And here's the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: mouse trap

I'm praying I never need this information, but will tuck it away.

As for making the link box come up in the originating post on a thread, once you hit the PREVIEW button, it will appear and give you a chance to insert the link and then PREVIEW again.

So that's where it is. Thanks graywings!

Thanks for the recommendation! We live in the woods and even with 5 cats, battle mice year round. One of our routine chores is to thoroughly examine our foundation for new holes. Ugh.

This may be a gross question, but can you reuse those traps? It looks like you would be able to. I'm thinking of trying them.

We purchased "The Big Cheese" traps. Caught 42 rats on our property with them. Yikes! Think I like the ones we purchased better than the ones linked.

Newbuyer, yes, you can reuse the traps.

Golddust, what does your trap look like? I saw a couple listed under that name.

I just bought "Tomcat Heavy Duty Mousetraps" at walmart -- they look a lot like the ones you linked, only they have more of a "teeth" look than the spikes. We're being invaded this year -- I am currently emptying out and cleaning everything in one of my cabinets because I spied some mouse poop in there this morning. We've been using the wood traps but for whatever reason, aren't catching the critters this year. Hoping I'll have better luck with the new designs -- they were definitely easier to set!!!

Have you all used glue boards? We get them under the kitchen sink, so I put a board there with bread pressed in the middle. It also catches spiders if you have any.

Please, please don't use glue traps. They are unbearably cruel. Better for the mouse to have a quick death, if he has to lose his life, than to suffer from starvation and dehydration until death mercifully arrives....

I have used the glue traps. I carefully picked up the corner away from the teeth and dunked the mouse head into water to drown him. With pets around, I didn't feel the snap ones were safe, and the bait attracted insects.

Do any of the humane traps work well? I'd have a very hard time killing a furry little creature just because it had wandered into my home. I know it may be a "necessary evil", but I am truly wondering about the humane traps as well. My parents have a problem with what is most likely an itty-bitty little guy in their garage, and they too are wondering how best to deal with him, in the most humane manner possible.

Sunny -we used one in our Calif. home once which caught the mouse whole, and then we took him off to the far corner of our property and released him. We never saw him in the house again. It was similar to the one in the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Smart Mouse Trap

"Please, please don't use glue traps. They are unbearably cruel. Better for the mouse to have a quick death, if he has to lose his life, than to suffer from starvation and dehydration until death mercifully arrives...."

They are a horrible idea, I agree.

In New Mexico we have to be especially careful because infected mice here can spread the sometimes fatal Hantavirus to humans through their saliva, urine and droppings. Deer mice especially can be carries of this terrible disease. For example, a mouse carrying hantavirus can easily spread the disease just by urinating in a dusty area. The urine quickly dries on the dust because of our low humidity. Later, someone sweeping up the dust can catch the disease simply by inhaling a bit of that dust. Mice and other small rodents here can also be carriers of Bubonic Plague, which is spread to pets and humans through the rodent's infected fleas.
Both are potentially fatal diseases that we always have to be aware of and very careful to prevent. As a result, I'm always looking for a better mousetrap. I can't bring myself to use a glue trap, though. For me, they're too cruel.
As for the Tomcat black plastic mousetraps, we're using them now but are not all that pleased with them. In many instances we've found that their snap is not strong enough to kill the mouse immediately, which is cruel IMO. The triggering mechanism is also not sensitive enough, allowing many mice to simply lick off the bait and walk away. To avoid needless-but-well-intentioned instructions, please let me say that with going on 30 years here, we do know how to effectively bait a mousetrap. We use a tiny bit of peanut butter tamped down into the center hole of the trap; never mounding it.

So please keep me posted as to how well this new trap works, because as our weather here gets cold, the mice problems escalate. I'd love to buy about a dozen good ones.
Lynn

Thanks so much, Bestyears! I had recently looked at that mousetrap on Amazon, but was a bit put off by the negative reviews. I'm glad to know that you had success using a similar trap. I think I'll order.

You're welcome Sunny -there's a funny story to go with our experience. I came in from the backyard to see a mouse scurrying quickly under our fridge. I yelled for my husband, who was still in the backyard, while keeping an eye on the fridge in case the mouse took off again. I sat right there in that same spot, eyes glued on the fridge, while my husband went to the store to get a humane trap. Finding nothing, he returned home with a glue trap(!) about 20 long minutes later. Of course I went nuts! So off he went to a different store, while I played sentry again -I swear he took an hour (probably on purpose LOL!). Anyway, he finally showed back up with the trap. Peace at last!

lynneinmexico, I found this link while procrastinating and wasting time here googling "humane mouse traps" -maybe this would work for you?

Here is a link that might be useful: Electronic mouse trap

"...than to suffer from starvation and dehydration until death mercifully arrives...."

I can't win for losing! lol. We never let a mouse just lay there and rot, we immediately put it into a ziplock and it suffocates within a minute or so. How exactly is that more cruel than breaking it's neck, which can leave a bloody mess?

