Mouse in the house?!

I was just sitting here eating my breakfast, and I heard a rustling coming from somewhere in the house.  It scared me to death because no one else is home right now, so I thought someone had gotten in.

I got up and heard it coming from the kitchen.  We have an open kitchen that I can see into from where I was sitting, so I knew no one was in there.  I went in there and the rustling continued, and I noticed that my mom had left a cupboard (one of the floor level ones) open.  The first thing that popped into my head was that maybe the stray cat that she had been feeding snuck in the front door while she had it open this morning.  I got down and looked in the cupboards (there's a strip of them that are connected) and didn't see the cat.  The rustling continued, so I poked a couple bags and boxes, slammed the cupboard, and then thought, oh my..what if it's a mouse?!

SO, as of now I have all of the cupboards closed up.  After I finished closing them I could almost swear I heard squeaking coming from there.  Like, mouse/rat squeaking.  But I could have just been hearing something (MAYBE) because I was totally freaked out.  If there is a mouse in there, it won't be able to get out unless I open one of the doors.  At least I THINK I've secured it good enough =P

I don't know what to do at all.  I don't want to call someone cause I'm not sure there's a mouse in there.  I don't know any of the neighbors around here or trust them enough to let them in my house cause we just moved here not long ago. 

What would you do?  I just know if I opened a cupboard and a mouse shot out I'd have a heart attack.  If I recovered from that, I wouldn't know how to catch it and get it out of the house.  Any suggestions?

Oh and I don't have the money to get a mouse trap right now, and would really prefer to not use one at all.  I don't like the thought of that =(

we tend to get a lot of mice in our house, they've burrowed through our fireplace and no matter how many times we block the thing up they find a new way through lol!!
no matter how tight you think you've got them, they're skeletons allow them to contort totally, so chances are it got out :(

The best way to catch a mouse is with chocolate. They're addicted to the stuff!!

I used to have mice, now I have cats.  But seriously how much does a mouse trap cost, $1.50? Buy one.

Well I mean I've completely shut the cupboards, and there aren't holes in there to allow it to go anywhere else.  There may be if I don't get it out soon though =\ haha

But I mean I can't even pull the cupboards open.  And if it moved them I'd hear.  So if it was ever in there, I'm pretty sure it still is!

What would you suggest I do with the chocolate?

and trhawley: I would really rather not use a mouse trap.  If I caught the thing with it I wouldn't be able to even look at the mouse trap.  Yeah maybe it's dumb but I think it's cruel and I'm very squeamish.  I pass out when I just see my blood getting drawn!

We thought we heard mice and ignored them for a day or two while we came to grips with the fact that we had MICE! ICKY! We were forced into action when the dishwasher drained water onto the floor. It seems the mice chewed a hole in the dain tube. Soooo.... dig through drawers, purses, pockets and get some change and buy the poison that comes in a little bag or box. Drop that in a couple of places. They eat it and go back to their nest when they feel sick. I haven't found their nests and I don't hear them or see them anymore. It was a pain to repair the dishwasher!

I had a mouse in my kitchen last year, I came inside in a box of Christmas decorations I had been storing in my detached garage. I also have a hard time with the idea of killing the mouse with poison or a trap. What I found, and it worked well was called a "Mice Cube". It cost less than a dollar at Wal-mart, and worked like a tiny hav-a-heart trap. It catches the mouse inside it, then you take it outside and let the little critter go. If you are squeamish like me- drop it on the ground, tip it on it's side, and both you and the mouse run in opposite directions. No poison, no mess, no dead body, and you never have to touch it. Just make sure you figure out how it got in to prevent a recurrence.

Good Luck!

You can just wait until your parents get home.  If the mouse is truely trapped in that cupboard, it will stay there.  More likely it got out through some little crack you have never noticed and is running around inside the walls.  They are a pain to get rid of, so brace yourself for some turmoil while the mouse hunt is on.

They won't be home til tomorrow night and I don't want it getting into all my food =\  That's where I keep my good food =(

I guess I'll get dressed and go to Walmart!  I wasn't gonna go out today but now I don't have much of a choice =\

Maybe it was a mouse and maybe it wasn't.  Look for any signs of droppings.  If you see those, beg, borrow or steal a trap.  I'm not afraid of them, but they are filthy and do a lot of damage.

OK I found TONS of droppings and it was disgusting!  I've spent the day rewashing every dish in the house just to be safe =P  I haven't finished but I'm takin a break!

I went to the store and picked up some of those Mouse Cubes and have 3 set in the kitchen.  Now I'm just sitting here with my fingers crossed!!

Oh and I saw it too...I was in the kitchen and I heard a little scratch and scurry sound and I turned around just in time to see it run along under the cupboards.  YUCK!

I still have more cupboards to clean out and I'm not looking forward to it.  I found droppings in the cupboard with all the pots and pans too *sigh*

Oh well, now I have a chance to finally rearrange the kitchen =) (This is me making the best of a bad and ANNOYING situation..haha)