Trade you, we are fighting bats this summer for some unknown reason. The mice the traps take care of.

Bats are great for killing mosquitoes. Maybe you could build them their own house OUTSIDE of your house?

This winter my car started smelling bad, especially when the heater or defrost was on. In subsequent days I discovered, um, evidence, on the passenger side floor. I set up a snap trap on the floor of the car and every morning for two weeks, I'd find the trap sprung but empty or still set, but with the bait gone. Eventually the trap did work but even several months later, there is still more than a hint of odor lingering in the car.

A friend in Minnesota had a barn cat that was a prolific mouser. It would capture and kill and eat the mice. Or rather eat most of each mouse, the cat would leave some dark green organ, that must have tasted bad, here and there around the barn office.

Sounds like the gall bladder. It's full of bile. I wouldn't eat it either! Smart cat.

We recently had a field mouse. We were able to capture and release it. Everyone told me that where there is one.....but so far that was the one and only.

Side story: the mouse was a really cute little guy. My youngest DD (who is 26) wanted to keep it. Lovely sentiment, as she felt it was cold outside. But no, my mouse days are over.

Side story: Before heading to college, my oldest came home with a white mouse from the pet shop. She was horrified to learn that these were feeder mice for the snakes etc. She "saved "one and brought him home. We came home to find a small cage on the counter with a sign that read "Welcome home Jacque Pierre."

I said, "What's going to happen in September?' She replied, "I can't take a mouse to college!" I guess I have a big s on my forehead that stands for sucker! DH and I went to the pet store and bought a luxury cage with connecting tubes, no less. I looked up the life expectancy of a white mouse and it is one to three years. He died three years later.

arcy- agree with rob. You should definitely build/purchase a bat house as bats are really your friends.

My husband calls that part of the mouse "the boiler room". The uneaten part. We've had a Chippie in the house, too. Holy Cow, what a mad chase that was! I think we've had everything but a possum or raccoon. (We've had deer and fawns, but they were pets.)

So getting ready to turn in last night around 11 or so. As I turn on light in BR, notice motion off to my left. The MOUSE scurries up curtains and sits on rod just walking back and forth, looking ar me! I course, CAT doesn't come on command. I SHOO the mouse down and it runs off and under cedar chest. As of this morning, no mouse in any of the SIX traps I've set around the house. As I said, cat has caught 2 (since getting her in 2008) and LUCKILY showed NO interest in dining on them. She isn't showing any particular interest in any particular area like yesterday... so far?!?

The RARE mouse in the house is usually a winter event. Have been told maybe cuz it has been so dry it came inside looking for water?? Unfortunately, seems like it's gonna be a continuing saga??

Awww mice are so cute! I hope they are the humane traps. Can't you put it outside?

I saved a mouse from my daughter's cats years ago. We put him outside but noticed he was a little crippled so I took him home, put him in a cage, and he lived upstairs in a bedroom for three years. He had parrot food , water and a cardboard tube to sleep in. His name was Stuey and he was a darling deer mouse.

"Humane" to the extent that I don't have to SEE anything gross! Could never do those glue things... just seems like torture. And no poison (D-Con)... after sister and her friend almost lost their dogs... and had to spend small fortune to save them.

But it kills them? Don't they have traps where you can release it outside?

As we were cleaning and packing up my father-in-law's house to get it ready to be sold, a sister-in-law picked up a large ceramic container from atop the microwave that had always been used to store wooden spoons, spatulas, whisks, and other kitchen implements. She removed the utensils from the container and asked "Do you know what these green pellets are in the bottom of this jar?"

Yep. Rat Poison.

My best guess is since in times of plenty mice will hide extra food, so that they can eat it later, that the utensil storage container must have seemed a perfect to hide the tasty green pellets. Either that or there was an especially smart mouse that wanted to rid his house of the darned human infestation.

