I have a new houseguest. I thought it was my own failing eyesight for the longest time, only catching bits of movement out of the corners of my eyes, but yesterday I got an unobstructed, static view of him: an adult gray mouse.

I've no idea what he's living on, but evidently they'll eat anything. Books, shoes, whatever.

I'd like to get rid of him as non-lethally as possible. Any ideas?

I lost all respect for mice while staying at my sister's house in the country. She asked me to dispose of a forcibly deceased relative of my new houseguest. I noticed the trap was baited with plastic cheese. I asked her about it, she said they'd been living there for 10 years, long enough to try every variation, and this little slice of embossed petrochemical worked better than anything else. Even real cheese.

I felt badly for the mouse, but good for the fact that someone did, finally, invent a better mousetrap.

Can we have a definition of 'non lethal' Doug !?

Doing as little harm to the poor, moronic critter as possible.

surfboard.surfside.net/prussell/Mousetrap.htm (http://surfboard.surfside.net/prussell/Mousetrap.htm)
A summary of how this website's mousetrap works:

Mice are instinctively attracted to holes and tunnels, and from a mouse's perspective, the toilet-paper tube mousetrap appears to be a cozy hiding place. The mouse will investigate the tube and head toward the bait.

When the mouse crawls through the tube and steps beyond the edge of the table, the tube (and mouse) will fall off the table and into the wastebasket.

After landing on the newspaper in the wastebasket, the mouse will slide and crawl down toward the bottom, where he will find the delicious snacks which you left for him.

Feeding the mouse a good meal discourages him from trying to escape from the wastebasket. After eating, the mouse will make a nest in the tissue paper in the wastebasket, and doze off to sleep. :)

I might actually try that. Very clever. Though so far I've not seen any evidence he's gotten any higher than floor-level.

Doug, After the wastebasket scenario what happens next ?

I'll put him out in the backyard. Maybe he'll make friends with the rabbits I let devour my garden :)

Gee, I thought after he was in the wastebasket, then there would be a new thread in the cooking section :tongue:
Mike

Nah, takes more than one mouse to make a decent meal. :) Plus, according to my sister's cat, only the front halves are worth eating.

And I thought you would tell me that my post was in poor taste!
Mike :wink:

Only if you recommended eating the back half :)

Ever thought about a pet snake?

Then I'd need a mongoose to catch him...it would just get ridiculous after that.

Doug,

We have a Ketch-All (http://www.kness.com/Ketch-All.html) mouse trap that has done a good job for us. It's a live trap and can catch multiple mice at a time. We had a problem with a few mice a while back and I caught three at one time - eight all together (I think.) That was during the time we were without cats - I don't think mice have a chance in this house now. ;) We've loaned the trap to a neighbor and it's worked for her as well.

One thing to be careful of is that you'll want to walk further than just your backyard to release the mouse as I've heard that the mice can find their way back in. I can't remember how far, but we usually walk about a quarter mile away from the house to let the mice go - and we haven't had any return. (I'm sure we'd have a present on our pillows if the cats had found one.)

Good luck!

Jeanie

(wafting notes of music from many years ago... them bones, them bones, .... the mongoose is connected to the boa constrictor, the boa is connected to the gray mouse, the gray mouse is connected to the plastic cheese... oh, hear the word of the ... music wafts across the time barrier, never to be heard again...)

Well, I consider myself an expert in this field. I have a cat that loves to bring in a few (5-10) live mice a year. On the occasion, one of the little critters gets away. A regular Tom & Jerry house! I'm a night owl and have periodically caught the little critters running around in my laundry room. There is enough dry cat food in there that they take one or two pellets and live under the dryer in the barrel. Of course it took a while for me to discover this! I would never consider killing them .... I don't even kill spiders in my house. I put them in a cup and take them outside. So, I researched and purchased a live mouse trap. It's been very successful - no deaths and 100% effective. Only trouble is... I wonder if I have repeats!

Lisa

Here is another view.

Lisa

Only trouble is... I wonder if I have repeats!

Hmmm.... Maybe you could "tag" them, like on those wild animal shows... LOL

Saving plague starting rodents.....SHEEZ
tom

I like to put on my old combat boots and squash em'
makes those little waffle patterns all over em'.