And then there were two...

So my home-made live mouse trap has still not caught my intruder.  I'm pretty convinced that it doesn't spend all of it's time here.  Once I catch sight of it and see it; for example when I pulled out the bottom drawer and found it in the drawer, I don't see it again for a few days.

Once again I was sitting at my computer when I saw the blur of grey by the bird cage.  Thinking I could catch this mouse by hand into a plastic container I went after it.  I know where it hides, the bottom drawer.  I yanked open the drawer...

Even though I'm not scared of mice, when I saw this:

I admit, I screamed like a little girl.  Now if someone had been recording what happened next I may have been able to win on America's Funniest Videos.  As I screamed and tried to get my mind functioning again, the two mice sprung out of the drawer.  One leapt contorting it's body as it did so, hit the floor running and disappeared around the corner of the door towards my living room.  The other leapt straight up, contorting it's body as well, hit the ground upside-down, then ran in the opposite direction with me following right behind.  It hit the wall under my radiator like a car hitting a wall.  Regained it's footing and ran under my bookshelves.  Now I'm ripping stuff away from the bottom of the bookshelves looking for it.

So now I know there are two mice in my flat (at least some of the time).  Now the chance of having more appear has increased considerably.  Now it's war.

I made a second live trap, it's much simpler than the first.  It's a toilet paper tube folded flat on one side which hangs off a ledge, with peanut butter on the hanging edge.  The idea is that the mouse enters the tube to get the bait and the weight of the mouse tips the mouse off the ledge into a waiting bucket.

I have also admitted partial defeat to this wise, intelligent Scottish mice.  I went and bought a live mouse trap as well.  All are set and I wait to see what's there when I get home tonight.

A Mouse in the House

I live in a 6 story complex, on the 5th floor (4th level if you are from here).  According to my Mom this means that I didn't see a mouse the other day.  But let me start from the beginning.

On Tues evening I was in the kitchen and out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of grey and a swish of a tail before it disappeared under my fridge.  I wasn't convinced at what I saw.  I should add that I didn't jump or startle, but that's from working at Wild at Heart in the beginning when we had a mouse problem.  I'll save that story for another day.

In case I wasn't just seeing things I decided to build a homemade live trap.  It's a fairly simple concept.  You get a deep bucket (or something similarly shaped), a piece of wire that is long enough to hang over the edges of the bucket, a pop can or bottle and something to build a ramp out of.

You poke the wire through the pop bottle lengthwise and lay that over the top of the bucket.  Then build a ramp up to the edge of the bucket.  To bait it you simply put peanut butter on the bottle; I'm told that this is the best mouse bait.  Here's my set up:

Everything I have read and been told has stated that peanut butter is the best attractor for mice; after 3 days of having the trap set I was not convinced.  Now I was starting to wonder if I had imagined seeing it.


Last night I was sitting at my desk labeling photos of animal skulls for my anatomy workbook.  I usually have a TV show or movie playing on my computer as background noise but I was currently between videos.  Kaitee (my senegal parrot) was half sleeping on her cage when I heard a very quiet crunch.  I thought - I know that noise, that's a rodent chewing!  I stared at the cage watching Kaitee to make sure that it wasn't her that made the noise.

I heard it again!

I went over to the cage and pulled everything out from underneath it, searched through the box of toys I have underneath it, and...nothing.  Hmmmpft.  Now I'm starting to question my sanity, maybe I didn't see a mouse, maybe it was Kaitee grinding her beak that I heard.

But then I heard it again.  So I pulled everything out from under the cage and emptied the toy box.  Still nothing.  Then I heard it again, this time since I was standing so close I was certain it wasn't Kaitee.  Kaitee who at this point was actively watching me very closely.

I pulled the small drawer unit that is beside the cage out and...

in the corner of the room was a little grey mouse.  Now in case it isn't obvious the picture above is not a picture of the actual mouse.  I saw it long enough to get a description but not long enough to catch it before it ran out of the room.  It was facing the corner happily chewing a seed, unaware that I had just removed the drawer unit it was hiding behind.  It must have sense the change because it glanced over it's shoulder threw the seed down and took off.

So my trap remains set.  I added the sunflower seeds since this mouse seems to prefer them and I wait.

Neither snow nor rain nor sleet nor dark of night

You should have recognized that as the postman's creed- 

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

 Here they have added a bit nor sufficient postage.  Allow me to contrast the Canadian system as I know it to the Scottish system as I know it.

Canadian Post
If you don't put sufficient postage on an envelope it gets returned to the sender immediately.  As the sender you have defaulted the original postage as it's been "used".  You then put the correct postage on the envelope and mail it again.

Royal Mail
As explained to me by the guy at my local mail depot, so I can't guarantee this is completely accurate.  If you mail a letter here with insufficient postage it still gets sent.  The receiver gets a notice that they have a letter to pick up.  In order to pick up their letter they have to pay the difference between the postage already paid and the actual postage required.  As well there is a one pound administration fee added.  The mail depot holds the letter for 3 weeks and if it is not picked up it gets returned to the sender.  I'm not sure if then the sender would have to pay anything.  If there isn't a return address on the envelope it goes to a holding depot where they open it and attempt to find a return address that way.

