Mouse in the house!

[Briarius]

gah!

I was wondering why the cat was so interested in going behind the bedroom door. She had a mouse trapped in the corner! And her dumb owner picked her up and let it get away. So she's done hunting and I need advice on how to get rid of the little bugger without harming the dog and 2 cats. So what's best. I have to qualms about eradicating the little buggers!

[RockaFowler]

1. Glue Traps

We used a glue trap to get rid of the one that we had. It's a little more humane.

I feel for you. We had one that got caught in our stove (it was awful). I guess he was trying to find a warm place. He was warm all right! I almost threw away my stove because I couldn't get rid of the smell.

[Briarius]

2. ugh that sucks!

this one was last spotted in our bedroom, so it's double the skeeve!

[RockaFowler]

3. Thank God for my husband

He refused to give up (and pay for a new stove). He found that little bugger and yeah I can bake again. I was making everything outside on the grill!!

[Arkansas Granny]

4. What do you do with them after they get stuck in the glue?

I've never used one, but I've always wondered. I've always depended on my cats. The one I have now was a feral cat before I adopted her and she is an excellent mouser, in fact, maybe the best I've ever had. She never eats them, but brings them to me as gifts.

[Ravenseye]

5. You toss them

I've always just double bagged them and thrown them in the garbage. Carefully. That glue is sticky.

[Arkansas Granny]

12. Are they still alive when you toss them? If so, how is that humane?

If they are dead, have they starved to death? I know that dead is dead, but at least when the cat kills them, it's nature sorting things out.

[Ravenseye]

19. I don't know if I'd call any of them humane.

The fact is though that if you have mice in your house it's you versus them. Last thing you want is a mouse carving out a niche including an electrical wire and setting your house on fire. You need to get them out of your house, and figure out how they're getting in and prevent it from happening again.

As far as the glue traps, generally I understand they actually die of suffocation. The struggle, their chest gets glued in, and then they dont' have the strength to breathe anymore. Otherwise yeah they starve to death. Once you toss them theyr'e either already dead, or near dead.

The snap traps can kill them quicker but if it doesn't get them correctly, it can break off just a limb which they might gnaw off, only to die behind your walls, like poison.

If you're going to kill a mouse or rat, do it with glue.

If you want to be humane, use the humane traps, capture them, then drive them about 50 miles away and release them to be on the safe side. Even that far they still might come back.

[mockmonkey]

21. Glue traps

I would rather people use live traps (which could still kill the mouse) or the spring type (it's quick). Glue traps are terrible. Why make the mouse suffer by starving to death? Sometimes they gnaw away at the stuck foot to try to escape. So you are correct in wondering if Glue traps are humane.

[Arkansas Granny]

22. I really don't have a problem with killing the mouse, I just want it

to be quick and effective. My cat is very good at that. I just hate to see any animal suffer a slow death even if it's a destructive pest. I guess that's a conundrum, but so are many things in life.

[RockaFowler]

8. We have a park nearby

We have taken them over to the park and my husband takes them off the glue (I never look) and let's them run free. They have that glue on them still, but it doesn't snap their heads off. That would be awful to see.

And as for cats and dogs, I have 3 dogs and a cat. Scooter (the oldest dog) is a hunter. The other 2 play with it. And the cat, she's just lazy!!!!

[flaminbats]

24. I'm having the same problem..

my cat believed the mouse was just another play toy, until it actually charged my cat! now my cat only runs in complete terror :banghead:

[DS1]

20. Glue traps and humane in the same sentence?

Are you out of your f&cking mind?

[haele]

25. If you have other animals, a glue trap can seriously mess them up -

Glue traps have been known to cause death in small kittens and pet birds if they get caught and aren't found in time - say, when everyone is at school or work.
Especially the smarter, smaller birds like parakeets or cockatiels; all it takes is a couple glue traps that aren't hidden but were placed "out of the way" (like under a table or in a corner) and the bird(s) getting out of the cage when no one is at home - which happens in our house more often than we would like to admit. If their body or wing gets caught when they're checking things out and they can't get loose, they will literally kill themselves trying to get out.
If your cat or dog gets some of the glue in their mouths, (via either just eating the attractively scented trap or by getting it on their feet/fur, ingesting it via grooming), it can mess with their esophagus and/or digestive system and has been known to cause slow death if the owner doesn't know the pet got into the glue trap and thinks to take the pet to the vet.

