Killing these mice?

[sappyer]

I know il probably get flamed but here goes.
I live opposite the river and mice are a huge issue.
In the past 7 months I've had 12.
Now there are mice baby's.
In a week I've got 4.
I feel guilty killing them but I'm too scared to do anything when they are alive.
I caught one this morning and it was a baby.
I keep thinking of it being all excited finding food,thinking what it was going to do this evening then boom I've killed it.
Aibu here?
Would anyone else do the same?

Cats may not kill them but they put them off.
Rentokil Advanced traps are the business. Peanut butter is good bait as they can't make off with it.

Laurie were you a student in Marchmont perchance? Student hygiene and Edinburgh tenements are a perfect storm

Nope. I lived there post uni, in a flat in the Old Town and two in the New Town. I adored Edinburgh, but I've a real phobia of mice and I found that very hard to deal with.

Yes they have germs, but as long as those germs are on the floor and not on your food surfaces then what difference does it make? A cat is more harmful than mice in that regard as they use their litter box then jump all over your furniture lol.

Also, chances are you won't be overrun, at least if they are regular house mice as I've been here five years and never seen more than one mouse around at a time. Exception being when once a nest of 2 babies came up. But I hear nests under the floorboards constantly. They just don't come up.

They aren't making you sick lol.

They don’t put them off, I’ve had two mice dead this week. (Killed by my cat)

I don't particularly like killing them but having lost a house to fire - and having it drilled into me how dangerous they can be in terms of that - its necessary. They don't actually bother me being in the house - I think they are cute lol I am not scared of them or worried about germs but they thought of them doing damage and potentially starting a fire or causeing water damage (one chewed through a pipe or something ehind my Gran's washing machine and when the vinyl was lifted in the kitchen it was soaking wet and damaged underneath) they have to go. not worth the risk

I've got 3 traps down today so no doubt 3 more caught tonight

OP you sound like my next door neighbour. For goodness sake just kill them, and whatever you do don't give them names. The electric traps work well, Mousie has a nice sniff of peanut butter then gets electrocuted before he/she knows it.

My cat gets them thank god- although I do feel awful. They are cute. When I was a kid in the seventies our terrace house used to get overrun with filed mice in the summer.

The house always smelt and everything had to be kept in tupperware cos they can get into every drawer and cupboard. Sorry- they don't make nice flat mates

Some of you are hysterical! People have lived with mice since time began. The risks are incredibly low!

They must be as I have lived in Edinburgh and every property had mice and there were no ill effects.

Our current house has mice and I had to block up every last hole with wire wool. I also had to cover the ventilation bricks with mesh.

If you are worried about disease then stopping them coming in is a far better idea.

I also used humane traps for a few days and let them go a few miles away by the river. The kids loved it and I hope I taught them not just to kill things that inconvenience us.

Please don’t use poison as it can then kill owls. Please also avoid glue traps as they are sheer hell.

Aside from the disease side of things there is also the fact they chew through things including wiring which is a fire hazard and having lived through an infestation in my last house I am less sympathetic

Don't bother with a cat. We've got them in the bathroom, we put ourcat in and he cried like a little girl to get out 😂

Awwwwwwwww baby mice, squeeeeee. I'd have picked it up and ate him all up. Cute aggression.
Sorry missed the point of the thread.
I hear the word "baby "and go all daft.

This thread is grim.

Killing individual mice isn't going to solve your problem - you need to stop them being able to get in.

We had mice, the population exploded. We were catching them every few minutes at one point. Be ruthless in catching them. Think of it this way - keep on top of catching the mice and you'll only kill a few. Let them start breeding, and you'll eventually end up having to kill a LOT to get your house mice free.

I wouldn't kill them and snap traps are cruel. Try to see where they are getting and and block it. However you're clearly not bothered so don't know why you're asking.

As long as you are using glue traps. Now those truly are inhumane.

I don't have any owls in my house so I think poison is fine (these are definitely indoor mice). But at least with traps you know where they are. Agree on blocking them from getting in but that's not so easy in a terraced house or flat.

Well OP, any mice today?

www.gov.uk/guidance/hantaviruses

Yeah, mice are harmless...

My husband bought some expanding foam filler stuff and went round the outside of our house filling all the gaps he could find where a mouse might get in. The foam dried to a light brown colour. It was luckily on a side of our house that was hidden from view. It has lasted for years. Mice can squeeze through tiny gaps so you have to be thorough. We are not in the UK but presumably UK hardware stores will have similar sort of stuff. They might make it in different colours or maybe there is a paintable version nowadays. It did stop the mice getting into the house.

We got a cat when we had mice (that wasn't the primary reason, I'd wanted a cat for ages but it was the nice that got DH to agree )

It did sort the problem pretty swiftly and efficiently, did get a few 'presents' from him which was grim but I think the presence of a cat scared them off.

He is a young cat and a pretty efficient hunter though. Not all cats are the same, some can't be bothered to hunt, or don't have as strong an instinct so it's not a surefire solution, and then you are obviously committed to a pet.

Cats are a risky approach Ive had cats that would watch a mouse and do nothing, the vermin knew it. One was super lethal and the mice seemed to know it too, they left and moved next door but one

Try not to feel guilty, and do whatever it takes to keep their numbers down.

Definitely don't anthropomorphise them. Making them into cute children's book illustrations or cartoon characters in your head only makes it harder on you! They don't go around planning cosy evenings and happy weekend outings.