MOUSE IN THE HOUSE

[WineLover21]

We've got a mouse in the house.

I'm TERRIFIED! How do I get rid of it asap!? It's even coming out in the day!!!!!

Have you read anything I’ve said? I haven’t called them cute nor harmless. I haven’t denied the danger they pose. I work in the environmental sector and am well aware of the problems with Weil’s disease. I cannot comment on the environmental situation in your country as I know nothing about it.

All I have said is that it’s sad that the response is automatically kill it when there are other options. Britain is expertly depleted when it comes to nature and lack of food for many species is a huge problem. It’s often a secondary result of other things, but it’s a problem.
The whataboutery isn’t really relevant.

Or, the cats took it upstairs.

@RosesAndHellebores

Cats didn't take it upstairs as they are shut downstairs at night. Mr mouse legged it and squeezed under the door while I was trying to put the cat out.

But, what you are describing, it walking to your foot, is exactly how they behave if they’ve ingested poison - Slower, like they can’t see, no fear of anything.

@user8634216758 Rubbish! It hadn't been poisoned! It was a perfectly normal mouse. Being a cat owner, I've seen dozens of mice over the years. I know what they look like and how they behave!

A mouse in good health would not wander over to your foot and allow itself to be picked up in a tea towel.
I’m not saying you poisoned it, but neighbours may well have bait down, or your cat had inflicted terminal injuries. Either way, a mouse slow enough for a human to catch is not in a good way. And if there is a chance it’s been poisoned its very poor form to release it to be part of the food chain.

It's not whataboutery.

You have to draw a line somewhere when it comes to pests and vermin.

You're making a global analogy (just one plastic bottle) in support of your contention that all mice must be saved, and I'm asking if the same global analogy applies to cockroaches, scorpions, snakes, mosquitos, etc.

It's a fair question. All smaller animal and insect life is potentially food for something else higher up the food chain. So where is the line to be drawn?

I don’t know anything about a majority of invertebrate infestations and whether there are humane ways of dealing with them, as I said I cannot comment on that. And in this country, again I cannot comment on yours, you wouldn’t end up with a snake infestation and as our only two species of snakes are shy and very precious and not particularly dangerous (adders can be if startled, especially to dogs) so yes I’d be very concerned if someone did try to kill them. And so would the authorities because both species are protected, especially the adder.

Your argument is whataboutery because I don’t know anything about these situations so I cannot comment on them. Ideally, if anyone has an infestation that can be dealt with humanely then yes you should do that. People have problems with bees and wasps in this country and they can be removed easily and humanely by the right person. So there is no need to kill them. I cannot comment on the rest as I don’t know anything about humane options to remove them. I’ve already stated this.

So where do you draw your line? Dogs can be considered vermin in some countries, are you happy for them to be eliminated? Some fishermen consider seals vermin and shoot them, that cool with you? You and I have different boundaries and I’m more than welcome to comment my thoughts about those boundaries in this forum. Many others have said the same thing: always humane. Same as those who kill dogs, cats, seals and so on have different boundaries. I think humane deterrence and removal is always preferable when talking about wild native species. Others think to kill is the automatic reaction and it’s that that I commented is sad. Which I believe it is in the current British nature climate. I see the damage every day via my work. And it will impact on humans. Maybe not you or me, but our children and our grandchildren. I don’t know anything about your country or the pest infestations that you are referring to having no experience or knowledge of them so, as I have said, I cannot comment. But if there are humane practices then I believe they should always be carried out. It just means more work and most people can’t be arsed.

3 mouse traps last night and still no mouse!

Didn't even see it make an appearance last night. First time in a week.

Now have 9 bait boxes down....

Glue traps are abhorrently cruel, I can't understand how anyone but someone who gets a kick out of torturing animals would use them.

Snap traps are cruelty-free IF they break the animal's back. However, if the trap isn't positioned correctly along the wall, or if the mouse approaches the trap at an angle, its leg can be caught in the trap instead, which is very painful and very cruel.

Electronic traps are the kindest in my opinion as they are instant: https://www.amazon.co.uk/OWLTRA-OW-2-Electric-Instant-Trigger/dp/B08DCYHSZN

It's back. And avoiding all traps.

It's just comes to the corner and stares at me for minutes at a time.

Honestly, the people using medieval snap traps! It's a mammal ffs. Nervous system. Feels pain.

Anyway, OP. These ones from Amazon are amazing and cheap If you're scared of one when they're in there, (they are super cute but not great in houses so not an advocate of NOT getting rid of them but why kill them?) Put a towel over the tube when you have one and drive it out a mile or two away to release.
Peanut butter or chocolate to attract. Place along the wall near where you've seen him.

Bxlive Mouse Trap, Humane Traps for Indoors, Rodent Trap High Sensitive No Kill, Mousetrap Poison Substitute Friendly Kids & Pet, Professional Mice Catcher Reusable Easy to Use amzn.eu/d/4PleQAq

Buy some pet rats. Mice hate the smell and will leave.

You're welcome

And pests are just a word for a lifeform that is inconvenient to us. It means nothing. It's still a life. Elephants are 'pests' to Indian farmland, wolves are pests to Romanian shepherds.
I agree they can't be tolerated in our houses because of wire chewing fire risk but we've developed better ways of dealing with them, why use the brutal old fashioned way?

RATS 😭😭😭

You have to deal with it. A few years ago, a mouse ate a hole in the plastic feeder pipe to the hot water tank that fed our shower. They can squeeze through the tiniest space and cause horrendous damage.

I wouldn't be saying this if it was my house but that is really cute 😂

The traps took a while in my house, as in they were put out and it took a few days for the mice to get bold enough to go near them.

We had a solo one. Little thing.
Went to screwfix got a trap put peanut butter on it.
Went to bed. Within 10 min we heard it go off. The mouse was no longer

I know most don't agree with killing them but km afraid there was no way I was risking it coming back. The thing was on my worktops when we first saw it. And there was no crumbs as I'm stupidly ott with cleaning

Borrow a friend's cat or terrier?

Nutella in a trap. It's like nectar to them. Put the trap against a wall, preferably behind something. And wait. When the little thing is captured you have to take it, apparently, at least two miles away where it will die friendless and alone. Or alternatively meet new friends, form a loving relationship, have babies, hate it's MIL etc. Don't do what my DH did which was let it out at the bottom of the garden " that will do the trick",no it didn't you lazy idle man, because if you do you will see the mouse again quite shortly, you will name it and begin conversations with oh it's only a teeny tiny fieldmouse. No it's not, it's a nasty verminous creature. Two miles OP, two miles.

This is true - you wont get rats and mice in the same environment…But it’s because the rats eat the baby mice and keep the population in check!

We've stopped binning dead mice. Just chuck them on the lawn and a kite will come quickly enough! Saves our bin stinking!

One of the cats came in really spooked one night. Totally terrified. We have tawny owls round here and I think one might have swooped and stolen her catch and scared the shit out of her in the process!

I paid £70 for the local council pest control to come last year when I had a rat. That included 1 weekly visit for 6 weeks.

The bastards are back again though, same time as last year. Heard chewing under the floor boards the other night. They haven't gained access inside yet. Ordered bait boxes/ poison to hopefully deal with it myself

I do quite often say that when I've caught and released one!

"Aah - that was quite a cute one"!

As a Londoner, have to say - just get pest control in.

They know how to get the buggers in a way that you can't replicate with home traps/poisons. They know how they behave, the routes they will take etc.

Mice can reproduce every few weeks, the longer you faff around with trying to DIY it, the more you will have to deal with.

Trust me, we have been there.

I recommend Porters Pest control if you're in South London