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.

[MouseInTheHouseShit]

How is drowning any worse than poison anyway?

My mum had one in her shed last year. She used a snap trap. She came in to see it still alive but suffering a lot. God knows how long it had been there as she had been trying to catch it for about a month and had given up looking every day as she was sure he wouldn't be caught.

[Wazzzzzzzup]

@Tootsey11

Op, don't listen to the idiots on here who say no such thing as a humane trap. I've used them, they worked well for me and I'm out in the countryside. Just take the little fella outside far away and release him. They are entitled to a life just like anything else.

Are you tracking the uprooted rodents? No? Then you don't know how they worked for them.

But you are right. They work for people because they can have the fuzzy feeling of taking for example house mouse and realising it in random woodland miles away. Aounds cute. It's not.

[MouseInTheHouseShit]

I think I'll just get a man in to kill it instead🤷‍♀️

[GrandDuchessRomanov]

Old Amsterdam.

[Silverswirl]

You set humans traps and then take them a distance away to a field or woods.
Snap traps are so grim. How anyone can hear the death of animal after animal and then just dispose of them if horrid and often they badly injure the mouse and don’t kill it.

[JupiterWeb]

If there is one there Is atleast 3-4 more.. trust me I speak from experience

[Lovecatsanddogs]

The humane traps do you work but you might have to sellotape a coin or two to make it heavier as most mice are too light.

[BuffysBigSister]

The only thing that worked for me - and trust me I tried everything - was getting the exterminator in. He put down the full-strength poison and came back to check every 6 weeks until he found no new droppings. Leave the poison in one place so they keep coming back regularly and be prepared to see one or two on their last legs and you'll have to dispose of them.

I spent a lot of time talking to the guy and he really helped calm me down. Apparently if you release them in another area, the mice who live there will attack them so you are doing them no favours.

[ginghamstarfish]

You need to toughen up if you're living rurally! Use snap traps or poison boxes. Vile things, can cause huge damage if they get in your house, and for every one you catch and let go it will result in many many more to come (or just pass the problem onto someone else). We live in the countryside and the local farm supplies store has massive quantities of traps, poisons etc ...which sell very well. It tends to be those new to the countryside who complain killing vermin. Many older rural houses cannot be completely proofed against them, as they can get through a hole the diameter of a pencil.

[washingmachines4]

We got humane traps, we had both rats in the garden we wanted to relocate and mice in the house we wanted to relocate. They were fantastic. We got the mice, every few days I go walking around a nature reserve a fair few miles away - because there was a body of water there was also already a large population of rats there so we used to let them free there. Within 2 weeks we were both rat and mouse free!
The kids loved seeing them when we caught one, we kept a few for a few days as it was snowing and we wanted the weather to be kinder and we also wanted to let them go more than one at a time if possible as they are social animals - so we kept them fed and with water and warmth for a few days and then let them go somewhere there was shelter for them.
Peanut butter was our effective bait. Try not to let it get to you, it happens and it can be easily dealt with. Don't let it be too daunting

[DandyHighwayWoman]

@ShuddaBeenMe

They don't work. You re going to need the snap traps.

It's hideous but you can't have them in your kitchen.

They do work

[Tryagainplease]

OP, caught a rat in a humane trap once and set it free a couple of miles away in a massive field.

Humane traps DO work and you CAN set a rat free.

[SleepyMathematician]

Jack Russell if your DH is allergic to cats. We have one. Sadly she’s old now and doesn’t bother so much but when she was young nothing escaped her. Living in the country, we need something here and like you, I wasn’t tough enough to put down snap traps.
Having said that, the sight of a rodent disappearing down the throat of a dog (yes, she used to eat them) isn’t for the faint of heart either!

[LadyMacbethWasMisunderstood]

I didn’t say drowning was worse than poison. You didn’t say you were considering poison OP, you said your DH had suggested it and you weren’t sure whether you could do that. My comment was in response to that particular observation. Both are horrid.

[Tryagainplease]

@LadyMacbethWasMisunderstood

I haven’t come on here to debate the rights and wrongs of different traps / methods of destruction, save to say, drowning a rat? Really? It’s genuinely quite upsetting to hear that some, otherwise apparently ordinary people, would consider doing such an awful thing.

I agree.

Maybe because I used to have pet rats. Although I know they aren’t the same as wild ones!

[LadyMacbethWasMisunderstood]

Me too. We had 3 pet rats (one old boy left who is too old for a friend, so he shares the sofa with us every evening). Amongst the most loving and intelligent pets we have ever had. I do understand, how wild rats are different, before people pile in and point it out. But I still shudder at the thought of drowning (or poisoning) such a creature.

[MouseInTheHouseShit]

See, I would think poison is far, far worse. Much slower to die so more suffering.
Also, if it isn't living in there but coming in just sometimes then my biggest concern would be a cat or fox finding it and eating it and dying themselves.

[Sparklfairy]

Husband says drown it if it's a rat but I don't know if I can do that.

Ask husband if, given the choice, that's the way he'd like to go one day. Horrible.

[hotmeatymilk]

Find someone you don’t like, and post it through their letterbox with some snacks.

[Teenagehorrorbag]

I live in the country and use snap traps, poison and humane traps. I do feel mean whenever I catch a mouse in the summer house (every day, during the season....) but the alternative is a lot worse. Poison is trickier as you don't want to get birds or hedgehogs or anything - but you should be OK in the garage.

The humane trap is a big one for rabbits. I've only even caught one rabbit although there is a whole family in the garden - but I also caught a crow once, and a rat once. The rat was a brown one and just looked like a big mouse, not a nasty diseased sewer rat. I let him go into a field a few miles away.

[MouseInTheHouseShit]

@hotmeatymilk

Find someone you don’t like, and post it through their letterbox with some snacks.

Our old neighbours! They were truly horrific people. I really would love to release a rat into their care after the hell they put us through.

[MouseInTheHouseShit]

@Sparklfairy

Husband says drown it if it's a rat but I don't know if I can do that.

Ask husband if, given the choice, that's the way he'd like to go one day. Horrible.

He would pick it over poison and a snap trap gone wrong he says. He would also pick it over being attacked by others until he died, as a PP said could happen if you release them to an area where there are already mice/rats living.

[thetemptationofchocolate]

Not everyone has the stomach to kill things so don't feel bad if that's you.
I wouldn't drown it, that would take a long time and cause suffering and terror. Poisoning is also a bit too drawn out. If I wanted to kill a mouse/rat I'd either use a snapping trap or the electric trap as death is usually instant.
But although I do have some snapping traps I prefer the live trap and a release far far away. The live trap is for rats, a mouse could easily get in & out through the bars.
OP if you do go round blocking up holes & things, remember how tiny a mouse is and do not ignore little holes - they can get through the smallest of gaps.

[ShuddaBeenMe]

Humane traps work in that they catch them

Then you drive the mouse a few miles away from its usual habitat and it dies alone and terrified, in an unfamiliar place

[AttaGirrrrl]

@Tootsey11

Op, don't listen to the idiots on here who say no such thing as a humane trap. I've used them, they worked well for me and I'm out in the countryside. Just take the little fella outside far away and release him. They are entitled to a life just like anything else.

They work well for you. They are not humane for the mouse who is dumped in an unfamiliar area, away from shelter and food source and will likely be killed by a predator.

I second the plug ins, or just living with them.