Mice are disgusting creatures that carries a lot of deadly germs as Lynn pointed out. I would never let it go in another part of the yard. Do you all know how often they multiply?

If you've only seen one mouse in the house and think that's all, you're fooling yourself.

oakley -how do you know when the mouse gets attached to the glue board? Do you really check the traps constantly?

If you use the snap traps, we learned a trick that helped us at our old farm house. When you first set them out, bait them with peanut butter, but do NOT set them. The mice will learn to trust the traps while they lick the peanut butter off them for the first night or two. Then bait and set them. Your success rate will be greater this way.

I hated to have to kill the mice, but I hated it even more to have mouse droppings in the house, especially around where our infant/toddler son played. Horrible.

Ya, much as I hate mice in the house I can't stand the thought of them dying a slow, torturous death on those glue boards. I wouldn't be one who'd be around 100% of the time to closely monitor the board so I could immediately find the animal and bring it to a quick death once it found itself stuck on the board.

One problem I've had with traps is that they spring the trap and somehow drag it away. I wonder if these traps are effective enough or heavy enough that that wouldn't be a problem. It is that time of year when they are looking for a nice, warm, cozy place to come into. We live in the woods, have wood piles, etc. - it's practically a mouse resort. Just wish they'd stay outside and enjoy that stuff rather then thinking about coming inside. My three fat and happy cats are useless when it comes to mice - which I guess I prefer rather than having them proudly dragging one upstairs to show me.

SunnyCottage, what did you end up doing about the bird that was trapped in your chimney?

Graywings, there is a difference in not knowing how best to deal with an animal trapped in a chimney or a wall and purposely, willfully putting a mouse in a bag to die.

Hope you got the snideness out of your system though.

Our area is having a problem with Bofo toads. (Nasty, BIG toads that excrete a substance that can kill a large dog).

Veterinarians recommend that the live toad be put in a ziplock bag and then placed in a freezer to kill them. The cold makes them go into hibernation before they suffocate, or so they say....

We found one in the street in front of our house. Traffic fatality.

I would not try this with a mouse.

ML

maddielee,
you missed an important step.. the toads are anesthetized first.

Freezing toads to death is considered the most humane way. You can spread benzocaine ointment on it�s back (a small amount) and it will cause the toad to be unconscious in 20 minutes. Then, place in the freezer for 3 days and discard responsibly! The Florida Wildlife Extension at UF recommends this method.

Iguanas, another introduced non native species in FL will naturally mimic this when FL gets a freeze... they go unconscious and into hibernation... if it warms up quickly, they just snap out of it.. if the freeze lasts longer they will never awaken from this state.

I don't even like to think about this! I am scared to death of these toads...I have dogs.

anyway, this is different than suffocating a mouse... which, I agree, is terribly cruel... same as the glue traps... cruel.

E

ENMc...the instructions for getting rid of the toads that I saw are for the average homeowner. The Tampa Tribune article never mentioned anything about using benzocaine. Thanks for the info.

ML

Oops, I checked and have the Tom Cat Rat traps. Easy to set and bait. We had a friggen rat sanctuary here for way too long. If I am going to kill something, I don't want them to know what hit them.

Never had any blood, don't have to touch the rat. Ziplock into garbage and we are ready for the next one.

Poisons scare me. Not only is it a horrific death, if a dog or cat finds a dead poisoned rat, they pet can die. I hate killing things but I don't need a rat and snake sanctuary on my property either.

No glue for me.

Sunny Cottage, "not knowing how best to deal with an animal trapped in a chimney or a wall" doesn't cut it in the age of the internet, telephone, and other resources to find out how to either free or humanely kill a sentient being.

Call me whatever you want, but I can't reconcile what you are saying here with what you did at that time.

"We never let a mouse just lay there and rot, we immediately put it into a ziplock and it suffocates within a minute or so."

That's even worse.

In an effort to lighten the mood a little, here are my mouse catchers. Even my wobbly kitty on the left gets into the action even though he has absolutely no chance of ever catching a mouse! (He's wobbly from cerebellar hypoplasia.)

We have generally had good success with the wooden traps. The only time one did not work was because it was not a mouse but a packrat in the garage. He tripped the trap and then was dragging it back to his nest, along with drill bits, bulbs, etc. The bigger cheap trap took care of it. We do take care of any ones living in the garage because of the hantavirus concerns and because they also chew through wires in the car engines. We also try to keep the brush cleared near the house and we are trying to train the kids to clean up any spilled dog food or chicken feed but that is going rather slowly.

We tried the electronic mousetrap last fall. It worked really well, it has a monitor that flashes when it is full and so far the batteries seem to have lasted the whole season. I have 2 cats that never seemed to catch any mice. I thought the instant electrocution seemed the most humane for this problem.

