Mouse problem.

[JupiterBase]

So I'm sitting here messing around on my computer at 4:00am when a little mouse pop up from under my television stares me right in the eye and bails behind me bookcase.I need help. He living in my bedroom somewhere.

I live in a suburban area of Southern California so dealing with mice is new to me. I dont want to kill the little guy. Any suggestions guys?

edit: I have heard that you have to take it far away to make sure it doesnt find its way back to you house is this true?

 

[Thaluikhain]

Get rid of anything around the mouse could be eating so it goes somewhere else?

Otherwise, put a trap out, one of those ones that catch, rather than kill, and release it somewhere else.

 

[krazykidd]

Kill it! Kill it with fire!

Jus get a mouse trap ( not the sticky one , the one that snaps), put some penut butter on the tip, and be prepared to hear a loud " SNAP" at night when you sleep. Afterwards, fill up any holes with steel wool, and clean you damn house. You want to get rid of it quick, because mice reproduce fast and you do not want an infestation.

Or... Kill it with fire.

 

[Bertylicious]

If you rent contact your landorld, if you're in an apartment complex tell your neighbours and the superintendent/residents comittee.

The issue with mice infestation is that you will probably have more than one and so humane traps, indeed all traps, will be of uncertain efficacy. I would suggest contacting a pest control company and they will put poisoned bait down which will resolve the issue. The mice will die in some crevice somewhere but they don't create any odor when they decay, which is amazing when you think about it. A mice rendered into spattered head cheese by an old fashioned mouse trap will also be far messier and more difficult to clean up.

Alternatively you could buy a cat.

 

[twistedmic]

Alternatively you could buy a cat.

Really any animal that would be a natural predator to a mouse, like a snake or a bird (parakeet for example).

 

[Bertylicious]

Alternatively you could buy a cat.

Really any animal that would be a natural predator to a mouse, like a snake or a bird (parakeet for example).

A parakeet would eat mice? For real?

 

[ClockworkPenguin]

I had mice for two years. I tried humane traps, I tried deadly traps. I tried every bait people suggested. Didn't get a single one of the blighters.

The cat idea is a good one. Sometimes they leave bits of mouse lying around, but we had one cat that would eat them in two bites. Plus, you have a cat, and cats are awesome.

 

[twistedmic]

Alternatively you could buy a cat.

Really any animal that would be a natural predator to a mouse, like a snake or a bird (parakeet for example).

A parakeet would eat mice? For real?

I don't know if a parakeet will eat mice, but its scent will at least scare the mice away. When my sister and brother in law were living in the same apartment complex as my mom and I there was a mouse infestation in our building. Our apartment and their's were the only two out of sixteen units that did no see any mice. My mom and I had several cats, my sister and her husband had a couple of snakes and a bird (I'm pretty sure he is a parakeet).

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Alternatively you could buy a cat.

Really any animal that would be a natural predator to a mouse, like a snake or a bird (parakeet for example).

A parakeet would eat mice? For real?

I don't know if a parakeet will eat mice, but its scent will at least scare the mice away. When my sister and brother in law were living in the same apartment complex as my mom and I there was a mouse infestation in our building. Our apartment and their's were the only two out of sixteen units that did no see any mice. My mom and I had several cats, my sister and her husband had a couple of snakes and a bird (I'm pretty sure he is a parakeet).

I have cats and a bird (cockatiel, not a parakeet, but still), and while I've never had a problem with /mice/ getting into the house, I have had to trap the occasional rat. Then again that may have something to do with rats being smarter -- I'm pretty sure they're smarter than the cats, let alone mice. So they're sneakier and harder to catch. Or it could just be that there's more rats around here than mice, or they're better at getting into the house, or who knows. Point is cats and birds aren't a guarantee you'll be rid of vermin. My cats like to kill squirrels, birds, bunnies[footnote]I had a cat kill a wild full grown rabbit once. It was bigger than she was. I also have to bury the occasional baby one.[/footnote], and yes, mice and rats, but they tend to do their hunting outside. Inside I've never seen one kill anything bigger than a lizard.

If you're /really/ too squeamish to kill the buggers, TC, I can't help you. If you're willing to do it, take the peanut butter advice, but add a gummy bear. If you just use peanut butter, they'll lick it off without getting hit by the trap. If you stick a gummy bear on there and then cover it in peanut butter, they'll be attracted to the peanut butter, get their teeth stuck in the gummy bear, and spring the trap.

Source: I've had to kill a few rats in my time, and I learned the trick from a cousin who's had to kill a /bunch/.

 

[DestinyCall]

Get a really lazy cat. He will scare away the mouse but it would be too much effort to actually hunt/kill it.

Problem solved.

 

[lacktheknack]

Be careful of the scooping humane traps. We used one, and it snapped the mouse's neck without killing it.

Night terrors were had that night.

