Sad situation with mouse

[CloudyYellow]

Found a mouse in an empty plant pot in the house. I am an animal lover but don't want a mouse living in my house. If I release it into the garden it will die of cold.
Any suggestions?

😂😂😂
I mean… I wouldn’t bother with a rodent, but hand on heart type in „wildlife network” in to your Facebook search and you’ll see what lengths these volunteers go to!

I highly recommend these catch-&-release traps, OP.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MVNLTL7?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1

One animal is not automatically indicative of a nest or infestation - depends what kind of mouse it is and how it’s got in. I’ve dealt with quite a few over decades of living rurally, and they’ve always been individual incidents of a single field mouse coming in. I’ve caught and released them away from the house and never once had a breeding problem (even though the damage one tiny mouse can do overnight can sometimes look like there’s been a dozen of them in!).

If you’re worried there are more, check cupboards, food storage areas and any nooks and crannies for evidence (poop, chewed packets, etc) to determine where they may be hiding. If you find anything, place traps baited with peanut butter or Nutella with a few sunflower seeds along skirting boards wherever you think there may be an entry point (bearing in mind they can squeeze through gaps of a few millimetres) or wherever in the house they might be foraging for food. Keep everything edible in sealed containers or the fridge, and make sure pet food bowls are clean and no food is left in them overnight.

Don’t worry too much. You only need to involve pest control if you trap any more mice immediately or start seeing obvious signs of their presence.

I am so sorry to hear of your loss. RIP.

I know mice are vermin but this little creature is so beautiful.

You sound lovely, @CloudyYellow - not many people would be so caring 💞

@LadyMacbethWasFierce- I'm so sorry for your loss.

For the future, get those plug in things that play high pitched noise through the electrics and put mice off.

I was advised that mice and rats can’t eat through wire wool

What colour is it? If it’s mostly grey it’s probably a house mouse, they’re serious and potentially dangerous pests, infest homes, and will likely die outside anyway. Or just come back in.

If it’s mostly brown/reddish and white it’s a field mouse and they generally live outside anyway but occasionally the odd one can wander into homes during winter and likely will be fine released back outside.

Either way make sure you seal up any entry points to your house.

Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your perspective I just drowned one in a bucket of soapy water. Complete accident, we have a mouse problem and I chucked the trap in a bucket of water to give it a clean before loading it up with Nutella. When I came to retrieve the trap out of the bucket was somewhat taken aback to find poor drowned mouse. So much for a humane trap.

It is brown. Makes me feel a bit better about releasing outside tomorrow morning.

Why do you think it will die outside?! Mice and other animals quite clearly survive outside.

Don't release it in daylight! Release it in the dark when it can hide from predators better. Also open countryside and fields are great either work. Near garages and sheds etc is much better if you want to give it a chance.

But most important is never release them in daylight.

Mice are not solitary creatures. You don't have a mouse, you have mice.

You know you don't have "a mouse" you have mice plural. If you are considering releasing it and it's extended family you need to drive a few mile away otherwise it'll find it's way back. Also it's a wild mouse, they won't die, they will just find somewhere else to make a nest to keep warm.

We had them a couple of years ago and tried to get rid of them the humane way with the traps that trap them unharmed, we released 1, but there were several and the traps just weren't working, they were taking the bait and escaping. In the end it grossed me out so much we just got a load of snappy traps to get rid of them. I felt bad but we have children and I didn't want them anywhere near their stuff or our food. They would appear in the kitchen which grossed me out. You need to get some traps down.

Wild mice live outside so I'm sure it wouldn't die of cold if you put it outside. They are tolerant to very low temperatures.

Of course it won’t die from the cold! What a weird thing to think. Animals have survived forever without living in centrally heated houses.

This x 1000. They also carry infectious diseases.

From Gov.UK publications

"All rodents, pet and wild, can carry bacteria and viruses that cause infections in people. Rodent infections that can transmit to humans include leptospirosis, hantavirus, rat-bite fever and a type of meningitis caused by a virus called lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). Although uncommon, these infections may have serious consequences and can be fatal."

"Infections may be acquired following:

• animal bites
• contact with rodent urine, droppings, saliva or bedding materials
• breathing in rodent dander, dried droppings and urine, or dust from bedding materials contaminated by them '

How do you think the mouse got in? Do you have a cat who might have brought it in, or do you think it found its own way in? If the latter PP are right: release it nearby & it's likely to find its way back in. OTOH if you release in an area it's not familiar with it's more likely to perish. I know someone who releases mice with a starter pack of sunflower seeds to help them along. Just a thought. Definitely release it through, it's a wild mouse and likely to be pretty miserable if kept captive.

If it's a house mouse the most humane action is to kill it - it will die in the wild.

Right, and if it is a field mouse then releasing it away from its territory means it will be running around petrified - brieflly.

Relocated mice experience predation due to an unfamiliar area without known escape routes, starvation as they cannot just magically find food and shelter and they also have to fight with the resident mice and voles in the new area, plus the stress and exposure.

They cannot be accommodated by humans, as they are filthy, disease ridden vermin who cause structural damage to the home, including chewing on wires, food and furniture (and anything else they can get their teeth into) and shit and urinate everywhere spreading diseases both through this and through airborne contamination.

And they cannot be relocated unless there's some sort of mouse magical kingdom a few miles away with no predators, plenty of food and lots of safe places to build a nest and they can bring their family with them, or they will just die anyway.

Being sentimental about filthy, disease ridden vermin can cause humans harm and ultimately gives the mouse a long, slow painful death. Far better just to kill them.

Mice live outside, that’s what their fur coat is for. This isn’t like putting a domestic gerbil or hamster outside.

I’d have released it straightaway. If it’s pregnant you could have had lots of babies to contend with.

Quite. People don't want to see the 'pest' side to things, criticising others that try to control them until it actually affects them.

Take mice for eg. Chewing through the electrics in your car is expensive and dangerous and exactly what happened to us.

Stop rescuing, releasing and passing the buck of disease ridden pests.

Putting food out is a very bad idea. You'll attract more. Gene Hackmans wife died from a disease she contracted from mouse droppings.

Waiting for the update to.say it had chewed through the box.