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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want to kill the mouse!

31 replies

Chuckitinthefuckitbucket · 03/07/2015 20:15

Just realised we have a mouse/ mice. One ran over my foot in the kitchen after chewing through a washing machine pipe (water everywhere).
But I don't want to kill it, I have no choice do I?
Humane traps don't work/ mean they just starve wherever you release them and those sticky traps/poison are awful, so it will have to be the old fashioned snap ones :(
We are a middle terrace house, apparently this means the whole terrace probably has them? Since discovering one in the kitchen I'm 90% sure I can hear them in the attic! Does this mean we have to get some professional pest control in??

OP posts:
hiddenhome · 03/07/2015 20:17

Old fashioned snap one is quick. It's a necessary evil.

GreenAugustLion · 03/07/2015 20:21

Do you have cats?

We have to put traps down every so often because we notice mice droppings...but we've never 'has mice', it's the bloody cats that bring them in, drop them and let them run away.

Could that be your cause?

Original poster
Chuckitinthefuckitbucket · 03/07/2015 20:29

No, no cats unfortunately !

OP posts:
eddielizzard · 03/07/2015 20:39

the sticky ones are good. they don't hurt, they're just stuck. then fill bucket with water and put mouse and board in and drown it. i think that is more humane than trap that may / may not kill / maim. just check the boards regularly.

unfortunately after having caught many and carefully let them go, it's best to just despatch them quickly. there are loads more waiting to take their place..

and the last thing about the sticky boards is, when they get stuck they squeak (not particularly loudly, don't worry). but it tells all the other mice about to get the fuck out. then you have no more mice. otherwise you have to catch them all.

that is my experience.

SycamoreMum · 03/07/2015 20:40

Ugh!! I shudder for you. I trapped a tiny one (seemingly the only one because I haven't seen or heard any mouseyness in 7months) in the living room over night. I eventually found it in my daughters swing chair Shock grabbed some rubber gloves, picked it up by the tail and threw it over my roof terrace edge. Blehhhhhhh!

I contemplated traps but I had a mobile 8 month old and didn't want to risk it. B&q have an array of humane and instant killing traps though.

Mimigolightly · 03/07/2015 20:41

Borrow a cat from a friend/family - much more humane.

thecatneuterer · 03/07/2015 20:42

Drowning is humane! Fuck me what a ridiculous thing to say.

Humane traps do work. At least when you release them they have a fighting chance.

eddielizzard · 03/07/2015 20:45

yes, that was a rather daft thing to say... i forgot this is mumsnet.

well i think it's better than breaking a back that may not kill them.

the humane traps - well one mouse HID in one and calmly pranced off when i spotted it.

cats don't kill humanely. they play with them for hours given the chance.

Pipbin · 03/07/2015 20:47

Drowning is humane! Fuck me what a ridiculous thing to say.

I second that. At least with an old fashioned trap it's quick and over before the mouse knows it.

Pipbin · 03/07/2015 20:50

yes, that was a rather daft thing to say... i forgot this is mumsnet.

I'd like to think that trapping something by sticking its feet to the floor, leaving it stressed and then drowning it is not considered humane anywhere.

stillnotjustamummy · 03/07/2015 20:57

Don't do the sticky trap unless you can despatch mouse fast yourself. I once came home to a mouse limb on one of those and a three leg corpse in the other room. We have cats now.

eddielizzard · 03/07/2015 21:02

oh god i wish i hadn't posted now. i have seen the error of my ways and will never use a glue trap thingy again.

DressingGownFrown · 03/07/2015 21:02

My Mum won't kill them, her house is full of high pitch emitters, similar to cat ones but higher, and pots of peppermint oil. They are effective enough that she doesn't see them in the main house, only big cupboards / garage and then its only droppings. (Old country, semi-detatched). She does sometimes find outdoor ones that have broken into the chicken food but thats a different matter Grin

ghostspirit · 03/07/2015 21:04

i have had mice before i had them quite bad once i caught 5 in a week in the snap traps. i cant get in my loft so i threw bait in there. i get them now and then now. i have a snap trap under my stairs. i did put bait under there as well. i once heard a mouse screaming it took a while to die. so i just use snap traps now

eddielizzard · 03/07/2015 21:05

i feel a bit scarred by mice - they infested our house, made nests in my dc's soft toys, shat and weed everywhere. one even ran over my hand in the middle of the night. it was horrible. i couldn't sleep because i kept thinking i'd heard one in the room.

