There’s a mouse in my house

[Jencottage]

I’ve just spotted a little mouse in my kitchen scurry up the fireplace. It’s tiny, I have a dog & children that I don’t want to poison, I don’t want to kill it ! Can we live peacefully with my new rodent pet family in the chimney ? All food stored away, bins firmly in bin drawers. Pet food too so nothing open. Mice can’t open drawers ? We live in the countryside. Please tell me it’s not going to bring us the Black Plague and I don’t need to call in the exterminators ..

There’s ways to secure it humanely! You can buy humane traps for it where they see a little treat like peanut butter or small dog treat inside, they walk into it and a little door closes behind them. That way you can release it back into the wild.

If you’ve seen it on your fireplace, put the trap there and you should be able to catch it quickly! Good luck!

I think they can squeeze through tiny gaps though. We got an electronic deterrent, just plug it into a socket and it emits some kind of noise that makes them scamper off. Worked for us.

For every mouse you see there's dozens you don't. You need to set traps and kill them. I love animals, but you have to be realistic when it comes to vermin that can destroy your home and spread disease. You need to deal with reality.

In my experience you've probably got more than 1 mouse, and they're very good at getting into places that you think are secure.

You've got to deal with it as they leave droppings everywhere. In terms of disease you can become sick, but it's rare in the UK.

We didn't have much success with humane traps, so we ended up with snap traps and caught a lot of mice :-(

We have cats now and they do a good job of nipping it in the bud.

You never have one mouse you have 10. And anything you think it can’t get it, it will. Sorry!

You do not have a mouse. You have mice. It will have friends.

I would try a humane trap first, but better to try and relocate them than let them stay inside. Think they can chew electric cables which could obviously be dangerous and expensive.

Put the trap where you find droppings. We baited ours with peanut butter which was pretty successful. You need to remove any mice in the morning and put more bait down. Eventually you won't have any mice until they decide to come back.

I never had a mouse problem until my next door neighbour got a cat and his mice moved into mine. I had a mouse problem until I got cats of my own, they seem to be an effective deterrant.

I thought I had a mouse...I didn't I had a whole family!

I have indoor rabbits so poisoning not and option. I'd have loved to be able to catch and release but the humane traps didn't work at all. 😩

I couldn't sleep in the end knowing they were running into my room at night so I ended up using baited snap traps. Not nice at put them where there were coming in and they were gone in about a month. Caught about ten in total.

Snap traps- and bait them with jam so they can't grab it and run away.
It's the only way, believe me.

As much as I think they’re cute, my main concern would be them chewing electric cables and causing a fire. Even if not, if they chew them inside a wall it’d cost a fortune to get it sorted.

I did her that if you remove them with humane traps you have to take them far away, otherwise they’ll just come back again. Not sure if that’s true or not!

Snap traps - you'll have dozens of mice if you don't. Bait with chocolate or peanut butter.

The so called humane traps are very stressful for the mouse and need checking every couple of hours without fail. If you forget to check then the poor thing will die a lingering death

Nutella works as well

I think snap traps are more humane than those awful sticky ones too

Get the pest control man in. If you don't it will chew through your cupboards in search of food and pee over everything spreading germs where ever it goes. It will also put you at risk of electrocution or fire Aden it will chew through your cables .

And they widdle as they walk everywhere... So think your kitchen counters, plates, bowls, bed, furniture. Kids putting their hands on the surfaces 🤢

Please don't use sticky traps. They are horrific and barbaric. Snap traps are an instant death and humane. I've had mice in my home and I hate to have to kill them, but it's simply a necessary evil to protect your home.

BTW, they don't just pee everywhere, they poop, too. Mice and rats have no bowel or urinary control. They go everywhere they roam, all over everything. That simply can't be tolerated in your home.

Sorry op but no. You need to deal with them as everyone else says.

They piss and crap everywhere and will scurry about all over your kitchen, all over your kids stuff, EVERYWHERE. They WILL get into cupboards and drawers and in every little crevice.

I bought humane traps on Amazon and caught two mice very soon after putting them down (2 separate occasions a few weeks apart.) I put crackers and peanuts in them. Maybe try the humane traps first?

Poor wee mousey. That said - you need a cat. Cats also get rid of flies and spiders as a bonus (or mine do). And the cat might catch a mouse or two but generally just the smell of cat will be enough to keep the mice away.

Thank you for that resounding get rid ! Hubby allergic to cats so calling in pest control today 🤢

Snap traps are an instant death and humane

Usually 🤢 I've seen some things!