How do I get rid of a mouse

OPD · May 20, 2003, 14:41

A few weeks ago my cat brought a live mouse in my house. The mouse escaped from the cat and is now living in some unknown location. All I do know is that it does it's buisness under the cooker which means that any time the cooker is used the worst smell ever is produced.

I've tried a few mouse traps but they appear to be bitterly futile and don't want to use poison as with no way of getting out the mouse will surely die inside and make an even worse smell.

So what do I do?? Other than move house I'm completly out of ideas.

Richelieu · May 20, 2003, 14:42

Stop feeding your cat.

Jac de Molay · May 20, 2003, 14:43

The hardware store should sell box traps with one way doors for about 10$us. You put some peanut butter or cheese inside, and the mice wont resist going in and checking it out.

Caught 5 or 6 that way.

Starchild · May 20, 2003, 14:52

Do you have ready access to liquid nitrogen and a microwave?

Harovan · May 20, 2003, 15:02

I live in the country and we have armies of mice here, especially in the winter. I use conventional traps and hazelnut spread (nutella), that works very well. Don't lure them with cheese, most mice don't eat cheese, that's a legend. One way door box traps also work, but after it you have a living mouse in it, that somehow just moves the problem to her next host (might be you too).

Oerdin · May 20, 2003, 15:04

You may be using the wrong bait for your mousetraps. I can remember hearing that peanut butter drives those hairy little rodents mad and they'll gladly snap their necks for a taste.

Harovan · May 20, 2003, 15:08

They love anything that's sweet. Kelloggs choco pops also work a charm.

Cruddy · May 20, 2003, 15:22

I seem to recall a radio poll about mouse bait. Beef, tuna and peanut butter all listed on it. Cheese didn't.

I could be COMPLETELY wrong on the following but I seem to recall some research on ultra sonics having the desired effects on rodents. It'll probably scare your cat witless, so don't go that route.

SlowwHand · May 20, 2003, 15:22

I vote peanut butter, and a new cat.

Ari Rahikkala · May 20, 2003, 15:26

Use a window manager and software that's designed for mouseless operation.

Oerdin · May 20, 2003, 15:28

Quote:

Originally posted by Cruddy
I seem to recall a radio poll about mouse bait. Beef, tuna and peanut butter all listed on it. Cheese didn't.

I could be COMPLETELY wrong on the following but I seem to recall some research on ultra sonics having the desired effects on rodents. It'll probably scare your cat witless, so don't go that route.

Consumer reports had an issue which discussed this not long ago. The finding was the ultra sound thingies worked well at preventing a mouse from choicing your house as a place to live put if the little guy had already set up shop then it most likely wouldn't make him move out. There are after all lots and lots of crawl ways in the average home where the sound level will be less. You also need one for every room or they will not be effective.

Adalbertus · May 20, 2003, 15:31

Quote:

I vote peanut butter, and a new cat.

I'm not sure if that helps - To bring a mouse is a cat's way to show friendship ... it's surely disappointed that you didn't
eat the mouse immediately.

The Templar · May 20, 2003, 15:33

Quote:

Originally posted by Richelieu
Stop feeding your cat.

Bad idea.

A cat's hunting and feeding modules are separate (to use Fodor-speak). A well-fed cat will still hunt, but will hunt more agressively in a smaller area. Thus a well fed cat will keep an apartment vermin free.

Also, fox urine does a good job in scaring them off. A guy I know bought an old building that was infested with rats. Some strategically placed fox urine and the building empied out. The down side is, that the fox urine might freak out your cat.

OPD · May 20, 2003, 15:39

hmmmn cheers maybe I am just using the wrong bait. I have 2 traps one which scares me - it must have been designed by a pycho-pathic mouse hatter or something. Have been using cheese, bacon, ham, fat and chocolate to no success so will try peanut butter.

Boris Godunov · May 20, 2003, 15:41

If you're not concerned with cruelty, glue traps work very well. Place them along the runners and in corners. Mice tend to stick to running along the wall. All they have to do is run across it, and they get stuck.

Of course, then you have to go through disposing of the live mouse you find stuck in the trap. You can't unstick them, so you have to put them out of their misery before throwing them out (at least you'd better unless you're really cruel).

Not for the squeamish, though.

Oerdin · May 20, 2003, 15:50

One of my (rather dirty and nasty) college neighbors lived in a house with six single guys and all of them were slobs. It didn't take to long before their house had a healthy and growing rodent population so they ended up using those glue traps. As I recall they caught several mice with them.

Sadly none of them had the balls to actually kill the, still living, mice so they just left them there to starve to death. When they told me I thought it was cruel so I volinteered to finish them off by drownding them in a bucket. I'm sure it wasn't pleasant but still it is better then letting them slowly die over the course of a week.

As a form of cosmic justice one of the fat bastards got drunk one night, tripped on the floor, and got a glue pad stuck to his beard!

That made me a big believer in Karma.

Sandman · May 20, 2003, 15:52

I'd suggest blocking up their holes with newspaper, and placing unbaited traps next to holes you can't block up. Worked for me.

Harovan · May 20, 2003, 15:52

Quote:

Originally posted by OPD
Have been using cheese, bacon, ham, fat and chocolate ...

The first 4 had a very little chances of success (if, only their curiosity). Natural mice food are vegetables and cereals, not meat or milk products. Chocolate could have worked, they're foodies.

Laertes · May 21, 2003, 05:06

I have used the following trap successfully a couple of times:

Get a standard household bucket, and half fill it with water. Then cover the surface with a sweet cereal eg Coco Pops, Frosties, Cornflakes, so that no water is visible.

Put the bucket in a likely location such as your kitchen. Find a board or piece of cardboard to use as a ramp, and place it against the bucket so that the mouse can run up it.

Leave overnight.

You will hopefully find that the mouse trots up to the edge of the bucket to investigate the nice smell and jumps into the cereal, not realising there is water underneath. Mouse will drown.

In the morning, empty contents of bucket into bin.

Not humane, but effective

TheStinger · May 21, 2003, 05:09

Buy a small french mouse and plan an elaborate death for it. Just as you are about to send Monsieur rodent to his maker your original mouse will turn up to save the day, you can then get him.

This works equally well with small ducks and kangaroos.

Frozzy · May 21, 2003, 05:47

Quote:

Originally posted by Fergus Horkan
I have used the following trap successfully a couple of times:

Get a standard household bucket, and half fill it with water. Then cover the surface with a sweet cereal eg Coco Pops, Frosties, Cornflakes, so that no water is visible.

Put the bucket in a likely location such as your kitchen. Find a board or piece of cardboard to use as a ramp, and place it against the bucket so that the mouse can run up it.

Leave overnight.

You will hopefully find that the mouse trots up to the edge of the bucket to investigate the nice smell and jumps into the cereal, not realising there is water underneath. Mouse will drown.

In the morning, empty contents of bucket into bin.

Not humane, but effective

I made a Rat Trap which was a garbage bin with a piece of wire stuck in the middle. I stuck a piece of card on the wire. On one side of the bin was some peanut butter toast. The rat would wonder along, and his weight would cause the card to turn, and he would fall into the water at the bottom of the bin.

That works a treat.

Buck Birdseed · May 21, 2003, 06:08

Okay, right-click your house and select "properties". Switch to the "Unit Manager" tap. Scroll down until you get to "mouse", cilck on that and you'll find the unit in question, probably named something like "the mouse my cat brought in". Click on it, click the properties button and select "disable this device". Close down the windows and reboot your home.