Where the fuck do we put the mouse?

[MouseInTheHouseShit]

At least I hope it is and not a rat..

Got some humane traps in, going to put them down today. What do we do with the fucker if/when we catch him? Drop him off at the old asshole neighbours house? Where on earth do we take him?

If it's a mouse I don't want it dead but if it's a rat, surely we can't release him somewhere? Or can we? I mean, they're diseased pests, right? Husband says drown it if it's a rat but I don't know if I can do that.

This is what I dreaded moving to the countryside. Fucking hell.

[NotSure94]

Blocking entry points really is key. Check gappy skirting boards, tumble dryer outlet, holes around radiator pipes, we had them coming through tiny holes in broken brick in shed that adjoined utility room. Once all plastered/polyfillad up with Brillo pads shoved in gaps the problem went away. And yes lots of smelly essential oil like eucalyptus or peppermint.

[MrsLargeEmbodied]

one local uses a gun at the allotments, yes there are plenty of rats at allotments

[DanceWithYourBalloon]

I'll add that poison is not good for the owls etc that'll eat the mice.
Also sticky traps are Satan's work and should be banned.

[DanceWithYourBalloon]

Honestly you'd have to take them to the other end of the country to stop them coming back!
We soon moved on to snappy traps once they pooed in my cutlery draw! 🤢

[MrsLargeEmbodied]

never caught anything in the snap traps or the humane traps

[MrsLargeEmbodied]

there is no smell when they die imo, unless i was used to it!
we put poison in the attic and got someone to block up entry points.
they came in and ate all the bird food that was in the kitchen cupboard, and they bought all their family and friends.

[Robin233]

My dh got done little traps for the garage.
We caught about 3 or 4 mice in the end.
I made him drive up the road to the woods ti release them.
(Always wonder if it was the same mouse)

[kirinm]

[quote Gonnagetgoing]@kirinm - that freaks me out how high they climb. But rodents do climb high apparently[/quote]
They are insanely good at climbing and also incredibly difficult to kill. It involved doing stuff to our mains water pipes to stop them getting into the building.

[mumwon]

@FWBNC Good joke -however I assume the relocation is about rabbits - they brought them over as food & the damn things became a pest (they used myxomatosis to kill them)
This also happened with cane toads - a lot later on & you would have thought they learned from the rabbit debacle - which they brought over to kill something but as a toxic critter domestic animals were killed when eating it
Seriously - relocated one mouse at a time?

[CeliaStewart]

it's a pretty big step to get into the utility so I don't think he can get up.

Hahahahahaha. Oh dear. You're not from around these parts, are you?

[mumwon]

mice don't tend to be spinsters or bachelors they live as part of large family or tribe
a single mouse trap is not going to be very effective (unless you place mouse dose size contraceptive pills in there)

[womaninatightspot]

I live in the country and people use humane traps and then dispatch rats with an air gun which I suppose is quicker than drowning.

[Mischance]

Splat traps are the kindest and best. Mouse dies instantly. I put the corpses out in the field for some animal's meal.

So-called humane traps leave the poor animal in a state of terror till you get round to emptying the trap. You then have to take it miles away or it simply wanders back in - but doing this takes it "off patch" and it will be ready prey to all sorts of predators when it is on unfamiliar territory.

[MyDogLovesBiscuits]

Also don't use poison because the animal will eat it, move to another area possibly outside, die and then be eaten by carrion eaters who ingest the poison and die themselves.

[MyDogLovesBiscuits]

Jesus don't let your DH drown anything! Awful way to put something down and with a rat he's likely to get bitten to fuck and rightly so. I had pet rats and this is just horrific to think of

If you're using humane traps just drive them a good distance and release.

Check for entry points and block them and sprinkle peppermint oil around the edges of rooms and skirting boards.

If it's rats you might find tail smear marks on the walls.

[TracyLords]

Please keep checking the trap. We put one down and after a few weeks forgot about it. A poor wee mouse died in it and I still feel so bloody guilty

[Ariela]

If it's a mouse, there's another 50 to replace it.

I recommend getting an electronic mouse trap, baited with peanut butter. Mouse enters trap, takes mouth full of peanut butter and as he does so, his paws are on the pad and he gets zapped: instant death.
As you've a dead mouse that's not been poisoned, simply lift the lid of the trap, tip out in view somewhere - we're rural and we've an expanse of concrete - for the local wildlife to devour. We had an owl take one the other day.

[FWBNC]

@Listener2021

Of course they survive relocation. Look at Australia.

Yeah, full of bloody Australians that keep on breeding!!

[MrsAvocet]

We live in the countryside surrounded by fiields and mice regularly come into the house as the weather starts to get colder and natural food supplies reduce. It's just part of life unfortunately. They can squeeze through incredibly small holes and climb very well so it is extremely difficult to stop them coming in. We use traditional snap traps baited with peanut butter. I don't like killing them - they are quite cute little brown field mice - but they are incredibly destructive and of course unhygienic so it has to be done.
We used poison the first year we lived here, but never again. One died under the bathroom floorboards and honestly I have never smelled anything so disgusting in my life. We had to leave the floor up for weeks to get rid of the smell. Plus I think it is cruel. And dont get me started on glue traps whiich I think should be illegal. Snap traps are at least quick.

[Gonnagetgoing]

@kirinm - that freaks me out how high they climb. But rodents do climb high apparently

[Gonnagetgoing]

@Lunaduckdrop

I know you said your husband doesn't like cats, but could you get a neighbour to bring a cat to visit every so often? A cat will rub up against doorposts and furniture leaving its scent. This definitely deters mice.

My old cat used to sleep in the bedroom (not every night) the mice were not put off at all! He was Siamese too, supposed to be excellent hunters!

[Lunaduckdrop]

I know you said your husband doesn't like cats, but could you get a neighbour to bring a cat to visit every so often? A cat will rub up against doorposts and furniture leaving its scent. This definitely deters mice.

[Nat6999]

Cheapest mouse & rat poison & block the holes up with cheap brillo pads worked for me, 48 hours later totally mouse free.

[kirinm]

@MouseInTheHouseShit

The mouse/rat has not entered the actual house. I should have said. It's only in the garage which has a door to the utility which has a door to the kitchen ofc, but it's a pretty big step to get into the utility so I don't think he can get up.. however, I need access to the garage and I can't go in there because it ends up in screaming, tears and running away.

I am very clearly not cut out to live here.

We are in London and a rat managed to climb to the 4th floor of our building (thankfully not my flat) through a huge redundant pipe on the outside of the building.

If you've got one of anything, you've probably got more. They are a nightmare to get rid of (took us nearly 8 months.

Fingers crossed it's a mouse rather than rat.

[Narwhalsh]

Downside of the snap traps that we found-the corpses became dinner for other rats… several times we came out to check traps in the morning to only find heads, so we were then feeding the local rat population. They never exist as singletons