Arcy - we have a company here that gets rid of bats in your house without killing them. Maybe you have something in your area. They check your house fully and when they find the area that they are getting in, they place a gadget of some type over the area. The gadget allows the bat to get out but it can't get back in the house. The bats are likely getting in your attic- that's where they would put the gadget. I've been told that they fly out at night to do their hunting and fly back in somewhere to sleep.

Mouse Tales continues! Hour or so ago, swiveled chair away from desk and ther... just sitting in middle of floor... was MOUSE!?! Not moving, just sitting there. I grabbed this gift bag that was sitting on a shelf and was easily able to shoo mouse in with the scrunched up tissue paper from inside the bag. Quick & easy?!? I closed u the bag and took it out to trash can. And yes, the thing will most likely be DEAD by the time trash gets picked up next Tuesday.

Chi... traps do KILL. WHY would I take live catch outside and just let it go? Could probably see it run back into house?!? Well, at least I would know how it got in??

Not all traps kill. I have a live trap that over the last 25 years has caught hundreds of mice. I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight knowing there was a mouse in my garbage can, starving to death/dehydrating when I could easily save his life.

Honestly I am kind of shocked you would throw it out to slowly starve to death. That seems unnecessarily cruel. You had it captured and could have easily released it but instead you're going to make it suffer.

You just said "Could never do those glue things... just seems like torture." But what you did is even more cruel because you were in the position to release it. It was already contained and you took it outside.

People who purposely torture animals are the worst. I am seriously so disgusted right now. Would you want someone to do that to your cat? What's the difference? All animals deserve compassion. Please go free it. Or at least if you absolutely must kill it, kill it quickly and humanely.

Klseiverd, Chi is right. Can you really leave it in the garbage to smother and starve to death? I can't do that. Why didn't you just let him loose outside?

Some of us may be too many generations removed from the practicalities of farm life -- or are suffering from a surfeit of Disney.

If being younger means that animals are treated better, I'm all for it. I think the world would be a lot better off with more compassion.

Pushing aside the nice (and perhaps Disney inspired) feel-good expressions for a moment, recognize Chi that rodents carry diseases and also host insects that do more of the same. It's not a particular rat's fault that humans have encroached on their living space, but it's not unreasonable to take measure to keep them away from human habitation. If that means trapping and killing, then too bad but that's how it is.

If you like rodents, buy one at a pet store. But if you had a small child in the house, or an occupation that involves serving or storing food, they're a menace that needs to be "controlled" by whatever means is effective. For restaurants, it's required by the various health codes.

(I'm very anti-poison for rodent control except where nothing else is possible because that needlessly endangers other animals)

The Disney comments are condescending and unnecessary. I recognize that mice are not animated creatures that sing and dance. I just think it's unnecessarily cruel to throw a mouse away in a trash can to let it slowly die.

But don't you think more quickly killed is better if you're going to get rid of all those pests and diseases? Or is it ok to hurt it because it carries those problems, which is also not its fault?

There are some who sincerely feel that killing anything is wrong so for those with that perspective, any death should be avoided. There are vegans/vegetarians who express sincere emotional feelings about killing animals for food. I believe and respect that perspective and they have a point. It's just not one that overrides my own preference to eat meat.

With vermin, the means of control and handling needs to be practical under the circumstances but surely it's not something anyone needs to dwell on or agonize about one way or the other. I can see that someone who doesn't want to handle the animal might be more comfortable tossing it trap and all into a can - that works for me. Next topic?

I hate to be a wet blanket about this entire discussion of life vs death of a little field mouse...but...with roots of a country gal who roamed the farm fields in her somewhat lonely youth...I can safely tell you that no mouse of any repute would remain in that bag long enough to die from suffocation. I'd venture that as soon as the bag stopped moving...he/she...gnawed a nice exit hole in it and enjoyed a garbage feast. Not to worry people. He/she is much more inventive than you give him/her credit for...and is probably on his/her way to new territory...minus cats.

