Humane mousetrap - am I kidding myself?

[shockthemonkey]

I've been quite successful with my new humane mouse motel, and have so far relocated three cute little mice.

I have been letting them run free in the wooded reserve just across the road from me. But who am I kidding? If they are not picked off by magpies or crows, they will freeze to death - it's 4° in the day and down to 1° at night, and they're used to a warm dry house.

And what if they left nests somewhere in the house where babies are slowly starving?

Could there be a better solution? I mean, maybe even a swift death in a conventional mousetrap is better? Though that still risks leaving babies somewhere.

Poison is out of the question as very inhumane... and I have a dog!

Any thoughts/experiences welcome 🤔

What kind of mice are they ? House mice are different to wood mice for eg.....

I used to get lots of little wood mice in the garage - once fished 3 out of the bird seed bin 😂

I used to use a humane trap , take them quite far away and release them - they'll find sheds or stables to shelter if you take them to the right spot .

They won't freeze to death they are mice they will find somewhere warm to sleep probably back in your house seen as you are only taking them over the road.

Yep, they will find their way back to you, so they won't be cold.

They will probably be eaten by the stable cat.

I don't think that just releasing them anywhere works as they might be killed by other mice annoyed about a newcomer on their patch.

😄Thanks for the replies. I took them about two hundred meters away from my house, and freed them in a wooded undergrowth that happens to be very close to a stables - they are now much closer to the stables than they are to my house.

That was my thinking... that even if they were to decide to make a bee line for my place, they'd have to pass cushy venues like grain stores, horse boxes and hay stacks before they got back to my place. They'd probably say to themselves hmm, this place looks good, and set up camp.

But I don't know much about mice psychology, that's for sure.

Oh, and as for what kind of mice, I have a video and some stills. Google seems to think it's a field mouse.

OH has suggested I mark them with a spot of nail varnish before freeing them, so I can see if they turn up again 😝