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iCeskate's avatar

Best way to get rid of a mouse?

Asked by iCeskate (451points) May 3rd, 2008 from iPhone

I just found out we have a mouse and I screamed bloody murder!!! I want it gone!!!

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19 Answers

Amurph's avatar

Trap it in a shoe box, put the lid on, take it out side and walk for a while. the let it go. don’t be afraid – the mouse really can’t hurt you at all and mice are pretty clean creatures.

Good luck!

gailcalled's avatar

Havahart traps; put some peanut butter on a trisket; then put trisket on Havahart platform, pb side down (it acts as glue and the mouse needs to tug on it, thereby triggering the trap.

Then drive the culprit in his trap at least five miles away, and release. If you feel like putting a tiny daub of nail polish on one of his tiny nails, then you can check to see whether he returns.

delirium's avatar

Cats!
If you want to pick up the mouse without it biting you, they can be safely picked up by the base of their tails.

gailcalled's avatar

Del: you mean Milo will actually make a contribution to my household? Tit for tat, or kit for cat?

edmartin101's avatar

A clean way to get rid off that creature would be to use disposable glue paper http://www.kms-hygiene.com/images/thumb/Mouse%20Glue%20Traps.jpg This paper already comes with a fragrance rats like and are attracted to. Once you catch it, just dispose it on the trash bin.

delirium's avatar

Hahahaha, considering how frisky he sounds i’m fairly sure that he’s feeding himself on his own in this way already. ;]

Also, martin, glue traps are REALLY cruel. They are not okay.

edmartin101's avatar

@delirium Sorry, I thought that would be ok. Is it not more cruel to let your cat eat it though? just wondering

gailcalled's avatar

Del: That is why, I am sure, that I was at the Vet’s this AM. G*d only know what is running around my woods and fields. And there is more rabies now being seen. Foxes, fishers, etc.

delirium's avatar

@martin: Cats atleast kill the mice and don’t force the mouse to pull its own skin off and then starve to death.

@Gail: Haha, probably! Thank the universe for rabies shots, though. My cat Vincent takes on raccoons. We worry about him quite a bit, but he refuses to leave them alone.

iCeskate's avatar

I don’t have it caught or corners its just probaly roaming around the house….. Ugh I wont be sleeping tonight

TheHaight's avatar

iceskate, its probably terrified of you!

I think I remember seeing a question like this on here. I, too, said my cat is an excellent hunter and am completely against the glue traps.. So evil.

wildflower's avatar

I’m gonna add to what everyone else has said:
Cat – or cats…..defo the best way, assuming they’re not overfed and too lazy to hunt. Otherwise, ‘snap traps’, no poison, no glue, just quick and nasty to finish the buggers off.

Hellooo's avatar

I had the same problem. Don’t be afraid, sneak up behind it and unplug it as I did. Now I only use the keyboard!

wildflower's avatar

Nice one hellooo….personally I’m on a laptop, so trackpad all the way..

Randy's avatar

Cats are good at hunting the mice, but get ready to clean a mess. I know that is what happened every time my cat killed a mouse. The best way is glue traps or regular mouse traps with peanut butter on them. It seems cruel, but who wants to live with mice? Not me.

wildflower's avatar

That’s true – peanut butter really works! and it doesn’t try out, so even if it takes a couple of days for the mouse to go for it….it’s still good.

And yea, it’s true about the mess….cats like to leave remains to show their feat.

Schenectandy's avatar

I used the traditional spring-loaded traps, no bait (you want them to run over it, not slow down when they get to it, they’ll just steal the bait), just with the trigger against walls just outside of an opening where they would be running (like just at the edge of a refrigerator or near the hole they got through- if you can find it). I don’t think the spring-loaded traps are cruel (although their inventor, Hiram Maxim, also invented the machine gun, one sick puppy, huh!) because it’s so forceful, death has got to be nearly instantaneous.

Whatever way you choose, if you see a mouse, you probably have mice. Lay out a bunch of traps & replace them where they were successful until you stop catching mice.

A can of Great Stuff (sprayed foam insulation) is a good investment; scope out all the potential holes around sinks, cabinets, walls, basement perimeter, etc. and fill them in. I haven’t had mice since.

edmartin101's avatar

Once I rented a house and before I moved in I placed a visit to check the place, saw a couple of rats with droppings all over. I liked the house location and rent was cheap then. So I got a lot of (forgive me ladies) paper glue traps, in one night alone I caught 65 mice. I left more paper traps and went back the next night, I caught 35 mice….about the fifth time I only caught 2 mice. Then I moved in. I did the traps b/c I couldn’t find a good wild cat that will not play with the mice but actually catch and kill them.

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