how to catch a mouse cheaply

cheepskate_2

Hi

We have a small rodent problem, well 1 to be precise.

Found a mouse under our fridge and hubby thought it had went back into the hole it had made in the woodwork, so proceded to block up this hole.

Unfortunetly the mouse is still with us, and we want to humanly catch it and put it out.

We have a cat who we dont want to let it get to it .

We dont have an infestation and occassionally get the single mouse problem, as we live in a wooded type area, and want to catch it but not spend anything doing so.

Any help appriciated.

thanks

Raksha

Take a bucket, lay it on its side, prop the open end up with a stack of books to make a 'ladder' for mousey....... Bait the trap with chocolate (make sure the books make the inside of the bucket sufficiently steep that he can't climb/jump out) and leave it there over night.

Beward though, mice which have been trapped and released anything up to a couple of miles from home, will make their way back again, I speak from experience with a mouse and a bottle of tippex!

foreign_correspondent

If you get them in occassionally and you don't want to set traps, I had something similar to this in a flat I lived in abroad -
http://www.primrose-london.co.uk/mouse-repeller-whole-house-p-36.html
- we had a huuuge mouse problem, and I was cynical but found that one similar to this worked wonders!

I just found this one online last night, after visiting my gran and realising she had what I assume is a rat!!! :eek: (bloody big hole if its a mouse!) I have ordered one for her, as she is too elderly to deal with traps, and potentially an injured rat (I hate the idea of poison too!)

lol- sorry I just re-read the title - at £23 my recommendation is not very cheap - but I did feel it was good value when we had one as it saved so much hassle, wasted food (that the mice had nibbled) and potential damage.

vaio

We had one (or maybe 3) recently, the pound shop provided a sort of plastic box with a pivoting end wall, with smelly stuff in a little dish. Came in a pack of two.

Put it down where mice run, mouse goes in, end wall pivots closed, quick walk to release it over the park and that’s that.

You need to walk quickly on the way back as they are clever little things and will follow you home. Once I’d told the OH this she ran back the last time and we haven’t seen any since.

I suppose the really MSE way is go the cat way, save on traps and on cat food

ixwood

There's never only 1 mouse/rat/slug/cockroach etc.

Where are you going to put it/them?

geri1965_2

Mice are a pest - you need to kill it, and all the others, as quickly as you can before they breed and you end up with dozens of them.

They may be cute but they can cause an awful lot of damage.

cheepskate_2

vaio wrote: »

I suppose the really MSE way is go the cat way, save on traps and on cat food

Think the cat would agree with you there, as he's been sitting in the kitchen all night just waiting for it to come out.:D

Plan to get it out tonight and away in the morning .

I don't beleive in killing an animal, just because it has went into the wrong home/ food source, If we stopped using every available piece of land for houses, mabye their natural killers (not the cat :rolleyes:) would be around in greater number to keep them at a reasonable level and the mice would not be inindating our homes , but man strikes again.

ixwood- I,m sure it is only one.



Thanks to all for all the advice, hopefully he will be gone soon

thanks

ailuro2

feed the cat a little less, then he'll make a serious attempt to catch the mouse? - then the mouse will know your home is a dangerous place to be...and may even pass the word on to the rest of the nest it's living with.

We had a mouse and it ate through all our packets of food, I felt bad, but had to remember they carry diseases. We baited the trap with chocolate spread, but only caught one mouse - before they had a chance to multiply.;)

Mutter_2

cheepskate wrote: »

Think the cat would agree with you there, as he's been sitting in the kitchen all night just waiting for it to come out.:D

Plan to get it out tonight and away in the morning .

I don't beleive in killing an animal, just because it has went into the wrong home/ food source, If we stopped using every available piece of land for houses, mabye their natural killers (not the cat :rolleyes:) would be around in greater number to keep them at a reasonable level and the mice would not be inindating our homes , but man strikes again.

ixwood- I,m sure it is only one.



Thanks to all for all the advice, hopefully he will be gone soon

thanks

Agree with all you say, but there comes a time when we have to call a halt to mousey problem.
We get the occasional field mouse run up through the cavity wall and scurry through the suspended floor.
Last one was humanely caught and delivered 5 miles away. All that did was to vacate the space for another. Now I can hear this one gnawing.

As the whole house has underfloor heating in plastic tubing, mousey has to go. Bite through the tubes and the ceilings are in danger of collapse and insurance does'nt pay for vermin damage.
Bait is now down and cavity walls to be filled.
As much as I empathise with your ideals, having a cat surely goes right against them, unless of course cat does'nt go outside.

wannabe_sybil

Mice carry disease and widdle on the wiring.

Do any of those ultrasonic thingies work? That might be a way.

Normally a mouse will not come in to where a cat lives, but you do get the odd one or two, especially if the weather is bad. Cats are ineffective at destroying mice. In fact, your uninvited house guest may have been brought in by your cat and got away while the cat was 'playing'.

I have also heard that they do not like the smell of peppermint, and that they avoid that, but I have no idea how effective that would be.

(I admire your stand, and understand how you feel, but in your position I would put down poison).

toffifee

We had a mouse and traps didn't work.
Instead we did this (similar to Raksha's reply): http://glass.typepad.com/journal/2005/09/how_to_catch_a_.html
It worked a treat!