how to catch a mouse cheaply

bookduck

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/easterly110.html

Mice tend to live in groups, think you may have more than one!

*Chattie*

I certainly wouldn't put down poison as then the mouse will go somewhere to die and you will only find it by the smell of the decomposing body.

frivolous_fay

I sat up with an upturned biscuit jar and a twig attached to a length of string.

k1mmie

I used (fingers crossed as I say this) to have quite a few visitors, field mice. House built on marsh land. They would wait till the house quitened down at night and then come out through the vents in the skirting board (they have no backbones and fit through the smallest of spaces). However this was a nightly occurance.

Dog had a few sightings and chased a couple of times - think he would love to get hold of them but they are too quick for a lab.

Certainly not the cheapest by any means, but I went to RObert Dyas and bought the sonic plug ins. These do not affect your pets and give off such a high frequency (too high even for the pets) that they cover a wide area. I already have the plastic traps with doors and caught nothing. So far, only one sighting in about 3 weeks, so hopefully they are working. Probably does not help that half my kitchen is exposed at the moment as knocked walls down and ceilings down etc, (not to find the mice though lol).

wannabe_sybil

*Chattie* wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't put down poison as then the mouse will go somewhere to die and you will only find it by the smell of the decomposing body.

My experience is that they do not - there is some scientific reason for it but I don't know what it is. Rats do decompose but I have not had the misfortune of dealing with them.

When we had mice (a long time ago) I don't think that there were these ultrasonic thingies around or I would have tried them, and since then we have been possessed by cats. The mice wouldn't know how useless she is, but she is a sort of deterrent. The occasional mouse visitor has escaped.

But ultimately you have to question about health, safety, the destruction they cause - you have to somehow deal with your conscience and your living conditions.

bookduck

Wannabe sybil, that little body decomposes and stinks!!! However since the body is little they dry out fast especially on warm days and if you are unlucky it only smells for a few days!

HelzBelz

vaio wrote: »

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

We've had these, but the little furry f**kers ate their way back out!

ixwood

cheepskate wrote: »

..

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.
..

They're HOUSE mice. They've evolved to live alongside man. They don't like it out in the open.

Woby_Tide

Mutter_2

ixwood wrote: »

They're HOUSE mice. They've evolved to live alongside man. They don't like it out in the open.

Not so. I had a mouse problem as did most when I moved into a flat in Clifton, Bristol. They were house mice.

What I have here is a fieldmouse/woodmouse, tiny little creature.
We even had a shrew walk in one day. OP lives in wooded area so probably is also a field mouse.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/wood-mouse

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=house+mice&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title