How to Catch a Loose Gerbil

A loose gerbil can be more destructive than a runaway freight train. It also makes a kid cry. This traumatic event doesn’t have to last for long, however, with the right technique. It may not be easy, but it is possible to catch a loose gerbil with patience, persistence and watching where you step. A few simple steps don’t hurt, either. Read on to learn how to catch a loose gerbil.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Loose gerbil
• Wood slats or cardboard
• Small garbage can, emptied and rinsed
• Food stuff
• Tissue for the kid's tears
• Lollipop

1. Try to contain the gerbil in the smallest area possible. If you know he ran in the bedroom, close the door, the closet and all other places he could run off to.

2. Block off any holes in the wall, crevices and small openings underneath furniture with an array of wood slats or cardboard.

3. Empty and rinse out a small garbage can, placing it on its side with food stuff in the bottom. The best bait is something scrumptious and smelly, like Limburger cheese.

4. Wait and wait some more.

5. When the gerbil eventually skitters out to investigate the smelly food, let him run inside the garbage can and then quickly block his exit with a piece of cardboard.

6. Once the gerbil is secured in the garbage can, flip it over and gently dump the gerbil back in his cage.

7. Give the kid a lollipop so he stops crying about his lost gerbil.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't think lollipops are healthy for the kid, give him the rest of the Limburger cheese.
• Gerbils are probably the quickest rodents of the bunch and may even be faster than a cheetah or greyhound.
• If the gerbil does not respond to the lure, make sure you did not inadvertently trap him underneath furniture, in the closet or the like when you blocked off those openings with cardboard.
• Cheddar cheese, or another variety, will work if you don’t have Limburger.
• Be careful you don’t bash the gerbil’s head in when you trap him in the garbage can.
• Expect to get bitten if the gerbil gets near enough to your fingertips.
• A gerbil on the loose indefinitely can cause a lot of heartache, damage and irrevocable severing to your electrical wires.