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Humane mouse traps
I've mice in the back garden steading, there's hundreds of little black droppings on my storage shelves.
As I didn't want to kill the mice, just relocate them, I bought some humane traps with a view to taking them elsewhere. Baited with peanut butter - but it turns out they're too small / lightweight to trigger the door trap. Peanut butter gone, mouse gone!
Is there any other way to remove them without doing down the break their neck type trap?
The garden is fully enclosed / walled so I don't want it overrun with mice.
Thanks
As I didn't want to kill the mice, just relocate them, I bought some humane traps with a view to taking them elsewhere. Baited with peanut butter - but it turns out they're too small / lightweight to trigger the door trap. Peanut butter gone, mouse gone!
Is there any other way to remove them without doing down the break their neck type trap?
The garden is fully enclosed / walled so I don't want it overrun with mice.
Thanks
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Comments
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D47P1TgZ7ZE
Haven't tried it myself but I did once find a dead mouse in a bucket in the shed, so I suppose they can't climb out. No need to drown them if you are happy to relocate them!0 -
Interesting - thanks!
Will have a go next week.0 -
I have a humane trap which has a sort of counterbalance floor which is open for the mouse to get in but once it's in there its weight closes the door, is this the type that doesn't work for you? I know that mine worked because I forgot about it and found a dead mouse in it, they don't take many hours to die when they are stressed so keep checking for them.0
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I have a humane trap which has a sort of counterbalance floor which is open for the mouse to get in but once it's in there its weight closes the door, is this the type that doesn't work for you? I know that mine worked because I forgot about it and found a dead mouse in it, they don't take many hours to die when they are stressed so keep checking for them.
Yes, that's what I have, the little mice here aren't heavy enough to trigger the door closing mechanism so they nip in, get the peanut butter and get out again!0 -
If they haven't ventured into your house yet then they are probably wood mice so just leave them alone, they won't cause you any problems if you are careful around their droppings. You can relocate them as much as you like but if you are providing them with food and/or shelter you will just likely get more.
If you really don't want them then kill them cleanly with a snap trap, relocating is stressful and might kill them anyway, just slower as they get caught, wait around, get carted off somewhere and then released in a strange area with predators that they can sense but know nothing about. There is little "humane" with most "humane" traps, they just make us feel less guilty.0 -
I agree that relocating animals is very hit & miss. I liken it to what a friend does when she accidentally breeds cockerels. She releases them in the woods, but she has never seen any of them again. She feels better doing that, but I think it's ducking the issue and her responsibilities.
....Which is why I suggested moggies..
I have to agree that our two furry monsters aren't selective, so they will take shrews as well as mice, but their mere presence in the barn where I keep the chicken food seems to render it a no-go area for rodents. Not a dropping anywhere, although I had a box of matches chewed.... once.
If we didn't have cats, then our neighbours' animals would just widen their territories.
But the other important thing is that the chook food is unreachable and we're very careful not to spill any. Indeed, even out in the orchard, we've had to use ingenuity to make sure we're only feeding chickens.
(OK there's a robin who has it all worked out!:rotfl:)0 -
Not getting a cat. I'm a cat person but now that I have officially 'relaxed' myself from full time / permanent work I am enjoying the freedom that that brings. Can't be doing with all the stuff that having a cat entails - I had one for roughly 20 years and loved her dearly.
The garden is fully enclosed and I have loads of bird feeders out there. I can sit in my living room and watch the birds, and red squirrel feed. A cat would spoil that.
All the bird feed is in big plastic drums so the mice found my stash of porridge oats. The new stash is now in plastic drums too. Yes, they are little wood / field mice rather than 'tom and gerry' type mice, rather cute.
The argument about delaying death to soothe my sensitive soul is a good one, unfortunately. Once I'm back on my feet (laid low just now) I'll get a snap trap. :eek:
Thanks all.0 -
Ah, that makes more sense. Once you close off the food supply, the problem will mostly go away, although in very cold weather you might see some evidence of mice sheltering.
All the bird feed is in big plastic drums so the mice found my stash of porridge oats. The new stash is now in plastic drums too. Yes, they are little wood / field mice rather than 'tom and gerry' type mice, rather cute.
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I can understand you not wanting a cat again. If you have control of the environment around you, there are very good reasons not to introduce felines.0 -
I had loads of mice in my loft before I paid a pest controller to get rid of them, there wasn't anything up there for them to eat so don't ask me why they lived and multiplied up there so happily? As for humane traps which don't operate you could try putting something like a steel washer in there to add a bit of weight not so much that it springs the trap but just enough to make the door close with the addition of a lightweight mouse.0
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