Since I have pets which include pet rats I can't use one of those ultra sonic rodent "discouragers" (which I have used before and they do work within their range!) in conjunction with cats (preditor scent) and a cleaned, rodent proofed house(taking away reward for risk - rodents aren't stupid); if I needed to get mice as humanely as possible out of the way, I'd rather have a snap trap in an out of the way area,and perhaps only risk a broken cat paw rather than anything that could internally damage or poison one of the pets. It's still killing the creatures and handling dead mouse or rat carcasses no matter what I do about it.

Of course, snakes and cats that can hunt are the best, environmentally sound mice and rat traps around.

Haele

[Ravenseye]

6. Definately Glue Traps

Poison just gets you dead mice and rats rotting in the walls of your house stinking up the joint. Traditional Rat traps work as well and you'll hear the CRACK when they hit.

Some people like the traps that catch mice and rats without harming them. Unless you're planning on following this up with a long car ride to deposit them I recommend against them. Mice and rats have the ability to find their way back after being dropped MILES away. If you dump them in your backyard they'll be back inside within an hour.

[Briarius]

10. that sounds like the ticket

hopefully the glue traps work, I haven't had much luck with them in the past... Any brand recommendations?

[Maine-ah]

7. have -a -heart traps.

they can get in but they can't get out, and it doesn't kill them and it won't harm your animals in anyway, like glue traps or poison can.

Then you play "mouse relocation program". Find a field, and let them go. I use these all the time and it's a great product.

[riona]

9. There are these little rectangular

plastic see thru traps - once in, the mouse can't get out. Just put something like peanut butter way inside and in he'll go. You can release him elsewhere if you'd like.

[Maine-ah]

11. those are the have-a-heart traps

they work great. I'm on a peninsula, so I'll drive into the mainland on the other side and drop them off in a field.

[Ravenseye]

That's perfect

Just don't do what alot of people do and drop them off in their backyard. That makes it a daily catch and release program. If you don't have a water separation, you need to take them miles and miles away.

[Ravenseye]

28. dupe (nt)

[bettyellen]

13. MOOSE LOOSE ABOOT THE HOOOUSE?

thats the canadian version
:loveya:

[Briarius]

16. LOL!

I'd hate to see the size of a moose trap! And the glue traps, forget about it! :D

:evilgrin:

[Midlodemocrat]

14. Briarius. I lived in an apartment with mice many moons ago.

And, not that long ago, there were some in my garage.

Here's the deal. There is more than one. You have to kill 2-3 of them before they stop coming in.

Whichever method you are able to stomach, be it the glue or the instant death, you will have to put a trap in the stop where you saw it for several days and catch more than one to stop this pattern.

Good luck. I hate mice.

[Briarius]

17. yea, I know

our MIL had mice in her basement. We killed about 4-5 before they were gone. Hopefully the cats can help, but we'll just have to see.

[In_The_Wind]

15. Ekkk! I have too many mice in this house.

Two weeks ago a wild (domestic style) cat ran into the house while we were taking plants outside. The poor thing was trapped for about 48 hours until it escaped again. We were thinking about getting a have-a-heart trap because the kitty was terrified.

[LaurenG]

18. I won't use glue board

we bought a catch and release trap. Our cats love rounding up mice. They think they are very special and prized toys. They never kill them just harass them, so we bought a kind trap. We haven't seen any since we bought it though.

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. My girl kitty presented me with a wee mousie at 3am. of course, everyone

in the family knows it's our boy kitty who does all the work. She just likes to take the credit. *lol*

[CC]

26. This will sound weird but it

really works. I learned it from the ferret rescue on a farm. Ferret poop. Or for inside some ferret bedding. If you know anyone with a ferret let them sleep on a pillow case, towel whatever for a week and place it where the mice come in. Mice will disappear fast. As for the poop, if you can get someone that uses wood pellets for litter you can scatter it around outside your house once a year and no mice. I have ferrets and haven't had to do any of the above though my neighbor put some litter around his shed after a mouse nest blew up his lawn mower. I guess the mice just know ferrets live in my house. The ferret rescue on the farm now supplies used litter to the neighbors in the fall. It has emptied mice from barns and grain silos. The wood pellets is important because once they get wet they melt into the ground.

[bedpanartist]

27. your best bet is to trap kill them, and then find out where they're

getting into your house from the outisde. Most likely its a small crack they're getting into your house from the outside. Check carefully and plug up hole with what it takes.