Shrew in the house

[22]

This morning I caught a glimpse of what I thought was a mouse, it was just inside the front door among the shoes and boots. It ran off half-heartedly into the cupboard under the stairs.

Just come home and it's in the lounge, but it's a shrew. Quite a big room and an active/untidy family so loads of bags of books, washing, furniture etc pretty much all the way around the perimeter. My dog has caught thousands of rodents over the years but is struggling with this one, even though it's nowhere near as quick as a mouse (dog is nearly 14). I don't think he likes the smell as sort of shakes his nose when he gets close like he does with flies. Pretty sure he would have caught it if it was a mouse by now.

I've barricaded the door so it is at least trapped in one room, but there's a couple of sideboard-things that I can't move so shrew has somewhere to hide. I'm guessing it's come in through an open front door (which is open most of the time when someone is home) and I'm happy for it to escape if can facilitate this (rats/mice/glis glis are fair game).

Anyone got any tips for catching it rapido?

[driverrob]

I get the feeling you want to be humane about it so this sort of trap might suit:


Personally, any sort of rodent in my habitat with the distinct likelihood of it eating something I don't want eaten gets a trap or poison.

[22]

driverrob said:

Personally, any sort of rodent in my habitat with the distinct likelihood of it eating something I don't want eaten gets a trap or poison.

Mostly agree, I've watched/helped my dogs catch Glis glis, mice and rats, and we have poison/kill traps in outbuildings, but the shrew has probably taken a wrong turn. I'd rather it was in the garden eating bugs, I don't think it wants anything in here. If the dog catches it then fair play, but he's not looking up to the task.

[RizzoTheRat]

Well first you need to disguise yourself as the shrews sisters tutor, then hire someone to take the shrew on a date...

[22]

RizzoTheRat said:

Well first you need to disguise yourself as the shrews sisters tutor, then hire someone to take the shrew on a date...

Very good. I went for a shower, left the front door open and not seen it since. It was pretty active previously, so hoping it's found a way out (the dog would have showed me his catch if that happened). I'm out this evening so the wife will soon let me know if it's still about.

[driverrob]

Our cat was pretty useless: it sort of caught a shrew once but it seemed to have died without any obvious signs of injury. The cat just pushed it around on the patio, willing it to move and be chased. Similarly the dead mouse we eventually found under the sofa, after a couple of days trying to find the source of the smell.
Since moving to Cornwall, semi-rural, I've chopped an adder, trapped a mole, trapped and killed two mice in the garage and poisoned four rats. - At least the poison stopped being eaten for a while and we didn't see them in the garden or climbing the railings to eat from the bird feeders. Ah, life in the country

[Mr GrimNasty]

driverrob said:

Our cat was pretty useless: it sort of caught a shrew once but it seemed to have died without any obvious signs of injury. The cat just pushed it around on the patio, willing it to move and be chased. Similarly the dead mouse we eventually found under the sofa, after a couple of days trying to find the source of the smell.
Since moving to Cornwall, semi-rural, I've chopped an adder, trapped a mole, trapped and killed two mice in the garage and poisoned four rats. - At least the poison stopped being eaten for a while and we didn't see them in the garden or climbing the railings to eat from the bird feeders. Ah, life in the country

Adders are protected by law and classified as a priority species in the UK biodiversity action plan.

I hope it was entirely accidental and not savable.

[22]

Mr GrimNasty said:

driverrob said:

I've chopped an adder

Adders are protected by law and classified as a priority species in the UK biodiversity action plan.

I hope it was entirely accidental and not savable.

Whilst chopping wood obviously. I don't think the Glis glis that destroy our lofts are protected as such, but there are restrictions on how you can capture and kill them. My dog catching them I view as nature in action.

[driverrob]

Mr GrimNasty said:

Adders are protected by law and classified as a priority species in the UK biodiversity action plan.

I hope it was entirely accidental and not savable.

I didn't know that at the time. It was stuck half-way through some wire netting and our dog was going frantic at the head end.

[Equus]

22 said:

I'm out this evening so the wife will soon let me know if it's still about.

If it is, it'll more than likely be dead by now.

A shrew's metabolism is such that they need to eat with incredible regularity, and it's unlikely it will have found sufficient food inside a house to keep it going from more than a few hours.

[RizzoTheRat]

driverrob said:

Our cat was pretty useless

When I was a kid we always had mice in the house (couple of hundred year old farmhouse with plenty of hiding places for them), then the cat died and the number of mice dropped dramatically. He must have been catching them outside, bringing them in the house to play with, and then losing them.

The day my mother put her wellies on and found half a mouse in one of them was amusing though

[FlyingMeeces]

If you do manage to trap it be very careful not letting it get near your fingers etc, they are carnivores (well insectivores) and phenomenally aggressive…