i would catch them in a cardboard box and let them go in a field. this went on for weeks.

out of desperation i tried the glue pads and caught one. there were no more after that.

bloodyteenagers · 03/07/2015 21:06

Don't do the humane traps.
Seriously don't do them.
All they do is pass the problem onto other people.
Your problem is probably because someone else did the humane thing. Caught it. Drove miles and dumped the fucker near you.
There is nothing nice about these vermin.
They breed constantly. Do you know how many one mouse produces a year? It's shocking.
They are incontinent and piss and shit everywhere. And they carry disease.

LadyDeadpool · 03/07/2015 21:06

"Trapped rodents and other animals suffer immeasurably during the days that it takes for them to die. Glue traps rip patches of skin, fur, and feathers off the animals’ bodies as they struggle to escape, and many animals even chew off their own legs trying to get free. Some animals get their faces stuck in the glue and suffocate, which can take hours."

Ammonia soaked cotton wool, filling in any small gaps and the removal of all food sources will get rid of them else more will just move in to take the place of the ones killed.

Mrsmorton · 03/07/2015 21:10

A trap with a raisin on or something sweet will dispatch it very quickly indeed. The only animals I've seen not killed by traps like that are rats and it's generally because two of them have stumbled on the trap at once. I grew up on a farm and remember my father saying "oh look, that rat has two tails" yes daddy, and two heads and eight legs etc.

You do needs kill them otherwise they can be quite destructive. In your shed outside? Fine, in your house? Not fine.

LaLaLaaaa · 03/07/2015 21:14

I can't believe someone would say drowning is humane!

OP like it or not the break back traps are most humane way of dispatching mice, but studies show some are more humane than others due to the strength of the spring varying. Get a couple that have good reviews and bait with chocolate. Meanwhile deal with how they're getting in and why they are there. Sweep up spilled food, secure food in plastic boxes and stop up any gaps to your house.

Glue traps are inhumane, the pest trade brought out a code of practice to regulate their use in trade but unfortunately the fuckers are still on sale to general public who have no idea that they have to dispatch the mouse once stuck and how to do that humanely. Don't use them! They catch non target species too and altogether cause suffering.

Remember once a vertebrate is under control of man it is protected under animal welfare act 2006 therefore you have responsibility to ensure the animals welfare once trapped. Drowning isn't humane and technically you could be prosecuted for doing it under AWA.

Break back traps are your best solution. Pest control will put down poison which is nasty way to die.

TheSoulCakeDuck · 03/07/2015 21:23

we had mice and bought one of those plug in things which sends a high pitched sound only rodents can hear around the electrical circuits and haven't seen a mouse since.

silverglitterpisser · 03/07/2015 21:23

Unfortunately there are no really humane ways to go, old fashioned traps r the best if they catch the neck but really awful if they don't. Drowning is horrible n poison nasty too.

I was told that if u r actually seeing mice then u r over-run? Pains me to say it but it might be a job for pest control, u can ask them for the most effective but humane methods, they r experts n should know.

Gabilan · 03/07/2015 21:25

I have two cats. True, they sometimes play with mice but on the whole they're amazing hunters. Before I got them my neighbours were trapping 4 or 5 mice a day. Now they don't trap any. I'm in a rural area though, cats aren't possible for everyone.

Personally I wouldn't use a sticky trap. If pushed I'd use one of the old fashioned ones but blocking up as many holes as possible and keeping food in rodent-proof containers can work well.

ThatBloodyWoman · 03/07/2015 21:26

The sticky traps are fucking wicked.

Humane traps,and make sure all food is put away.

Gabilan · 03/07/2015 21:29

"Drowning isn't humane and technically you could be prosecuted for doing it under AWA."

There was a case of a man being prosecuted for drowning squirrel a few years ago, that caused a bit of a fuss www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10705958

Purplepoodle · 03/07/2015 23:00

Screwfix mouse traps - kill instantly, no mess, release without touching.

Just come through other side of mice. Also block all holes in walls, skirting and floors with wire wool and filler. Stuff wire wool round radiator pipes. Took a month but we managed to get rid and we are mid terrace, break through was blocking all holes but we did t have them in the loft - my be worth getting pest control tell in as they may be nesting in loft.