My apologies if I sound a bit defensive here, but, whenever I mention to friends, relatives and neighbors that I prefer to trap (in Havahart® traps) and relocate mice (to places like a local park, NOT to another neighbors yard) as opposed to killing them with poisons, more often than not, what I get in return is a little smirk and, sometimes, even a little chuckle. Well, just yesterday, I read an article in Tufts Journal titled “Rescuing the Raptors by Jacqueline Mitchell” that, in my view at least, has finally validated my methods.
In part, the article was about the way in which hawks that dine on rodents that have consumed a commonly available over-the-counter poison (brodifacoum) can eventually die of that same poison! Apparently, this poison, an anticoagulant, “metabolizes slowly and accumulates in the liver, a raptor feeding on poisoned rodents can build up toxic levels over time.” Thus, while the rodent takes several days to die, the hawks can die an even slower death simply because they have not consumed the poison directly.
Okay, I admit, I knew nothing of this before reading the article! I also admit that I used to use those poisons but, after seeing a mouse convulsing on my cellar floor shortly after setting out trays of the poison, … well, that just “turned me off” from that method of ridding my home of the little critters. It was then that I turned to the Havahart® traps instead.
So, go ahead and smirk, go ahead an chuckle! I have been a bird lover for several decades and, I especially love raptors. And that I turned to “trapping and relocating” rodents just may have saved even one red-tailed hawk?! Well, I say that’s all the better.
A Little Bit o' Everything! 
I have killed mice and rats and spiders and such but admire your view.
I once watched a man free a mouse that was stuck in some duct tape around his daughter’s moving box. He carefully freed the mouse even after the mouse bit him. It made a great impression on me so I’m not so quick to kill anymore.
Thanks for the heads-up on this. It makes so much sense, but I never thought of it.
I never use rodent poisons and I don’t feel compelled to kill every small creature I see the way some people seem to. I usually view pests as symptoms and not a disease. Their presence usually signals some other problem, eg. carpenter ants are a sign of rotten wood. Fix the source of the water, remove the rot, and the ants will be gone.
That said, I’m in a constant battle with gray squirrels eating their way into my house. I have used a Havahart trap to relocate them, but don’t tell anybody, because in all likelihood it’s illegal.
Janet – get over the depression and move on to the manic stage.
Thanks for the comment! =)
Are you still shoveling snow off your driveway?
wrjones, NOW I’m shoveling snow off the driveway!
Great job restoring the old photograph.
Thank you, Preston. I wish that I could’ve found the original negative so I could get rid of the crease in the print too. Still, I’m pretty happy with the results.
BTW, I just wanted to tell you, too, that my mother GREATLY appreciated the comment you made about her painting. However, she recently suffered a stroke, bleeding into the brain. The good news is that she is, ever so slowly, recovering.
I hope that soon she will be able to reply to your comment herself!
Thanks again, from Janet and Gertrude! 🙂