There's a Mouse in the Garage!

So we noticed that a container for bird feeder peanuts on a shelf in our garage always had husks around it, then we noticed on closer inspection what looked like Niger seed on the shelf too.  I thought my wife topped up the Niger feeder, she thought I had.  When we spoke about it, turns out neither of us had topped up the Niger seed and on closer inspection it turns out they were mouse droppings.

Ok, time for a trap, not the springy shut type but a laser trap.  After setting peanuts in the same spot on the shelf for several nights (which were all gone by morning) it was time to set the trap and get a look at my nocturnal visitor.

I rigged my Phototrigger to shine a laser beam over the peanuts, and prefocussed my Canon 7D with a Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens onto the same place.  I also had a studio flash (operated by radio control) pointing at the same spot (with a snoot and honeycomb, lighting the scene from behind the camera).

Click the image to enlarge

Then it was just a matter of waiting and hoping.  As things cooled down the beam would wander and the 7D would start to rattle off pictures, so I had to frequently check and reset things, hoping this wouldn't put off the little fella from making an appearance.

But then, he (I've no idea if its a he or not) put in appearance, apparently the lure of the peanuts was too strong and he ignored all the new stuff that had appeared, and the blinding flashes of light!

Click the image to enlarge

I think he's kinda cute.

Peter.

PS: No animals were hurt during this photoshoot!

For info the PhotoTrigger website is here http://www.phototrigger.co.uk/