 

[Someone Depressing]

I get mice all the time. Obviously, it's much harder to catch it than kill it; when I was more of a violent person, I actually smooshed a poor little mouse against a wall corner. Took ages to clean.

My suggestion is simple; leave food out. Vegetables - particularly green vegetables - and carbohydrates are mice's favourite. They don't actually like cheese all that much; sure, it's a protein, but they'll only really eat it if it's readily available. Then trap it. In whatever. A bowl (throw it out, though. Dirty little shits) or anything else like that. Also leave the food on something that you can pick up that prevents the mouse/rat/whatever from escaping, like paper, or a seperate board.

 

[Raikas]

I dont want to kill the little guy

Why not? If getting a cat/dog/reptile isn't an option (and even that's no guarantee - I had mice come into a house with a hunting dog), you really should try to kill it, because if there's one mouse, generally there's a family behind it.

Personally I think poison is the way to go. I used to be more humane, but after years of being nice to the pests, it was the exterminator that finally got rid of the things for good.

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

Ah. So that's where nibbles has gone off to.


Either you cut it's food supply , bait it into a trap, or learn to coexist. Try to clear a particular room of any hiding-spots, and make sure there is only one entrance/exit (by mouse standards, of course), put some food in there and trap the bugger. The following steps depend on how merciful you are. Since you don't want to kill it, let it out in the wild far away from home I suggest.

We used to have moles in the garden, but dealing with them is easier. We never killed any of them though.

captcha: cut the mustard.

Well, that's a solution, too.

 

[Shinsei-J]

Hmm, thought we were going to talk about gaming mice for a minute.

Well then good thing I'm well versed in this subject too.
First thing is first, have all your food in some kind of plastic container it might not instantly get rid of this mouse but you'll never have another one without loose food for it to feed on. Second, head to your local hardware store and they'll usually have a wide selection of non lethal mouse traps. Some don't work to well so it's often best to have a few different ones, but if you can find one of these;

I swear by it.
Ok, now for where to put it. I suggest looking around where you keep your food for mouse poo and look for what it's been eating. Place it somewhere around those spots, peanut butter for bait and you're all set.
Once you've caught it just release 'em a couple of kilometres away and it won't come back.

Having lived in an Australian paddock really does help sometimes.
Fun fact when I moved there we found a total of 18 dead mice when cleaning the house for the first time...

 

[Gaijinko]

I used to live in a farming house in a farming village a long time ago needless to say mice and rats were ever present. At one point they were coming up in our garden, I spent an afternoon just picking them up putting them in a basket and taking them away. Needless to say when you have helped pigs give birth you ain't that squeamish anymore. Most of the ways have been covered as so far, traps, humane or otherwise, covering up and hiding food supplies. finding their possible point of entry and blocking the damn thing up, other then hiring pest control these are your best bets. One thing my dad swears by was this sonic screamer thing, don't know what it was but sent high frequency sounds through the walls, after using that for awhile the local rat/mice/dog/cat/anything with ears population went right down.

 

[lunavixen]

I had mice for two years. I tried humane traps, I tried deadly traps. I tried every bait people suggested. Didn't get a single one of the blighters.

Did you try one of the old fashioned wooden snap traps? (rat are better than mouse, but they can decapitate mice on occasion), melting a square of chocolate onto the metal tongue works well, they pretty much can't pull it off without activating the trap. Also, you may be using the wrong type of bait, most baits in supermarkets are ineffective against mice now, you're better off with an industrial bait like red Tomcat (you can get it at stocking stations, hardware stores etc.) Linseed oil in a glass juice bottle (half to 2/3 full) also works fairly well, just leave a way to the neck of the bottle and they'll go in and be unable to get out and they'll drown in it. Also, plug holes where mice can get in with steel wool.

Don't bother with the "humane traps", more often than not, they're less effective at actually trapping the mouse/rat and sometimes are not as humane as they claim to be.

I can say with a degree of certainly that that 1 mouse, isn't just one, there will be others, and if you don't rid yourself of them, they will breed and are very destructive, they'll go after anything edible (and even electrical wires) and their waste attracts other pests.

A mice rendered into spattered head cheese by an old fashioned mouse trap will also be far messier and more difficult to clean up.

Newspaper or tough plastic sheeting under the trap makes clean up of splattered ones a lot easier. Either that or set the traps on tile or concrete.

 

[teqrevisited]

If you want a DIY method: if you have a decent sized (3ft or higher) plastic tub / bucket with smooth, steep sides you could put some food in the bottom and leave it somewhere that the mouse can get into and, provided it falls for it, it'll be stuck in there until you find it.

 

[Frezzato]

OP, these two [http://lifehacker.com/5911666/build-a-self-resetting-mouse-trap] designs [http://lifehacker.com/5451065/make-a-diy-no-kill-mousetrap-with-a-toilet-paper-roll] seem like they would work, but the problem with mice is I hear they like to travel along edges.