Snap Traps V Sticky Traps & Our Apple Tree

     All who (at least claim to) know me know I like the old fashioned, simple things the best. Also, I prefer the most humane way of dispatching pests, except maybe cockroaches, skeeters and other noxious insects.
     To wit, my mouse problem. Some would say snapping their little necks is mean and/or cruel. I personally feel it's more humane than letting them get stuck to a glue trap. Certainly better than poison which induces a shutdown of their organs along with internal bleeding. Not to mention one or both of my canine kids could eat a poisoned mouse and fall ill if not die.

     Well, my problem is field mice. Larger than a house mouse but not more than a weanling rat. Snap type mouse traps are too small to whack more than 1 in 10 . Rat snappers are too big to be set off. Therefore, I am forced to resort to glue boards. I'm using the approximately 5" x 10" boards.
     I chucked out a pair of boards last week with a total of 5 mice on them. Sooner or later I'll be shed of the mice I have but remain ever vigilant.
     I put all my dog and cat food in an insulated ice chest. No, I don't have a cat but Rupert, th hedgehog and wee Elsa, the ferret eat it.

     One last note, I did buy us a Granny Smith apple tree Saturday. It was a bit over $26.00 after taxes but as Vlad and I enjoy the fruits better than any other apple it was money well spent. I did look at all the trees there also. Not at height but rather at the diameter of the trunk at the base. Yes, indeed I picked the fattest one!
     I dug out a hole a few days in advance. It came a gully washer rain which filled the hole near to the brim with water. Anyway, I slopped most of it out, added the tree and back filled the hole with a mix of sand,potting soil and a bit of  coffee grounds and tea leaves from work. Hopefully in the next few years Vlad and I will enjoy our own home "growed" Granny Smith apples.