MOUSE IN THE HOUSE

Depends on where they live but there are lots of green spaces in London.

Where exactly does a Londoner appropriately release a mouse?

There it is. I knew someone would pull this engaging and mature response out. So obvious.

At no point did I say that the OP shouldn’t remove the mice, I said it should be done humanely and that the previous posters suggestion that they’re ‘vermin’ and therefore should die is sad.

Can we all come and release the mice in your kitchen then?

I live in SW London in a terrace. We had mice for nearly two years and must have caught nearly 20 in that time. They would stop for a bit then come back. One brought a chicken tikka sausage over from one of our neighbours! Either side of us are council owned properties and they came out on four different occasions. Since then no more mice thank goodness!

We did do all the wire wool, foam blocking gaps etc and I think that did help.

Get pest control. There will be more than
one.

Ex FIL used to use humane traps and release in his driveway. He was quite slow moving himself, so we used to imagine the mouse was back in the house before he was.

‘It’s only one plastic bottle’
said a million people.

Yes I’m sure the one mouse I’ve killed is going to make a massive difference

Their numbers don’t need to be kept in control by humans. They need to be available for owls and other birds of prey and various mammals that are struggling to eat. When humans start interfering that’s where things go wrong.

Yes house mice populations are good, but tell that to a barn owl in the winter who just wants to eat.l to stop it from starving which is quite likely due to a lack of food availability.

Mice breed like crazy. Their numbers need kept under control. Plus on a shallow level am I hell driving miles with the fuckers in my car to get rid!

Sorry - there's pretty much never just one.

You need the snappy snap kill traps. Do as others have said. Keep a special pair of rubber gloves as the 'mouse gloves', and keep checking the traps. Keep setting them for a week or two after you think you've caught the last one, in case of babies.

I had an infestation a few years ago, when neighbours were having work done. I caught 14 in the end. I became rather blase about it in the end.

Peppermint oil made into a spray - it's a good deterrent!

But once they're in, you have to catch them somehow. They live with you now!

We used to have cats bring them in and let them go so they could hide under the kitchen cupboards. Sometimes I was able to catch it in a pint glass and take it down the garden, sometimes the cats would get them first. It seemed a bit mean to set traps seeing as they never came in of their own accord so far as I could tell! We never had an infestation so you could definitely have just the one.

Get some humane traps OP.

We had this a few years ago, thought it was one mouse but ended up catching nearly 40 in humane traps. We had several traps and they were filling up every 10 minutes or so! Every time we heard a trap trip, we would take it and release the mouse in nearby woods, howeved, apparently you need to release them several miles away, so perhaps it was the same few mice coming back to us!!

Good luck, OP

It can be but often is multiples as they do breed very efficiently. My mum had one mouse randomly living in her car. I put a humane trap in, caught it and she never had the problem in her car again so you may be lucky.

I currently have a mouse and two cats. Cats are seemingly completely unbothered by its presence in the house so I’ve ordered humane traps as hate the idea of killing it.

My bleddy cats are the ones that bring them in! Can’t put any more bells on their collars or they’ll sound like wind chimes. Poor mice must be deaf!

They’re not judging on house price 😂they judging on size because a one bedroom flat is easier to deal with than a four bedroom house.

Huntsman Pest Control were good in London. They did an emergency call out for us. Came out for us, filled holes, laid traps and haven’t had an issue in a year.

It’s hard to know to be honest. Sometimes there are many, sometimes it can just be one who is scouting around to see what food is available.

Get some snap traps ASAP. We had a massive rat in the house recently after ripping up some decking. Caught it within an hour. It was just one. Don't give it time to multiply.

Call the council they will send someone round. They will come back a number of times if not gone for one price.

We found we had them on Christmas Day. My husband thought I'd munched the carrot wed left for Rudolf! I found it so funny! He did not. Especially as we had all the family coming round in a few hours!

And it doesn't mean your house is dirty. I had the same question. But part of our house is old and the back is new. So it came in gaps at the front.

Your last sentence is so sad. We’re in a major biodiversity crisis in this country. We’re sleepwalking into a massive disaster. Britain’s massively depleted when it comes to nature. Yet everyone is so happy to kill away just because something doesn’t fit their aesthetically pleasing mindset.

There are human ways of trapping and releasing mice. It might take some effort but it’s possible. The incessant needs to kill everything that crosses your path is awful.
And one day people will wonder why the survival of the human race is doomed and not be able to equate it to their own selfish actions. I say that as someone who has small children and has had pests before.