We have at least a couple mice (I’m like 75% sure they’re mice and not rats) roaming around downstairs. Of the two we saw, one is just a tiny little bablet, the other one was noticeably larger but still a small one, idk if it’s an adult or not because I’m not that familiar with mice, I just know they’re obviously different ages and therefore we’re likely dealing with a family.
They don’t really bother me; I’m mostly afraid I will step on them or one will crawl into the cozy warmth of our bed while we’re sleeping, and while I think they’re the cutest things I’ve ever seen, I don’t want absolutely anything skittering on my bare legs in bed - I’m WAY more scared of cockroaches and I have had one of those in my bed before and… I just know it’s going to trigger the same response if I feel a mouse, however unlikely that is. All that to say, I’m not really bothered them, but my girlfriend is having a meltdown, she is petrified. So I need tips on how to get them out of here, safely.
My other concern is that we have 4 cats - 4 indoor cats who are more hungry for stimulation than for tasty mice bodies, and yesterday my girlfriend witnessed our cats playing with (tormenting) one of the poor little guys, and I don’t want them to get tortured and eviscerated.
So far we have placed 4 humane traps in corners and up against walls where we have seen them, 2 baited with cat food (since we have seen one eating the cat food), one baited with bread, and one baited with peanut butter. The peanut butter one I placed last night, but none of them have gone for it yet. The other ones I placed just now. I also dusted the corners of the room with cinnamon after reading that that might ward them off, but the little guy I just saw was literally just hanging out in a big dusting of cinnamon, so I have to believe it’s not really bothering them, or at least making them avoid her room (the basement).
What else can I do?
Uuugh
I live in the woods so mice are a constant companion, always shitting all over my trailer. I’ve been mouse-proofing things by using metal screen to physically block them from getting in cabinets, drawers, under the sink, etc.
And yet still, every day I have to take some little shithead from the humane trap on my morning bike ride and drop them off a mile away
They’re super cute but they shit so much oh my Gawd.
And their poop can carry hantavirus
an adult mouse isnt much bigger than my thumb. they’re pretty small. if you see two mice, there’s a good chance you have more so i’d keep trying with whatever traps you can think of. i’m sure they can spread disease of some kind, and they definitely pee all over everything, so i feel like you should be more bothered by them than you seem to be :) your gf having a meltdown seems appropriate to the matter.
i know you dont want this but i’d just let the cats have a go at the mice. i’ve had success hunting mice in my flat with my cat, as a team of sorts (though the cat doesnt quite understand that we’re a team)
Ultimately, I’m not really trying to protect the mice from the cats. I haven’t removed the cats from the area we saw them, and if they get got then, so be it… I don’t love it but, as the kids say, it is what it is. I just hope they go for the traps instead. Especially since these cats at least are not being the most efficient killers.
I also understand I can’t just harbor a horde of rats/mice because it’s not sanitary, lol. As much as I want to protect the little chumps.
We’re gonna dust the area with cayenne, spray peppermint oil around the house, and yeah… maybe get more traps.
what works for me is to chase the mouse together with my cat, and then when the cat helps me corral it into a corner, i just wrap my hand in a thick towel and grab the little fucker. i havent been bit yet.
an adult mouse isnt much bigger than my thumb
jesus bro how big are your thumbs?
House mice have an adult body length (nose to base of tail) of 7.5–10 centimetres
length of my thumb (just the last two bones) is 7.5cm
i have average sized man hands
The main thing to stop them coming in is to find where they’re entering the house and block it off. Wire wool and expanding foam will make a barrier they can’t chew through, but they can squeeze through some extremely small holes so you need to go round everything and be really thorough.
I tried all kinds of humane traps, they never worked for me. My mouse problem only ended when I got cats. Unfortunately one of them got caught, after that they just vacated the premises pronto.
Another win for indoor cats
Yeah, even if I didn’t care about wildlife they’d be indoor cats to be honest, my house is situated on top of a dike, and road traffic is too unpredictable.
I just watched 3/4 of our cats stare at and then ultimately ignore one of them. The one cat that actually interacted with it just kinda bapped it for like 30 seconds until it got scared enough to go hide.
Thankfully we were able to catch that one eventually, it was just kinda sitting in the middle of the room, so we put a plastic container over it and finagled it into a larger plastic container, then drove a couple miles to a small park to release it.
