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 have an annoying cat who brings them in - have always just popped them out into the hedge. Not really anything else I can do!

We used to live in an old house that backed on to a large, wooded city park. A mouse got in and I caught it in a humane trap (peanut butter worked best) then released it over the back wall 3 times and it kept coming back in.

Eventually I took the trap in a bag on the bus and released the mouse into a graveyard a couple of miles away. Didn't come back after that. I also bought steel wool and stuffed it in any holes I could find about the place which may or may not have helped, but we never had any more mice!

I'll never understand why people think it's a kindness to release miles away. Like they're doing it a favour. It's cruel.

This reminds me when I was a child we had rats. Some were caught in humane traps and DF was sent to ‘drive them far away and leave them’ which he did. My mother said a few days later she was worried they’d make their way back and DF said ‘ how ??! Those traps are quite secure!’ I was so upset and my mother called him a stupid bloody idiot as he was meant to release them.

I caught a mouse once in a bin with a bit of Bakewell tart, I didn't want to kill it so took it to a local park and let it go in an area that seemed like it would give them a bit of shelter and protection. Honestly I don't know if he survived out there, it probably wasn't as nice as my flat but he was crawling into the beds and pooing on them (not that I am blaming him he was just a mouse) and my other flatmate had put down snap traps in his room. He was a little field mouse who had somehow got into our flat and so hopefully he had some decent outdoor survival skills.

That's what I do.
There are loads living in the local back gardens as we are semi rural, and I always know if there is a newish litter as the cat will bring a couple of baby ones in.

I blocked up all the potential entry points that I could find after having mice move in under the washing machine, using wire wool in any gaps and a fine mesh over air bricks. There is no point trying to kill the ones that are in the garden as a new family would move in.

I had a one off mouse once, no others. I've also heard that you can't release a mouse miles away as it will get attacked by the locals.

Needs to be over 1.5 miles away as they have incredible homing skills.

But not over 5 miles away!

Gosh this is concerning! Is she ok? Someone on Facebook said the other day that they had swallowed a fly. I don’t know why. I was wondering about sending her a spider to catch it, but a mouse might be quicker, especially as @CloudyYellow has one handy, and it could sway the fly with its newspaper.

I once hand-reared a litter of baby house mice after our hopeless cat 'caught' (sat on) their mum. They all came wobbling out a couple at a time over several days and I kept them warm in a box in the bathroom and fed them kitten milk from an eye dropper for three weeks. All but one survived. We released them somewhere very sheltered with outbuildings and left food for them - I don't know how they fared, but I hope they were OK. I couldn't bear to leave them to die.

I just wanted to send you a message to say I'm thinking of you, not least because I am in similar position. Take care of yourself. 💐

Yikes. My cat has caught a couple of pregnant mice. I only found out as he ate the mum and left the unborn babies. Not a pleasant sight or thing to clear up.

An individual mouse looks very very cute.
When they have eaten their way into food in your cupboards, weed and pooed all over your house, possibly spreading nasty diseases, chewed your clothes and carpets, made your house stink (mouse urine has a distinct smell) and not least caused a house fire by chewing through wires, they look a whole less cute.

There is never “just one mouse” . They breed at a frightening rate, and if you just let them go in “humane” traps they come right back with all their friends and relatives.

I'd take him up the road to a tumbledown garage and pop him through a gap in the old wooden door. It's near a chip shop, I'd sure he'd find plenty to eat.

You gave it some bedding?
Have you corralled it somewhere?
What are you going to do with the other 10+ that are currently running round your house?
There is never only one mouse, they travel in packs and reproduce quicker than you’d believe.

We get mice bought in by our cats which they present fully alive. We then capture them, rehabilitate and put back outside. Mice are used to living outside in all weathers.

Your mouse is very polite:)

I’m boggling at the rehabilitation of mice 😆