Humane Mousetraps

[Chantal]

Help!

I have a mouse living in my outhouse (attached to my kitchen) which has been in residence since early December. I can't put down a trap or poison; I'm sorry guys, I don't kill things. I bought a humane trap which hasn't worked and currently I'm feeding the little thing on cheese (he just loves Caledonian Extra Mature Cheddar) and chocolate every night so that he doesn't get hungry and come looking for food in my kitchen. I have no mouse droppings anywhere so I may be succeeding so far.

However, this can't go on. When the weather is warmer the back door will be open, Mr Mouse will be out looking for love and no doubt returning to his B&B with a woman. I've cleared the place out and failed to find him, although I did find a small food store in a wood sack (the place is full of coal and wood).

Any ideas folks? Humane ones only please; no point in asking you lot to be sensible too...

Chantal

[Jenny Green]

Sorry, but I've read that the only thing humane about humane mousetraps is that YOU don't see them die.
If you don't release the mouse far away enough it'll just come back and if you do release it far away enough it'll die before it can establish itself in a new territory.
It's also likely to be more than one as they live in family groups.
The only thing you can do is find the nest and turf them out, but then they'll most likely make another nest in the area.

[Chez]

Hello Chantal - apart from lethal injection or overdosing on anaesthetic, the most humane way to kill a mouse is to break its neck. Unpleasant for you, but best for the mouse. Fast and quick. Mousetraps do this very well, but do need to be positioned so that the mouse can only reach the bait from the front, i.e. passage blocked from the sides. Otherwise, I have seen them caught by their legs and still alive in the trap - awful, especially when you know you have to finish them off. Do stop feeding it if you don't want it as a pet. You are giving it a reason to hang around building its little life and that of future generations in your outhouse. No way to get rid of it without killing it, I am afraid.

[pigletwillie]

Chantal,

buy those pigs and save their bacon, keep them in the outhouse and the snorting and farting they are honour bound to do will cause lil ol mousey to pack his bags and move somewhere far far away.

You will of course need some crusty bread and brown sauce for the pigs when they have done their job.

I can bring the sauce, Daddies or Hp?

Piglet (snarf)

[Chantal]

Thanks guys, not what I want to hear but thanks anyway. As the weather is promising to be good tomorrow I'm going to have one last go at emptying everything out and finding the little sucker. Better yet, if I don't put anything back but relocate it, perhaps it might work. I just can't bring myself to kill things; I sat on a wasp once and put it out of the window before yelling my way to the anti sting stuff; I couldn't kill it, it was just protecting itself as I would if someone sat on me.

Piglet, I am seriously worried about your sanity and I doubt it's the first time you've heard that statement! See you in the AM.

Chantal

[The Grock in the Frock]

dont kill the poor thing,try this.i saw a clip on the river cottage series were hugh wanted too get rid of a few mice.he went to the yellow pages and got the mouse busters.they were a couple who came to his house and with the power of thought and crystals asked the mice too move to a more comfortable place.he never had any more trouble after that.sounds crazy but it might work.the power of the mind is a great thing.as for pigletwille,hes just lost the plot

[Chantal]

Hi Grock

I saw that too but we're a bit short on mouse busters around this area. I've scheduled a massive clear out on Sunday and I am determined to find him somehow.

I used to have 6 cats who brought hundreds of mice in for me and usually let them go in the house. I caught and rehoused all of them so just one mouse should be a doddle. I still have one cat (Rosalita) but she's informed me she's now retired (she's 16) and she flat out refuses to even sniff it out!

Oh well, thanks for being on my side with mouse rescue and wish me luck...

[The Grock in the Frock]

i dont think any of these crule people have seen the film stuart little.and as for pigletwille.whats it called when you kill a member of your own family SHAME ON YOU

[Guest]

If you really must use a humane trap, try to get the plastic tube type with a tilted-up end, which will tip up with the mouse's weight and trap it in the far end before it has a chance to back out and escape - probably with your bait if you're using dry easily portable stuff like cheese and chocolate. Instead, use bits of dried apricot - press the sticky side firmly to the back of the trap and the mouse won't be able to just pick it up and run. Then you have the problem of where to take the live rodents. Anything closer than 10 miles, they'll find their way back. Believe me. Been there, done that, had to resort to a killer trap in the end (and discovered that my "mouse" was in fact 15 mice who all look alike to the human eye). My killer trap didn't work efficiently every time, so on two occasions I had a trap with a squirming, half-dead, mutilated mouse in it. Couldn't just leave the creatures to die, so I had to get them out of the trap (very messy and distressing), lay them on the ground and put a spade through their necks. Even then they kept twitching for a while. If you can't face any of this, call someone else in to do it, but on no account just keep feeding the mice you've got, in the hope that they will be so grateful they'll stay out of the house. They won't. They'll establish a colony and when they swarm in their dozens they are the very devil to eradicate. An ounce of courage now will save you a ton of hassle later. Good luck, I don't envy you at all!

[Arnie]

Hi Chantal,
Get a CAT

Kevin

[Chantal]

Kevin I HAVE a cat, but she's taken retirement and flat out refuses to even go and look.

[Chantal]

A massive clear out of the outhouse has taken place, there is nothing in there now, including a mouse. We didn't find it, although there were several pantries, but it's definitely not there and nowhere else to hide. I put a piece of cheese out last night as a test and it's not been touched, so I am at least hopeful. I know you're all saying they're like homing pigeons but there really is no way in other than through the (closed) door.

I know I'm being soppy and optimistic but I'm hoping that the mouse has moved in a bag of wood (with some spare cheese and chocolate) to the bottom of my garden which backs onto a nature reserve. At least that way he'll have a roof over his head and some food until he settles in.

The pragmatic and pessimistic side of me is suggesting I'll be on here tomorrow announcing that he's back!

Thanks for all your help and suggestions

Chantal

[The Grock in the Frock]

chantel now you've been given ideas on how to get rid of a mouse humainly,,,,any ideas on husbands

[Chantal]

Grock, I'll have a think and get back to you.

[Chantal]

Forty eight hours on, no mouse, cheese still there and I'm increasingly hopeful.

Still no ideas though Grock, what's he done to upset you anyway?