If you like mice in your house, please DO NOT read on.

I'm asking for help with a test for putting mice to sleep humanly. I am of the belief that the seeds from papaver somniferum (poppy), a/k/a (also known as) poppy peoniflorum (sp?) commonly called peony poppy or just the single flower poppy somniferum contains very small amount of opium. These are also the breadseed poppies from my understanding, but they, they, the breadseed, are the single flower form. In my garden I prefer the double flower form. Now our size compared to a mouse is quite great.

What I am asking is that anyone having problems with mice coming into their house this year (or any year), and they grow and can collect these poppy seeds mentioned above, will you please help me with a test/survey by setting out these seeds in two or three places where the mice tend to frequent; first to see if the seeds are being eaten.

No other form of poppy seeds should be used but that listed above. Best is your own fresh harvest so that the seeds have not been washed or cleaned or sent through any process.

I also am of the belief that mice prefer seeds/nuts over sweets. This includes nuts as peanut butter in traps. But to at least start the test, if you have had to trap mice with traps, cease to do so for a short period of time just to see if they will eat the poppy seeds.

I'm a messy terrible housekeeper, but not only do I grow the poppies, I also started eating bagels which has those poppies on them, but the poppy seeds from my bagels. Now the content of the opium would not be as strong probably, but usually at this time of year, even with my cat, the mice find their way in. Yet I have not seen any evidence.

This post is getting long, so I'll continue in another.

So my thoughts are like this:
First, have you ever questioned why people take their own lives, especially young people and people overdosing on drugs?

I think *some*, maybe *many* do so because they are so tired of the struggle in this world, and they just feel like they have no strength or ability to go on; or they have no future hope.

For especially the young who overdose, and who have taken drugs that put you to sleep, this is the least painful, peaceful method to fall to sleep death; only other is falling to sleep death of old age (in my opinion).

You might say I'm off topic here. But I even feel for mice. They can be cute little critters, but I don't want them in the house, and I don't want them eating all my seeds nor the voles eating my bulbs! And I sure don't like their poop all over.

So then, if mice will eat somniferum poppy seeds, perhaps this is the easiest most painless death they could have. Based on how many seeds they eat, and if they will even eat them, it could possibly overdose them and they would fall into a peaceful sleep of death.

Sincerely,

Teresa

the only problem with that is they crawl off in the wall and die and they rot and smell horrible, that is why I always use traps. I have tried live traps and found they just don't work as well. And I imagine that the mouse endures a great deal of fear being trapped in it for hours until you find it. Or that you forget to check it for a couple days and the poor thing dies a slow miserable death. I have found that for traps to work, I use them only 3 or 4 times and then get new ones. I can't explain it but have found that after they go off a few times it messes with the 'calibration' somehow-the thingy is bent slightly or something and they just don't trip right. Next, bait it so that the yummy is UNDER the little thingie on there so the mouse has to really get his head IN there to get it. Otherwise they can get the treat and be halfway off when it trips and it is not killed cleanly. I like to use peanut butter because he cannot just pick it up and leave, he has to sit there and lick it. Next, make sure the trap has plenty of room all the way around it, do not put one end up directly against a wall for instance. Crowding the trap forces the mouse into positions that may not ensure it is fully on the trap in a way that will ensure a fast kill. I have learned this the hard way. Little mousie had its legs in it, but was very much alive -It was AWFUL. I put him in a sandwhich bag and laid him on CEMENT (not soft ground) and very swiftly ended him flat on with a concrete block. Gross, yes, but it was the best fasted thing for him. I have also tried putting them in a jar so that they run out of air-supposed to peacefully go to sleep... he was in one of those small jelly jars-took along time, and I never did it again. I am SO against mouse poison because I have seen how that stuff works and it is a terrible way to go. Out of all the methods I've used, honestly the trap has been the best. Some say get a cat, but that is a horrible way to go too if you ask me. Plus our cats were always too lazy to catch mice anyway!

The poppy seeds may work, I would be interested. But unless it eats enough of them, it may just make it really sick. You would have no way of knowing if the mouse ate only one seed or the whole pile. Suppose it brought the seeds back to it's 'nest' and 5 mice shared them? they would all be very ill but none die?

Frillylily said:the only problem with that is they crawl off in the wall and die and they rot and smell horrible, that is why I always use traps.

. . . I hear you there.

Frillylily said:
Little mousie had its legs in it, but was very much alive -It was AWFUL. I put him in a sandwhich bag and laid him on CEMENT (not soft ground) and very swiftly ended him flat on with a concrete block. Gross, yes, but it was the best fasted thing for him.

I generally use live traps with good success, but have my own experience . . . poor little mousy was mid-way in the trap. I just so happened to have a rain barrel. I had heard a story direct from a diver (man who loved to dive) that went too deep, did not have enough air to make it back to top (no gear), actually drowned, was recussitated (sp?) and said how peaceful it was after he died for minutes after that gulp of water he had to take. So I drowned mousy and he died very quickly -- but I cried and had to turn my head.

Frillylily said:
The poppy seeds may work, I would be interested. But unless it eats enough of them, it may just make it really sick.

. . . I don't think it would make him sick, maybe I would think he might have the best *high* he'd ever had; like cat's with catnip. [My cat gets ornery though!]

Frillylily said:The poppy seeds may work, I would be interested. But unless it eats enough of them, it may just make it really sick. You would have no way of knowing if the mouse ate only one seed or the whole pile. Suppose it brought the seeds back to it's 'nest' and 5 mice shared them? they would all be very ill but none die?

This is a good thought. I guess it would be pretty hard for it to be controlled testing. Probably have to be done in a lab, and if it was *good*, we'd never know about it for money sake.

Perhaps I should just close the thread since there really isn't a way to *control* the testing ??

The way things are going nowadays you'd have the cops show up for having 2 poppy seeds that haven't been washed