One down, at LEAST two (but I know probably several) more to go.
Male Cats? I find that most male cats are pretty useless when it comes to pest control. At my house, all the lil crawlies are kept at bay by our girl. The boy can barely chase his favorite ball toy.
At 4 cats I would not recommend getting another. Maybe threaten to put them on a PIP or make them go through orientation training again.
50/50 boy girl
The male cat was the only one to attack it. The OTHER male cat got interested and disrupted the hunt, and then they both stopped hunting because the first one got mad.
it was just kinda sitting in the middle of the room
In my experience, that generally means that it was already sick/dying. A healthy mouse doesn’t get caught so easily.
We were wondering if it walking through piles of cinnamon was disorienting it. A couple of them seemed kinda wobbly when they were walking around.
Btw when you catch one of these squeakers you are now contractually obliged to photograph and shame them in a post for Hexbear consumption. This is in site terms of service under “seeking hexbear advice”, it’s a requirement.
Peanut butter in a no-kill trap. Then drive several miles away and release.
The trap you want looks like this:
Mouse runs inside, runs to the end of the trap, steps on the plate to get the food and the door at the far end closes. Very simple and humane trap. Put peanut butter where the balls are. Guarantee you catch one in a single day if it’s in a space they visit.
These work pretty well yeah. Mouse will be freaking out but better than killing
Yeah they poop a lot in there because they’re very spooked.
You have to be very diligent about checking these. You get nothing for a few days while the mice get comfortable with it being around, and then the moment you forget to check it is the moment it catches a mouse.
At this point you have about two days before it becomes just about the least humane thing you’ll ever see in your life. I recommend setting a reminder on your phone.
If you don’t have ADHD (like I do) or something similar however, this is a good solution. People will tell you “if you release it in the wild its as good as killing it.” Personally I’d rather hand an owl or a snake it’s lunch on a silver platter, than kill a living thing and throw it in the garbage.
Thats such a complex design lol giving the mousie a little housie
I had good success using a few of these little tip traps a few years ago, when my folks had a mouse problem
Yeah it is but they work perfectly so I like it. The tip trap looks like same concept really, just a different engineering approach. I suspect that some clever mice will feel the tipping and decide to not tip it though. Especially if they’ve seen a friend do that and get caught. Pressure plate at the end of the tube is so close to the food they can’t resist.
Paper towel roll into a bucket. Google how to set it up but it works every time.
Aside from catching them and getting them out of the house, the other thing you need to do is find every place they can be entering and seal it so they can no longer enter, and keep your place so clean that there is nothing luring them in.
being warm during the winter is plenty enough to lure them in where I live.
Maybe build them a little shelter somewhere
There are humane traps you can use. Basically they work like a regular mouse trap (or gopher trap) but instead of killing them you just bait them and the trap triggers a door so you can go safely release them.
I have used similar traps for decades they are very effective, and bonus points you get to see your little mouse squatter up close and personal before you let them go on their way.
The traps are all pretty much indefinitely reusable so you should only need a couple at most.
I honestly had no idea people didn’t know about humane trapping it’s super effective.
Yeah like I said in my post we got 4 of these running right now - they’re pretty much exactly what you posted. What do you bait them with though? I’m trying a few different things currently.
Peanut butter was what worked for me. I had rats, though.
grains and seeds work well
Well cheese is a myth for one.
I’m gonna go with cat food for now since we literally saw the biggest one grabbing cat food out of one of the bowls
oh yeah cat food is probably a good bet. Whatever they are getting into is generally a good bet
I’m like, 90% sure it was a coincidence but my friend gave me some of those ultrasonic rodent repellents and I’ve seen much less evidence of mice since then. So it may be worth giving them a shot
Thanks for the validation, we just ordered some of these. Gonna try everything we can, short of mercing the lil’ guys.
Once you get them out, you absolutely gotta mow a perimeter around the house and pick any crap laying against it.
The reason mice run around the edge of the room is that they’re trying to find cover to stay out of sight. If you have a good ten feet of mowed grass between your house and the rest of the world, mice won’t cross it as much and you won’t pick them up from elsewhere.
Same for junk laying around. I had a couple of stacks of tires and some chainsaws under an awning against the house and they got in that way. Put up a shed a couple dozen feet away and kept that part clear and they’re not around.
