Eek! A mouse!

Ok...so I shoulda learned my lesson....a guy that used to cut my grass told me he saw mice in my flower bed in the front of the house. I used to put those little poison cubes out there and it's always worked. Sure, I feel guilty but I don't know what else to do. Well, it's that time of year and I forgot to put out the cubes.

Wouldn't ya' know it? I was sitting on the sofa and my 2 cats were peering intently underneath it. I thought about it for a second and jumped out of my seat. I saw that little critter under the sofa too. I put the cats in the bathroom and opened up 2 doors and tried to literally sweep this thing out. Of course, I'm scared of the tiny thing so I was jumping from chair to chair to table...kind of like Spiderman. Anyway, it's been hours and I have no idea where it's at and the cats can't find it either. I've been to the hardware stores to get some more supplies. Here's where I need some real life advice?

Anyone try Mouse Magic? It's a little pouch of peppermint oil and spearmint oil and you put one in each room. It's supposed to repel mice. But it's weird...they say it's ok for pets. Sure enough, my cats don't mind it and it smells pretty good to me...Why would a mouse object to it? Oh well, I'll try anything...

The last time I had a mouse problem I bought a battery operated trap that electrocutes them the second they hit the bait.

My old snap traps I'd find empty of bait and unsnapped...irritating. 

I don't use decon (poison) because the critter usually dies in the walls and smells to high heaven, and I don't want to risk my pets getting hold of a poisoned animal.

Original Post by bagga:

The last time I had a mouse problem I bought a battery operated trap that electrocutes them the second they hit the bait.

My old snap traps I'd find empty of bait and unsnapped...irritating. 

I don't use decon (poison) because the critter usually dies in the walls and smells to high heaven, and I don't want to risk my pets getting hold of a poisoned animal.

 I use those as well Bagga. I hate the idea of a snap trap (long suffocating death if it doesn't work right), and poison just seems cruel (how long does it take for them to die, and is it painful?).

I would much rather just electrocute them, have it done with, and not have to touch/see the dead rat afterwards either.

A better mouse trap, someone actually invented it!

go figure

You should have just closed off that room and let the cats get it. Cats are the best mouse traps ever invented.

I used to have a cat that had extra toes. She was quite the hunter. Every fall we got mice for a few weeks because there was an empty lot behind us. Kelley was so proud of herself. She caught them all and displayed them for us on the bathroom mat. We'd always tell her she was a good girl and thank her profusely and then flush it down the toilet.

Flushing a mouse down the toilet might not be so good for your sewer system.

Most mice are smaller than most turds. The trash can is an alternative.

Awwww, poor little mouse

I wouldn't flush it though. Put it in a trash can!

I have that cd. Of course, once I read your thread I saw that you were actually talking about a mouse.

I agree not to flush it, bag it and trash it.

I wouldn't have the heart to kill any rodent. I like them too much. V_V; I'd just pick it up by the tail and keep putting it back outside... <_< that or it becomes my new pet. *points at the spare old dwarf hamster cages and fish tanks*

Original Post by cptbunny:

I wouldn't have the heart to kill any rodent. I like them too much. V_V; I'd just pick it up by the tail and keep putting it back outside... <_< that or it becomes my new pet. *points at the spare old dwarf hamster cages and fish tanks*

I feel the same way as you, but...picking up a wild mouse by the tail is a good way to get bit (they can curl up on themselves) and who knows if it could have a disease, not to mention you'd never be fast enough to pick it up that way either :D

Also...back when I rescued a mouse from an escalator I took it home to give it a warm/quiet place to recover (instead of putting it outside on the cement with buses everywhere). I researched online about keeping wild mice and they apparently are hard to keep because the die of stress (this one did not live through the night).

btw there are humane traps, I saw them in the store a long time ago. It's like a small box that the rodent goes in, and it snaps shut, so they're stuck inside. I hate hate hate those other snap traps, my dad used them...one time I heard the snap and a squeek, turns out only the mouse's tail got caught in it. And poison...well I think that's cruel (depending on the type of poison they either die from internal bleeding, have their orgains calcify or their stomach acid react to form a toxic gas...not to mention it takes days to weeks for it to kill them).

From wiki:

Newer rodenticides have been developed to work by reducing the sperm count in males to deprive them of the ability to procreate rather than to kill rodents outright. They are usually administered in the breeding seasons of most rodents.

