How to Catch a Leprechaun/hamster

I used to recommend this technique to customers who had a runaway hamster at the pet shop I worked at. With a few modifications, it can easily be used to 'catch' some of the magic of believing in leprechauns for you child!

These are the items you will need for catching

1) Leprechaun: bucket or tall box
                             item to use as ramp up to box (ie. thin piece of wood, hot wheels track, cardboard...)
                             Gold! (chocolate coins, etc)

2) Hamster: bucket or tall box
                       item to use as ramp up to box (ie. thin piece of wood, hot wheels track, cardboard...)
                      small amount of bedding or folded towel
                       Treats or food

Be it rodent or mythical creature, just follow the steps to see how this works!

Nice or constructive comments welcome. No rude comments, please.
This is my first ever Instructable and would love to hear what you think!

Step 1:

Set up the trap:
I find that placing the trap in the middle of the room is best.
Set up at night before bed.

Use the Item you have selected as a ramp and lean it up next to your box or bucket. Leave bait (treats or gold) on the ramp leading up to the top of the ramp. Place some of the bait in the bottom of the bucket as well.

This works for small rodents because they have very good sniffers and will find the treats. They will follow the trail up to the top of the ramp. Poor depth perception will cause your small rodent to fall into the bucket in pursuit of the treats. This is where the towel or bedding come in. Be sure to use the towel or bedding at the bottom of your trap to break your pets fall. Just place the towel or bedding in the bottom of the container and put the treats on top. The container should be too tall for the rodent to get back out and there it will be in the morning, ready for you to rescue it and put it back in its home.

Please note. I made the trap pictured for demonstration. In reality the ramp may actually need to be a little longer in order to place treats that will not slide off and for the hamster to actually be able to climb.

Continue on to next step to see how this works for leprechauns!

Step 2:

In theory, a modified version of this trap should work nicely for leprechauns.

Explain to your child as you set up the trap how it works. (ie. The Leprechaun will follow the trail of gold to the top of the ramp. When he sees there is more gold, he will be greedy and fall in trying to get it!)

After your child is asleep remove the gold and replace with a stuffed leprechaun toy.

Variation: If you don't think your child will believe the toy leprechaun is real, you can still say he ESCAPED!

Turn over the container and remove the gold. A small leprechaun's hat may be 'left behind'. Any treat, for that matter, may be 'left behind by the leprechaun to be discovered by your child!

In the morning, explain to your child that leprechauns are very tricky and he must have found a way or used his magic to get out! :)

Thanks for reading and commenting! :)
Have Fun