Mouse catching advice
Discussion
A few nights ago I saw a small dark blob whizzing across the far side of the living room. At the time I thought I was going mad, but last night I saw it again, and I'm pretty sure the scurrying blob is in fact a mouse.
Has anyone got any advice for catching mice with a humane trap? This is upstairs in a small maisonette, so I have no intention of poisoning the mouse (I'm clinging to the naive assumption that it's just one...) and letting it rot away behind the sofa somewhere.
Peant butter or chocolate on a trap set near to the wall seems to be the consensus. Does anybody have anything to add - best time of day to catch them? Any other tips?
And, no, a 12 bore isn't an option.
Has anyone got any advice for catching mice with a humane trap? This is upstairs in a small maisonette, so I have no intention of poisoning the mouse (I'm clinging to the naive assumption that it's just one...) and letting it rot away behind the sofa somewhere.
Peant butter or chocolate on a trap set near to the wall seems to be the consensus. Does anybody have anything to add - best time of day to catch them? Any other tips?
And, no, a 12 bore isn't an option.
Cat. We have mice at work and we've been catching 3 or 4 every week or so for months. Never seems to really make a difference although they do change their routes every so often so we have to keep moving the traps about and they eat their ex mates if they come across a dead one in a trap. Crafty little buggers.
We use "big cheese" traps that look like the traditional Tom and Jerry style ones which kill them instantly. Tried the plastic nipper things and they were rubbish and you don't really want to deal with half dead mice every morning.
We use "big cheese" traps that look like the traditional Tom and Jerry style ones which kill them instantly. Tried the plastic nipper things and they were rubbish and you don't really want to deal with half dead mice every morning.
Nutella on a killer trap.
We tried humane, they weren't very good.
We got a few in the humane, loads in the killer traps.
Try the humane first, but prepare youself for getting the killer ones.
I quite like mice.
Cute fluffy luttle things.
But, they do cause damage.
I used a Judge Dredd option and warned them that they had 2 days to leave before I used deadly force.
I even put up signs.
I did see some leaving that night with their meagre possesions on tiny hand carts (stilen from smurfs no doubt), but the others had to be killed.
We tried humane, they weren't very good.
We got a few in the humane, loads in the killer traps.
Try the humane first, but prepare youself for getting the killer ones.
I quite like mice.
Cute fluffy luttle things.
But, they do cause damage.
I used a Judge Dredd option and warned them that they had 2 days to leave before I used deadly force.
I even put up signs.
I did see some leaving that night with their meagre possesions on tiny hand carts (stilen from smurfs no doubt), but the others had to be killed.
September this year was particularly bad in our house for mice.
We used humane traps, we caught the odd one, but re-homing them to a distant park was a bit of a pain. We then used spring traps and caught 1 or two a night, very effective, but I got a bit fed up with having to dispatch the ones caught by the leg found scrabbling about in the morning (I drowned them in a bucket, took seconds, less messy than rolling pin etc, but still a bit grim).
By far the best has been the poisoned bait boxes (we still have a couple of spring traps left around behind cupboards), so effective the mice often die in the box while munching on the bait. We haven't really had a problem since the first outbreak in Sept. We still check regularly though and the odd one is found.
We have found the odd mouse under furniture, our young kids have some ghoulish delight in discovering them so they do regular checking for us (edit to add before anyone says, the poison is kept well out of their reach)!
We used humane traps, we caught the odd one, but re-homing them to a distant park was a bit of a pain. We then used spring traps and caught 1 or two a night, very effective, but I got a bit fed up with having to dispatch the ones caught by the leg found scrabbling about in the morning (I drowned them in a bucket, took seconds, less messy than rolling pin etc, but still a bit grim).
By far the best has been the poisoned bait boxes (we still have a couple of spring traps left around behind cupboards), so effective the mice often die in the box while munching on the bait. We haven't really had a problem since the first outbreak in Sept. We still check regularly though and the odd one is found.
We have found the odd mouse under furniture, our young kids have some ghoulish delight in discovering them so they do regular checking for us (edit to add before anyone says, the poison is kept well out of their reach)!
Edited by prand on Friday 12th April 10:18
littleredrooster said:
From many years of personal experience, they're only useful for bringing them into the house in the first place!
Ours brings them in then befriends them.
Ours does this too. Every now and then we find some rodent guts but mostly they are in their live form. Once in the house I think I'm better at catching them than the darn cat!Ours brings them in then befriends them.
Our old big white cat Mr.Sax was a prolific mouser and would constantly bring in mice of all sizes in from the garden. One time I tried to get a squealing mouse out of his mouth, he dropped it and the mouse ran right up the inside of my jeans, almost as far as my crotch, as I danced about trying to get it out. 
Kat, our present cat I've never seen with a mouse in nearly six years.
Kat, our present cat I've never seen with a mouse in nearly six years.
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