to evict unwelcome lodger forthwith?

[MouseLandlady]

Apparently I'm the unwitting landlady of Cheeky Fucker Mr Mouse who, it appears, has been pooping and widdling all around my cupboards while merrily helping himself to my rice, pasta, oats, and I suspect, swigging the white wine vinegar.

Do I set a regular trap or do I have to set a humane trap?

mice are incontinent....so if you are happy eating things marinated in mice wee then fine....otherwise bin

cats arent necessarily a solution.....mine used to bring them in and they would escape and live in the house. i had more mice when i had a cat than without one

make sure any gaps are plugged up, either with concrete or they dont like foil apparently. eg where pipes come in under the sink; pipes coming in from a garage (this is where they got in at our house)

I did bin it all in the end not envy!

Bin everything it's touched.
And I tend to agree that it might not be the only culprit.
Put everything in plastic containers.
And, if you don't have small children or loose pets, put rat poison down as well. Most commercial ones contain a desiccant that prevents the corpses from rotting, although you may still get a bit of a niff.

I used to find mice quite sweet and I was loath to do anything about them until the destruction and smell got bad. Then they all got poisoned.

Rats all get poisoned too, in the house - currently got a garden rat problem but also guineapigs and I'm paranoid about poison being transferred to the piggies.

You don't have a mouse my love, you have mice. It will have friends.

☹️

What you need is a terrier! (And I just so happen to have one here that I'd willingly part with if she doesn't stop barking at every bloody passing car/person/bird/invisible being).

Terriers are better than cats. They don't play with them or bring them in (unless they are already dead, when they bury the corpses in the sofa cushions and you don't find out for days...)

Want a terrier?

He might be a young one, just starting out on his life!

I have had 'a' mouse. It basically lived outside and popped in for a snack and some bedding occasionally. It moved on when I cleared out all its favourite spots.

I suspect that the reason its legs look so big is that it's a baby mouse. They tend to grow into their legs. So you will have mummy and daddy mouse and all its brothers and sisters roaming about in your cupboards. The other bit of bad news is that you have undoubtedly caught the most stupid one of the lot.

Rentokil Advanced traps are the only way forward.
Bait them with peanut butter and put them next to a wall.

I had pet mice and that mouse looks like his Mother was having it away with a Chicken,look at those back legs!.....

Imagine having Mice the size of Chickens there's nothing for it OP you'll have to burn your house down!!

OP are you in the countryside? Or nearish?

It has big ears and large back legs and is quite diddly. Its possible its a field mouse who has suffered a housing issue due to harvesting.

We have a lot of experience in this however that being said they usually hang around the floor level and don't really try and make as many nests as they tend to go "oh fuck I'm not in a field any more toto" whereas you have a pooping, running,weeing mouse in the cupboard.

Incidentally humane traps are a tricky one, you have to let them out about half a mile away and not within half a mile of another residence.

Don't buy bait, they peel the outside off (where the poison is) and eat the centre so you are effectively feeding them.

Good luck!

i think with the long back legs he might be a wood mouse

How far away did you evict the little fucker?

If it was at the bottom of the garden, then he's probably back (to be with his family and friends) already.

*Zaphodsotherhead

What you need is a terrier! (And I just so happen to have one here that I'd willingly part with if she doesn't stop barking at every bloody passing car/person/bird/invisible being).

Terriers are better than cats. They don't play with them or bring them in (unless they are already dead, when they bury the corpses in the sofa cushions and you don't find out for days...)

Want a terrier?*

Absolutely! Terriers are far better rodent catchers than cats imo. They kill them instantly rather than playing with them. Though are often quite reluctant to give their 'prize' up.
And no, Beerdog, my socks are not a mouse so stop savaging them!

I'd agree that where there's one there's generally quite a few more, keep the trap down and try and find the entry point and block it up. This time of year they're trying to find somewhere warm, dry and with a food supply for the winter.

I'm not convinced by humane traps. I suspect that taking a mouse to an unfamiliar environment is probably just a more long-winded way of killing it, and if you don't take it to an unfamiliar place it doesn't work! I know it's horrible (we had squirrels in the attic and I felt awful when I called the exterminator) but I think if you want them gone you need to use the most efficient (so that it's as kind a death as possible) traps that kill.

We had a couple of mice. We tried the humane traps. After a bit they got wise to them. We had to resort to the head chopping non-humane ones. Sorry. At least they don't suffer. :(

We phoned the council and they made several trips to put down poison for them. Felt mean, but I got over it.

We have mice. They were living in our sofa, but now I don't know where they are - we ripped the bottom off the sofa and they scarpered, but I still hear them scurrying and scratching about. And there is poo. Lots of poo.

We did the humane trap thing, but the damned things didn't touch it. We were advised to use peanut butter, chocolate and muesli as bait. Well, my kids ate the chocolate, so that didn't work.

Sadly we have now put poison down and I haven't heard anything for a few days.

The RSPCA recommend using kill traps as releasing them is normally a death sentace. www.rspca.org.uk/ImageLocator/LocateAsset?asset=document&assetId=1232740729000&mode=prd

To those of you saying terriers are the way to go, someone really needs to tell my two. I have a terrier and a terrier/spaniel cross. Both stood and watched a mouse run across the kitchen floor. They did a sort of "Naw, I didn't see anything. Don't know what you're talking about" act, before wandering over to one of the kids to beg for some food.

And I wouldn't mind, but the terrier goes into full hunter mode if there's a fly in the room. And she manages to catch the flies so not a lack of ability.

OK. If when his friends come by, I'll be tougher.

Yes, we do live in the country.

I walked half a mile to the far side of some woods next to a field and let him go there. I did wonder how he'd manage. Oh God, I feel awful now.

Don't feel bad - you can't just live with mice, it's a health hazard (and they may start to chew through wires, etc. so there are other dangers ) and it's not your fault that all the options for dealing with them are pretty awful. Please don't use the glue traps, but other than that there's pros and cons of everything.

Is that a baby rat?