That sounds like a good one :)

Original Post by vicereine:

Original Post by cptbunny:

I wouldn't have the heart to kill any rodent. I like them too much. V_V; I'd just pick it up by the tail and keep putting it back outside... <_< that or it becomes my new pet. *points at the spare old dwarf hamster cages and fish tanks*

I feel the same way as you, but...picking up a wild mouse by the tail is a good way to get bit (they can curl up on themselves) and who knows if it could have a disease, not to mention you'd never be fast enough to pick it up that way either :D

Also...back when I rescued a mouse from an escalator I took it home to give it a warm/quiet place to recover (instead of putting it outside on the cement with buses everywhere). I researched online about keeping wild mice and they apparently are hard to keep because the die of stress (this one did not live through the night).

I used to pick up mice all the time when my cat used to catch them and torment them for fun (sometimes she didn't even kill them >_<). They just dangle there scared poopless. Though I know they can curl up and bite, I just never had it happen. I guess I live on the edge, hehe. 8) I haven't seen a mouse in a long time though.

I've had some wild animals as pets when I was younger. I had a frog my cat caught for almost 7 months before I decided to let it go. Wasn't really a decision, my mom didn't want to buy crickets anymore. :P I've also had mice and birds over night cause of my cat, but I don't really intend on keeping them as permanent pets, as tempting as it is. Mice are so cute though... *-*

We had a humane trap set up for a opossum friend who kept going under our shed and upsetting our dogs. So we put one near the shed, with peanut butter in it on a paper plate. Next morning we found it inside, the plate, where the peanut butter was licked almost all the way through! :O We drove off with it and let it go in the woods, it hissed at me... but I think it was really thanking me secretly. ;)

That chemical castration stuff sounds great. :o Mice don't live for very long in the wild. :(

Snakes are excellent mouse hunters.

(And so are most cats.)

Mice are cute, too bad they leave droppings everywhere and eat my rats' food.

Fortunately I haven't seen any since an extremely messy roommate moved out, but if I ever do again I'm going to try that peppermint/spearamint oil trick. That way I don't have to hurt them.

Hey.  Mint oils??  I grow various mints and mint is a sure fire attractant to cats.  Also good for the digestion.  I don't understand what it would do to another mammal, like a rodent.

Thanks for your input, everyone. I haven't spotted the little critter since yesterday. My 2 cats have looked everywhere and can't find it either. I'm hoping he went back outside but I really can't be sure.

I got a couple more traps...the kind where they go in and the door shuts. So far, I haven't got him yet. I'll set him free if I get him. He really was very cute.

Update on the spearmint/peppermint oil sachets. Don't know if they're effective but my house smells so yummy. I have 4 in my 1,000 SF house. They're supposed to last for 30 days. I just might try making my own cause they were like $6 for 4 sachets.

You can plant peppermint or spearmint around your garage or shed. It is extremely hardy and multiplies fast. It doesn't care if you water it or not and it is not choosy about soil conditions. It's wonderful to keep around. When the garbage can is smelly in the summer, go pick some fresh leaves and crush them in the can.

Original Post by moonikins:

You can plant peppermint or spearmint around your garage or shed. It is extremely hardy and multiplies fast. It doesn't care if you water it or not and it is not choosy about soil conditions. It's wonderful to keep around. When the garbage can is smelly in the summer, go pick some fresh leaves and crush them in the can.

<3 this idea...I'm plant challenged (rosemary is the only successful herb I've grown).

If you can grow rosemary, you can grow any kind of mint. It's almost impossible to kill mint. It flowers and spreads seeds, but it also spreads horizontally via the roots. Don't plant it somewhere that you want it contained neatly. Along fences, garages, sheds is fabulous.

It's kind of pretty plant as well. Varieties grown 12-36 inches. Leaves are slightly fuzzy. It will flower later in summer. Little white flowers tufts on top of plant.

If your hands are stinky from say bleach or something, you just go out to your yard, grab a couple of leaves and crush and rub and no more stinky hands.

It's really more that my rosemary bush has not died from my neglect...I kill about an aloe vera a year due to underwatering. 

ACK! My cat used to catch them and when she let it go I'd trap them under a pot and slide something under it then walk them outside.  The first time it happened though I went hysterical and called EVERYONE to come and take care of it for me