I understand the reasons to not want mice, but 100% (more if it were possible) agree with it being disgusting to use "slow kill" methods. Those include throwing it in the trash in a container while alive, glue traps, etc. Has anyone ever seen a leg of something left on a glue trap, where the animal has chewed its leg off to get away?

Torture and cruelty is wrong no matter what the live thing is.

snidely, you were round about, but it boiled down to it was ok to put it in the trash to starve to death-because your level of killing something is far less sensitive (and some others) than someone who is against it in any way. Is that it?

Thought I'd summarize it outloud and give you a chance to say I'm wrong.

If you found my comment circuitous, I find your words to be the same. I'm not sure what you're saying.

Let me try to be direct. I think it's curious that one person's decision on how to handle a vermin problem can trigger virtual tears and emotional feelings among others. My view is that I don't want unwanted creatures around and I don't care what happens to them in their disposal but I'm a wuss and don't want to be involved. My wife gets called when I find a spider in the house (though I can use a vacuum cleaner for them) and my monthly pest control service gets called when I detect something is caught in a trap. Is that often? No, maybe once a year. I forbid the use of poison, lest any poisoned-dead animal become food for a bird or cat.

I don't care what happens to them

That's the disconnect, snidely. Some of us do care, even if they're vermin. Humane is the objective. If I kill a spider, it's quick. Slap, and it's gone instantly. I don't pull one leg off and then hand it to my cat to play with, for instance! Kill the mouse quick is a more than a reasonable response. No one wants her to adopt it as a pet. So when one lives alone and must be responsible for it, be responsible. And humane. That's supposed to be what sets humans apart.

Those musing about their cats and antics with mice may have never witnessed a cat tormenting a mouse to death, where the term "playing cat and mouse" comes from. It's just awful. Those with sincere humane feelings would ensure their cats are NEVER are allowed to come in contact with rodents, not ever.

Traps don't always lead to a swift death. Sometimes, the death can be agonizingly slow.

For the ridding of pests, there's no PC solution or one to satisfy the bleeding-ist of hearts. My comment was directed to people who suggested there were.

I agree that cats can be mean to their prey. I've rescued lizards that made it into my house before my cats could find them. I take them outside. Nature can be cruel, but humans don't have to be. That's the difference.

If they must be killed, the snap traps are probably a lot faster. There's an ick factor involved but I think it's selfish to put those feelings above an animal suffering.

Well stated chi! I see no reason to be cruel when we don't have.

We've all been exposed to a surfeit of Disney. Sentimentality was his stock in trade! It don't think it should carry over into warm feelings about VERMIN. This is a practical matter. The best way to eliminate a mouse is to kill it FAST, but you have to catch it first. Hence, the trap.

Now, how did the mouse get IN? There's an old saying: Don't blame the rat for eating your grain. Blame the hole you left in the granary wall.

I've written before about accusing our DS and his friends of feeding our dog too many Milk Bone biscuits. I was constantly buying another box, which I stored under the kitchen sink.

We decided to remodel the half bath that backed to the kitchen. On his first day on the job, the contractor broke open the mutual wall to get at the plumbing. Hundreds of Milk Bones poured out onto the floor. We saw that a mouse could squeeze through the hole for the plumbing that went into the kitchen cabinet.

There was no mouse to be seen. I suspect it had died of exhaustion, continually adding to its trove.

wait till you try and catch a frog! we have a small creek beside the house and my kitty would bring them in all the time...

I don't understand why the concept of killing any sentient creature as quickly and humanely as possible seems to be such a reach for some people. It is morally wrong to inflict pain and suffering if it can be avoided. Just because certain animals torment their prey, it does NOT mean humans should do the same. Erring on the side of compassion is never wrong, and neither is using a humane trap to catch a mouse and let it loose outside.

I am sorry. But I have mouse traps set all the time in my basement. The thoughts of them crawling all over my stuff freaks me out. I also have dcon in the garage as I sure don't want them chewing car wires. I figure they have 160 acres to hunt and roam in and they don't need to be in my house.

