Help! Mouse Pee On Negatives!

[Kevin Crisp]

I think you nailed "the decisive moment" there.

[JMO]

Traps have been in place for two nights...but no mouse!

Thing is...I'd been away from my darkroom for over a week - and it was during this time that the mouse came along and wreaked havoc with its pee - but only on two areas on my lab (enlarger) bench...a pile of negative sleeves and the inside of a drawer just under this where I store enlarger lenses (which are all untouched).

Before this event I'd never seen any mouse-related evidence on, inside, or around the lab bench (although I did have a pile of mouse babies drop into my darkroom sink from an opening in the ceiling awhile ago!). But the thing about mice is that if a cozy dark room remains unused for even a few days - they tend to show up. So my bad for not placing the negative sleeves back into their "mouse proof" storage boxes up on their shelves in an adjoining room.

In the meantime (being reminded of Drew's post)...its been awhile since we've been in the company of cats - so maybe its time!

John, Mice leave their signs. Look for their little terds, which will be about the size of loose black tea, but the individual droppings are more robust. They will mostly be found along the perimeter edges of the room, or along the edges of appliances, as the mice prefer to explore by following such edge routes.

Also, their offending "pee" will fluoresce under a black light, so if you have or can get one of those you'll be able to see (better so under darkened conditions) where they have been moving around within your DR or elsewhere in your home. And since those fluorescing pee trails indicate their major routes of travel and exploration within your home, those will be especially good places to put out your snap traps. And when it comes to snap traps, simply a few strands or a little puff off a cotton ball, wrapped around the trigger flap of the trap, will serve as good as anything. There's no need to waste any of your decent Vermont cheddar, or your peanut butter, though those are not bad choices; as the mice are also foraging around your home looking for nesting materials, and so will be attracted to the cotton fibers. And if you wrap the trap's trigger in the some cotton strands the mice will literally be yanking on their own death trap's trigger before their sudden demise!

[monochromeFan]

mice pee aint nice... it can corrode chrome plated wrenches

[tundra]

It might have been even more intriguing without that exclamation mark! Don't be peed off because of what the mice pee on: establish a cooperative working relationship with them. Ever persuade one to model for you? Even my farm cats admired this model so much after it's brief on-camera appearance that they invited it to lunch. (Speed Graphic with open shutter, flash triggered by contacts on mouse trap)

In my experience, farm cats are straightup gangsters ...

[xkaes]

Yet another photographic opportunity.

[Kevin Crisp]

"Say cheese!"

[John Layton]

Ha! Caught it! But is it THE mouse

...couldn't quite bring myself to photograph it (and Jim, what a creative use of a mouse trap as flash trigger!).

John, thanks for the tip about fluorescence...I've got a UV "scorpion-finder" flashlight and will keep this in my darkroom!

And kevin, as a (slight) aside...if you find yourself photographing a group but are really not all that into the cliche request - have them say "fromage" (I've actually tried this!)...which will have at least half of them scratching their heads! (but the mice will be fine with this...getting around as they do - they've long since all become multi-lingual)