ones don't. As a rule. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Allsopp Posted September 26, 2012 Share #6 Â Posted September 26, 2012 It looks as though they are pretty cocky too if you got that close to the little blighter! Super, sharp image. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share #7 Â Posted September 26, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) It looks as though they are pretty cocky too if you got that close to the little blighter! Super, sharp image. Â Bill, Â It almost looks as if he is saying "OK human - make my day" Â Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share #8  Posted September 26, 2012 I have seen some pest control devices in Italy (I believe). They emit ultrasonic noise which the mice are believed to hate. The same kind of device at somewhat lower frequencies is also used to discourage young people from hanging out at places where they are not wanted. The young ones hear it, the older ones don't. As a rule.  Philipp,  We tried those when we had a plague of moles in the UK. Totally useless I am afraid. We went back to using the "Moleman", who though expensive, was successful in exterminating them. In the UK, you can no longer buy mole smoke cones, as apparently they were cruel to moles. I thought that was the whole idea. Luckily I can buy them at the local farmers cooperative in France. They work to get rid of the occasional mole but not when the whole family plus aunts, uncles and cousins move in.  Sadly you can't buy thallium based poisons any more to get rid of the loirs and their close cousins, the lerots (Eliomys quercinus), which have a striped face. I am told that too many French farmers were poisoning their nagging wives on the third day of a Mistral  Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-hawinkler Posted September 26, 2012 Share #9 Â Posted September 26, 2012 Nice shot though! Â Our local mice like building nests inside the engine compartment of a car. They prefer the Prius rather than a Corolla! Â When you are there, maybe a cat makes a difference? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share #10  Posted September 26, 2012 Our local mice like building nests inside the engine compartment of a car. They prefer the Prius rather than a Corolla!  When you are there, maybe a cat makes a difference?  Maybe they are hybrid mice  Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted September 26, 2012 Share #11 Â Posted September 26, 2012 Wilson - Nice shot. How about one of these traps in which they walk completely into and get stock to the adhesive flooring? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted September 26, 2012 Share #12 Â Posted September 26, 2012 Hello Wilson, Â Nice photo. Â Romans 2000 years ago considered dormice to be tasty tidbits. You might do some resarch as to how they raised them (they did) & how they kept them in (or out) of something/someplace. Â @ least you have readily available snacks on a cold & stormy nite. Â btw: Why wouldn't a cat or 2 be effective in keeping them away? Â Best Regards, Â Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted September 26, 2012 Share #13 Â Posted September 26, 2012 Hello Wilson, Â Another thought: I would think he looks young & frightened. Â Best Regards, Â Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauledell Posted September 27, 2012 Share #14 Â Posted September 27, 2012 A great shot of that lovable looking varmint. It sounds like their plan is to overcome you by sheer numbers and chase you out. Not good for you with the limited resources for exterminating them. Â Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share #15 Â Posted September 27, 2012 Wilson -Nice shot. How about one of these traps in which they walk completely into and get stock to the adhesive flooring? Â Stuart, Â I would not want to use one of those. My gardien only looks into the house every two weeks or so during the winter or if the temperature falls below zero, when he has to switch some heating on to stop the pipes freezing. Whereas I don't like the critters and don't mind killing them quickly, I would not want them to starve slowly to death. I have not put down labyrinth traps for that reason. Â Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share #16  Posted September 27, 2012 Hello Wilson, Nice photo.  Romans 2000 years ago considered dormice to be tasty tidbits. You might do some resarch as to how they raised them (they did) & how they kept them in (or out) of something/someplace.  @ least you have readily available snacks on a cold & stormy nite.  btw: Why wouldn't a cat or 2 be effective in keeping them away?  Best Regards,  Michael  Michael,  I have eaten deep fried day old baby rat in Malaysia but I think I would have to be quite desperate to eat a dormouse. Apparently they are still considered a delicacy in Croatia and no wedding feast is complete without a dormouse or two.  A cat would be the answer but I am only there 5 months a year and the house is totally shut up over the winter. A dog will happily travel backwards and forwards but a cat will not. I know people who have tried it and the cats become quite stressed and ill. In any case I drive backwards and forwards from the UK and again that is too far to transport a cat. Taking our cat in the UK (where there is someone in the house all year) 10 km to the vet for her annual flu jab is bad enough, with all the wailing and scratching.  We only have ever had one cat that liked to travel by car. If you opened the car door, he would jump straight in and either lie along the rear parcel shelf or would drape himself across my shoulders, watching the other traffic like a hawk. On a long journey, he would let you know if he had a toilet issue. You could stop by a grass verge, he would jump out, do his business and then jump back in. We didn't train him to do this, he learnt all by himself. Sadly his lack of fear of cars was his undoing  Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted September 28, 2012 Share #17 Â Posted September 28, 2012 Hello Wilson, Â I'm sorry about what happened to your cat. Â I don't think rats are on many people's diets anywhere. Dormice, even tho they more or less look like rats, might be somewhat tastier. Â Don't forget that altho crows don't taste that scrumptious, blackbirds, which look somewhat similar, are another story. Â Perhaps you could borrow a cat from a neighbor when you are in France. If the cat lives reasonably close to your home it might not mind coming for an occasional visit. Especially since there are readily available snacks. Â Best Regards, Â Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJP Posted September 28, 2012 Share #18 Â Posted September 28, 2012 we have ca. 2 cats available for a reasonable fee, certified unpleasant and aggressive:D Â Anyway in Belgium and Groningen (north part of NL) you can actually eat 'waterkonijn' = musk rat. Supposed to be quite tasty but I have not ventured that far (yet) in culinary terms. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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