Yeah, right, let's be humane to those cute little mice.

Do you remember my post about coming home from Florida and finding mouse poop on my kitchen counters? If not, let me refresh your memory. After 3 long days of travel we get home and ffind droppings on my counters. I get out the Clorox wipes and start sanitizing them, while DH unloads the van. We had picked up milk, eggs and bread on the way in.

Next morning I make myself toast, I was hungry and needed to unpack before going back to the grocery. Decided to rewipe the counters. Looked at the toaster and opened the bottom up and shook it over the sink.....Ewwww!

I ate mouse poop toast! They had left their calling cards in my toaster!

So, I will get them with everything I can. Dcon in the crawl space, and when in Florida snap traps and sticky traps through the house!

Caught one of my grand dogs once with a sticky trap. Had to give her a cracker with peanut butter to make up for it.

Just call me Kathy Kevorkian

^^^ Kevorkian was all about alleviating suffering, not inflicting it.

Yep, I'm relieving my suffering.

^^You can do that without using glue traps. Snap traps work just fine and usually kill the mice quickly. Glue traps are just mean.

Snap traps are not so humane either. Had a trap that caught the mouses tail, and that mouse and trap slid under the basement door and gave DH a merry chase around the basement for a good hour. After that we tied string to the traps so they wouldn't disappear! We did lose one trap, years later when we moved out a sleeper couch (we had never used it as a sleeper), we found the metal pieces of the trap, no wood attched, and a pile of fur, inside the bed. That was a mystery solved that had us stumped!

I would prefer that Tom and Jerry stay outside, but if they come in...it's war!

CAN WE STOP THIS SILLY POST!?! I started it, can call it that, and now wanna end it. I DIDN'T torture the mouse but DAMN sure didn't want it in my house. Almost surprised I haven't been called a "bully" since I am sooooo much bigger than the poor defenseless mouse. Once it was OUT of my house, I didn't stand by trash can cackling with delight and listening for sounds of desperation. Once OUT of my house, about the LAST thing I would remote consider doing would be to get it out of trash and release it!?! I didn't put the mouse and my CAT in a box for a wire cage match. OOH, could made a video to post on YouTube!! It surely woulda gone viral and I would have been the center of attention!

On a more reasonable note (imnsho), there has been NO more mouse activity since my crime against nature. NO sightings. NO nervous prowling by cat. NO DEAD mice in the SIX traps still around my house.

klseiverd, I am sorry you feel that way. As this is a discussion forum, members will post their thoughts and opinions. Sometimes it seems people only want to hear from those who agree with them, which would make for a pretty boring forum.

Okay, klsieverd, why are you being such a bully?? And why no Youtube videos? Kidding, of course, but I didn't want you to be disappointed.

It's a dirty filthy rodent people....

I came home about an hour ago to the awful "dead mouse smell", permeating down the hallway towards the bedroom. ugh. It's no doubt in the wall..somewhere. :(

OK, petra... knock yourself out. Started out as an innocent post about being surprised/startled by a mouse and has devolved into???

Well, I guess we have a different definition of torture if you don't think you committed it. I'm sad that you didn't free the mouse, but I suppose we all have our own moral values and levels of compassion.

There are two separate issues here. One is whether they should be killed at all, and the other is whether they deserve a particularly cruel death for human convenience. It's possible to agree that mice should be killed but still think it should be done humanely.

Personally, I believe I will need to answer for my actions someday so I try to respect as many different life forms as I can, regardless of species. It may seem over the top to some but I couldn't imagine any other way. That doesn't mean no killing as I do recognize there are times when it is necessary, but it does include the most humane treatment possible within my abilities.

klseiverd

OK,
petra... knock yourself out. Started out as an innocent post about
being surprised/startled by a mouse and has devolved into??? ...

.. all of us posting varying opinions. :) After spending time on Hot Topics, this thread seems very friendly and courteous.