The Trapping of the Shrew

Not by William Shakespeare.  Not a comedy.

shrew
: a small animal that looks like a mouse with a long, pointed nose
: an unpleasant, bad-tempered woman

So, it turns out it was not a mouse, but a common shrew.  The most common mammal in Northern Europe.

What else do I know about shrews now?

The common shrew breeding season peaks during the summer months. A female gives birth to a litter of five to seven baby shrews. A female usually rears two to four litters each year.

Caaal-cu-la-ting . . . thaaat's somewhere between 10 and 28 shrewlets annually.  Plus mama and papa shrew. 

Well, not wanting to be the bad-tempered Shakespearean Kate type of shrew, we captured (not killed!) the "small animal that looks like a mouse with a long, pointed nose" type of shrew.

You're welcome, Melissa :)

And not just one . . . so far we've nabbed 4, yes 4 of them and we know there are more because we can hear them scratching around.  Eck!  

Anyway, we've taken all of them to one of our favorite abandoned houses.

It's close by, but not too close by.  No reason to give it a chance of finding its way home, but it is right next to the field of dreams for shrews-previously-thought-to-be-mice.

Humane traps are now reset.  Only somewhere between 11 and 29 more adorable shrews to go.  This year.