Kimberly, your gang is lovely! Isn't it cute to watch them when they are "stalking" their prey? We occasionally have to rescue little geckos that manage to come indoors when the cats catch their scent. They wouldn't kill one to eat, but they would definitely play one to death.
;-)

I have two, their called cats. LOL That said, when I first moved in the new house I had one every day for at least 3 weeks. I used the little 'houses' in areas where they seemed to be getting in, and that took care of the problem.

My son who was living with me at the time would drive them to a vacant lot a few blocks away and release them. I could never use a trap~~I put the occasional bug I find in the house outside! ;o)

kimberly -that's a GREAT picture! Our poor kitties are very confused. When they catch something, they come running to the kitchen door with it, mewing in a very loud, distinctive, almost frantic way. (We know instantly that this is an "I got something, I got something!" meow). They are sooo proud of course, and generally happy to just let it go and then play with it. But DD is horrified! And so the kitties get a loud lecture, first name, middle name and last name shouted at them, and "Bad kitty!" tossed about. I can hardly bear to look at their little crestfallen faces!

Best years, this reminds me of something I will never forget as a child. We just got home from the grocery store and was unloading the car. Cat ran in the house when we opened the door and ran under the kitchen table. The noise was unmistakable. The cat had a live rattlesnake in its mouth.

My Mom was not fazed. She grabbed a rake, drug the big snake outside and cut off its head with a shovel before continuing her chore of putting groceries away. Yep. She is my direct familial connection to Daniel Boone. Lol.

golddust -that's a great story!

Golddust, I know someone who's related to DB also, but I don't think it's a direct line. 'Last name is Wilcox. Any relation?

Cat Shaming!

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OMG SunnyCottage, that is an awesome pic.

I had the best belly laugh. Thank you!!!!

Heehee! I love the glazed expression on the cat's face! I've seen mine with that "Duh!" look a few times! ;-)

So we all have to recognize that unlike the dogs who wear these signs, and are mortified, CATS DON'T CARE! LOL!

You are so right, bestyears! Just look at the defiance!

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ohmygosh, laughing my tush off!!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: What? I don't see anything....

OMG, those cat pics are priceless . . . I'll be chuckling the rest of the day! I wish we could get a cat but both my kids, and most of my siblings and their kids are allergic to cats.

What would this be called . . . Murphy's Law? The morning after I posted my response here, I walked into our laundry room closet to start a load of clothes and there in the always-present mousetrap was a dead mouse! It's been half a year since one got in there and, darn it, of course it had to happen right after DH had left for work! I could do no laundry until DH got home from work that evening at 7:30PM to get it out of there, because (sigh) there is no way I'm touching a dead mouse!
I was a real tomboy growing up and still have a lot of it left in me. As a room-parent, I thought nothing of hunting down and grabbing the class's wayward 3ft bull snake that periodically managed to escape it's big cage. I still routinely rescue large tarantulas and carry them to safety in my hands. In my mind, they're just gentle little misunderstood giants. So why is it that when I see a dead mouse, I totally flip out? Not a live one, mind you, that would be more logical, but those don't bother me at all. Only the dead ones bother me. I have a real dead-mouse phobia for some unknown reason. I don't ever recall even seeing a dead mouse until we moved out here to New Mexico. Apparently my childhood home never had any . . . at least that my parents told me about.

And it's not the death specifically, because seeing dead birds, animals, bugs or whatever doesn't bother me; I just feel sad for them. But seeing a dead mouse in a trap hits me hard. It's like something knocks the breath right out of me and I stand there gasping for air. It's only in the past couple of years that I've managed to not holler out loud~ once I catch my breath again~ when I see one.

What I need in a mousetrap is one that kills the mouse instantly (because I truly don't want it to suffer); that is some kind of longish, opaque box that holds the dead mouse inside the box where I can't see it and don't have to touch it; that has some sort of signal (like the red flag that goes up on a mailbox when you get mail) so that I know there's one to dispose of . . . and that allows me to simply touch a button to release the mouse into a (NOT! see thru) sack. Can someone please invent one like that? I'll take a dozen!
Lynn
PS: A funny now, but not funny then mouse story: years ago DH, the dead mouse disposer in our family, thought it would be much more sanitary to seal a dead mouse in a small ziploc bag and store it "out of sight" in our (attached )garage's upright freezer until trash day. Bad, bad, bad idea! I found it while searching for a package of ground beef later that day. Let me tell you that for someone with a dead mouse phobia, finding one in your freezer, and actually grabbing the bag to see what it was is even more (much, much more!) traumatic than seeing one in a trap! Luckily for me (NOT for him, though!), it was a weekend and he was home. My blood curdling scream and tirade that followed convinced him that our freezer was NOT a good place to store dead mice ever again! Funny now in the telling, but I still shudder when I think about touching that baggie!

When I saw it I immediately thought it may be what many of our cats and dogs are thinking sometimes.