I found this out when I was picking up a package from the depot and the gentleman ahead of me had to pay a 1.10 pounds for a birthday card. 

The Milking Experience

On Thursday our practical was milking at Langhill Farm.  The practical that I had been looking forward to since school started.  Everyone who had already done it had told me that it was messy and that they had to duck flying poo and swinging tails covered in poo.  Yet I was still anxious to do it.
Standard procedure once you get to either farm; Langhill (dairy cattle) or Easter Bush (sheep), you put on “waterproofs” and “wellies”.  (Translation: waterproof shirt and pants and rubber boots.)  Then we are broken down into smaller groups.  This week we were broken down into groups for milking, cattle handling, weighing and condition scoring and sheep handling. 
The milking parlour is a 28:28 Herringbone parlor.  It holds 28 cows at a time and milks them with it's 28 milking units.  In contrast there are parlours that hold 28 cows but only have 14 milking units.

First the layout of the parlor.

Aerial view.




Here's an example of a very clean, high tech milking parlour.  The keypads are the computerized milking units.

The cows are moved from the field or cow shed and into the collecting yard just behind the milking parlor.  Here they can become impatient and push at the milk gate trying to be the first in. 

Here's an example of the receiver (blue part) that they pass through before entering the parlour.  This identifies the cow for the milking machine and automatic concentrate feeder.

Each machine has it’s own milking cluster.

 

Now the process

The cows are herded into the collecting yard then let into the milking parlor 14 per side.  As they pass through the blue curtains they are identified.  The machines know by the identification number of the cow what their normal daily yield is and will alert you if you need to hold their milk from the bulk tank.  Reasons for not putting their milk into the bulk tank are if they have antibiotics in their system or they have just calved and you want the colostrum for the calves.
Once the cows are in the parlor you start with a dry wipe of the teats.  This is apparently the best way to prevent bacteria in the milk.




Then you attach the cluster which to reach the front teats requires that you lean right in. Sometimes the cows get antsy and kick their feet around a bit.  So you have to watch for that.





As the cows are being milked the feed troughs automatically feed the cow concentrate to supplement them for the amount of milk they are giving. It's a very fine line; they want to feed them enough for them to produce the milk but not too much that they gain weight.

At langhill the clusters are automatically removed.  They sense the decrease in milk flow past a set point and let air into the unit.  By doing this the suction is broken and the cluster falls off, at the same time there is a retractable cord that the machine winds up so that the cluster is pulled up behind the cow.  Some of the cows know that they are done and start to kick their back feet around.  At this point you can gently tug on the cluster to remove it if the cow hasn't done so already.

After the cluster comes off the teats are then sprayed with iodine to prevent infection.


In case you didn’t know, cows are indiscriminate poopers**.  They poop and pee whenever and wherever they feel like it, including during milking.  If you didn’t notice in the milking parlor picture you are standing 2 feet lower than the cows.  This puts their floor at mid-thigh to waist level.  This means that when they poop or pee it splatters and that means it splatters on YOU.  They are also really great at using their tail as a poop flinging device.  So at some point during the experience you will get poop on you.  Hopefully it hits the waterproofs and not your face.


Here is the reason Holstein-Friesian cows are black and white.



And where does condensed milk come from?

hehehehe.



**I’m borrowing this term from a friend.

A Thousand Words.

I was going to tell you about my awesome (early) Christmas present, but figure maybe I should actually use it before telling you about it.  So for now you have to wait.
Instead I shall share some pictures with you.  All are pictures that I took, so please no stealing! 

Sheep at Easter Bush

 































Heading out to the fields.

Cows!

Well the first two are calves…



I love the expression on this guy.


























Did you call?












 
Stopping on the way to the milking parlour to pose.












Everyone heading to the milking parlour.

Driving

 
One of the reasons it’s so confusing to drive here.  This is a street corner, notice the two signs pointing away from each other both say “Warriston Crematorium”.










Reason two: Notice the lights…showing green and red at the same time, plus multiple lights to pay attention to.

Shopping

You might have to click on this one to see it better.  There is a guy holding a sign that points to an checkout that is open or has less people waiting.  What a job!










I find this card hilarious.  In case you can’t read it:

“Leopards are easily spotted.  Just fill in the white circles with black ink.”

Sights

     
Edinburgh Castle.  The stands in front are for the Military Tattoo.











On the shores of Fife.  When my Mom and I first got to this spot the tide wasn’t in.  These waves are the result of the tide coming in and I managed to catch the wave breaking as well as the dogs reaction.

Scotland Weather

I shall end my picture showing with a picture that I feel shows the weather here perfectly.  I took this picture after a short shower from my balcony overlooking a park.  This is the complete image, no cropping, Photoshop or editing in any way has occurred.