HELP! A mouse electrocuted me

[OctogenarianDecathlete]

Well, technically the dishwasher electrocuted me but only because a mouse has chewed through the cable.

I need all tips on how to get rid of it.

Not just any mouse, we have an Ultra Mouse.

We have a young cat. He went through a phase of bringing live mice in.

We bought humane traps and caught and released several.

Except one.

This 🤬 mouse will not be caught or killed. We've tried all kinds of traps, bait and poison.

We're in a 14 year old shoddily built house with holes in the walls that allow the mouse to move between kitchen, bathroom and garage. It's been getting into the kitchen cupboards from behind. It abseils down onto the worktop (we sprinkle bicarbonate and have footprints in the mornings).

We were trying to use humane traps initially but the 🤬 has had enough chances and needs to just go.

Please give me all your tips on traps, bait and poisons.

I'm this close to burning the house down (or at least, the mouse might manage it itself).

I need to find someone with a terrier

Local pest control company were useless. £90+VAT to come out and establish that it's in the walls and then more for a surveyor to come and tell us that it's in the walls but they will need access into the walls but they can't make holes to access the walls.

Which sounds like a lot of money to not do very much.

Their email didn't make much sense. Maybe I'll ring and see what they can actually do for £100+?

Oh, £108 was for them to come and collect a dead mouse!

It'll be £350 for them to come and put bait down.

Peanut butter didn't work for us either but Nutella did the trick 4 times in one week. Not another fucker since

There's no way the mouse can't get out if your house has holes, even the most well built houses have gaps, it just doesn't want to

And you need to release any ones you have humanely caught over 2 miles away or they just come back in, there has been studies done.
All food items sealed so no access to food other than what's in the traps, you will catch them

Cake is good in traps too

Oh, we have to have cake so there's some for the traps? Shame!

We don't have a problem with them coming back, they have all been brought in against their will by an incompetent juvenile cat.

How do you know? Have you marked the ones you have released in some way? They did in a study and they def returned (over-invested in mouse-release information )

Can you tell I've had a significant mouse problem in my house?

When I was at uni I had a mouse in my room, I caught it with a plastic pint glass full of (cold) hot chocolate, with books stacked up around it to make a ladder and so it looked like it was a flat level (and not a pit of liquid doom). Might be worth a try?

There is some evidence that humane traps are not as humane as we think...by releasing a mouse miles from home, you are putting it in a strange location where it doesn't know where to find food or shelter, and if the area is suitable for mice then it will probably already have mice living there. Mice are territorial, so your humanely released mouse is unlikely to be welcomed. A humane trap allows you to avoid killing the mouse yourself, but the mouse will probably be dead within a day or two anyway.

On the other hand, it may become food for an owl or a fox.

😂
Ok, here's my thinking:

We've been here 14 years (new build).
We've never had a mouse problem before.
Until we got a new cat (old cat was not a hunter).
New cat spent a couple of months bringing us pretty leaves he found outside.
Still no mouse problem.
Then he started bringing in live mice - first he dropped them under the shoe cabinet. Easy to catch and release.
Then he started bringing them into the kitchen.
Most helpfully walked straight into the traps and were released.
The mice never wanted to be here: it smells like cat!
We have just this one mouse that refuses to be caught.
Other mice have since come in and also been trapped and released (though the cat is restricted to the one room with the cat flap now where (as far as I know) there are no holes to get into the walls.

So I'm fairly sure they're not just wandering in for fun.

I think we have a house mouse that would be able to hop out of a pint glass.

Might try a bucket again though.

Food for an owl or fox is fine by me. Circle of life.

I've no idea where the cat found the mice but I've released them as far away from a road as they can get in a relatively habitat diverse area.

But if "humane" traps aren't even humane that makes the terrible traps relatively less bad, right?!

When we were in Thailand we had a mouse invasion. The local monks helpfully turned up one evening with a very loud box and unceremoniously launched several bewildered cats into the house. There were cats climbing the walls, cats in saucepans, cats everywhere.

In fairness it did solve the problem. No self-respecting mouse would come within a mile of the house of a thousand meows.

Do you have any friendly monks around your way?

I'd honestly do whatever it takes. We also had a dishwasher ruined by them.

If glue traps work I'll try them next time! Illegal or not.....

Glue traps haven't been deployed yet, but I've been filling gaps with wire wool and am about to no-more-nails some old floor boards to some bigger holes/gaps at the back of cupboards etc.

If nothing else it'll make the mouse's life a bit more difficult.

Got some braided wire cable covers coming to protect the appliance cables in the kitchen.

Right, so we couldn't access one of the holes in the actual wall because it's behind kitchen units.

So instead I've blocked access from behind the cupboard near the hole instead. So it can go behind the kitchen sink cupboard but shouldn't now be able to get behind the dishwasher or washing machine, and shouldn't be able to get into the cupboard itself.

The patches aren't pretty, but hopefully they'll do the job.

I did manage to block the massive hole in the wall where it was getting onto the kitchen worktop.

So as far as we know it's now unable to get into the kitchen.

So the next job will be to relocate the traps to the garage and under the bath. Hopefully being out of the kitchen it'll be more likely to go for the bait in the traps.

The glue traps are still in their packet.

Lock said cat in the garage with it overnight and hope he kills it this time? We used to have a cat that brought home presents, keeping him in the next night usually left said treat dead the following morning.

I need this cat flap! I'm moving soon and my new house doesn't have a cat flap in the door. Not actually sure if I can have one fitted as it's glass though.

Whatever you do PLEASE do not use those glue traps - as annoying as this mouse is, it is just a mouse and does not have a personal vendetta against you. It does not deserve being subjected to breaking its own bones and ripping its skin off in its attempts to free itself.

Glue traps are the most inhumane things ever and are actually now ILLEGAL for use without a license. It's a shame you were able to order one.

I hope other endeavours are able to remove the mouse for you.

I think you can. There was one on the Facebook group with it in a glass door. Does need a power source though.