Has anyone tried to get rid of mice in a human way?

[leftyladyfrommo]

For some reason last year was a terrible mouse season. I guess it wouldn't matter if I just killed them all but I am a Buddhist and we don't kill things. So now I am sharing the house with 3 dogs and about 50 mice. Which wouldn't be a huge problem except that they really make a mess.

So I have spent about $150 on sonar devices. I plugged one in yesterday in the kitchen and it really did help. So I bought two more for my other 2 rooms 0 I have a really small house.

I feel sorry for mice. They seem to be the main food source for just about everything out there. And I don't want to hurt them but I just can't have them running all over the house.

I can't just dump them outside because it is too cold out there. They would die from the cold.

[hlthe2b]

1. I'd spend some money on mouse-proofing the outside of the house--

Get someone to help you plug all the entrance points (brillo pads work well)

Mice spread disease, so you do need to get them out of your house. Whether or not you can live catch and relocate may be up to local regulations. Maybe talk to local wildlife sanctuary/rehab centers and ask what they can recommend.

I share your qualms about killing them. Good to hear that the sonar devices help. I'd heard that they didn't.

[chelsea0011]

2. If you can't find out where they are coming in from the outside, hire someone

who can. I had a mouse problem and they found their entry point, filled it in, and now no mice.

Also, a good place to start is where the trouble spots are. Go outside and check that area especially above the foundation under the shingles.

[ollie10]

3. I can't think of a humane way if keeping them outside is not an option

Mice can enter house through very small openings, so sealing them would keep at least some of the unwanted guests out.

You could use a no-kill trap....but then what do you do with the mouse if you can't put it outside?

[leftyladyfrommo]

10. Another friend tried the no kill traps and said they didn't work at all.

Another wrinkle in this is that I have 3 dogs. I can't use anything that would hurt the dogs.

[Rorey]

27. I don't think it's healthy for the dogs to have them there

As someone else said, they carry disease.

I don't like to kill things either. When we first bought our house there was an issue with mice. I did use the live traps and released them about a mile away, but I don't recall it being in extreme cold temperatures. Ultimately the solution to the mice problem was to find their access hole and seal it up.

My husband and I are landlords. We bought run-down houses and renovated them. A couple of years ago we bought a little house on the outskirts of town that had tenants in it. The tenants didn't want to leave and didn't want us to work on the house, so we didn't do much right away. I had actually never seen the interior until they moved out this past summer. Turns out they were hoarders and the house was overrun with mice. My husband used these green cube things and apparently they're gone. He put them in places that weren't accessible to pets, like the attic and crawlspace. We saw no sign of mice while we were renovating, and our new tenants haven't had a problem. I'm sorry that they had to go to mouse heaven , but we couldn't have them making people (and pets) sick and chewing on wires. Mice can do a lot of damage.

I read that mice don't like mint, so you could try essential oils or something along those lines. Maybe you should research how your dogs might react to that.

I definitely understand and respect your religious beliefs and your morals. I've struggled with decisions I've made and I feel your pain.

[we can do it]

4. Get a cat.😸

[leftyladyfrommo]

13. I wish I could.

But I have 3 dogs and none of them is cat friendly.

[janterry]

5. Here are some tips

First, you should know that actually do pretty well in snow and cold (they live under the snow). So, don't worry so much about that. You do need to figure out how they get in. You need to stop it. They can do a lot of damage in your house (including chewing through wires).

From the article:
The most effective way to prevent mice is to find their entry points and seal them, using items such as steel wool and dryer sheets, Calvert said.
also,

“Something about the smell (of the dryer sheets),” Calvert said. “They can’t stand it. They work well.”


There are 'have a heart traps'. Trap them and send them outside. They will find a way to survive (burrowing under the snow, for instance).

http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/yes-it-s-a-banner-winter-for-mice-here/article_bc540d10-ade0-5606-8da4-18f4ff67ca5b.html

[PunkinPi]

6. We had some mice in our attic last year...

and used Mice Cubes, they are harmless and reusable --> https://www.amazon.com/Mice-Cube-Pk-Reusable-Humane/dp/B000WB13QC/ref=sr_1_12?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1518104544&sr=1-12&keywords=humane+mouse+trap+catch+and+release

We baited it with a little lump of peanut butter inside the trap, then took them to a local park to release them. I know you said it's cold and don't want to put them outside, but they do have little fur coats .

[Ferrets are Cool]

7. I've tried everything you can imagine...

we are not on a slab, so what worked for us was to put mothballs under the house.
It sounds like you are not in the same situation, so you are probably doing the best thing you can do. And dont worry, the sonic devices will not hurt them. And i dont believe they will die from the cold. They are very adaptable.
These are just my opinions. I'm sure others will have some great ideas.

[MFM008]

8. It says mice nest

Near food sources.
Pet food. Garbage.
Somewhere they are getting food.
Inside and/or outside.
Plug up entrances and holes.
Food in plastic containers.
They will even eat books and nibble cloths.
Humane traps in difficult places may help.

[leftyladyfrommo]

12. They will eat anything. I can attest to that.

I bought some herbal packages that were supposed to repel the mice. They ate them.

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. The mice are in the crawl space.

I don't care if they stay down there.

My house is really old and there is no way to plug up all the holes everywhere.

[ollie10]

17. Maybe not ALL the holes, but the more holes you seal, the fewer mice you will have

That's how most are getting in. Keeping them out is more humane than dealing with them after they have made a home in your house.

An added benefit, your house will lose less heat in the winter and less cool in summer if it is better sealed. So that's another reason to seal things up.

[unblock]

11. our electric company actually plugged up all the mouse holes for free.

for free (well i suspect they're getting paid by the state to do this), our electric company will come to your house and help make it more energy-efficient.

they put a giant fan in our front doorway and then went through the house feeling for small breezes to find the holes, then they plug them up.


it's not meant as a pest control service but it does double-duty

they also gave us some free high-efficiency light bulbs

[Me.]

14. Here's The Thing

They don't just make a mess and poop everywhere, they also pee on everything which you can't see and clean up and which will cause illness. Tried the humane way, everything from peppermint on cotton balls on...didn't work. I only had a few so I can't imagine if I had 50. The other thing I did was make sure there are no holes in the walls or anywhere and installed a rodent-proof door sweeps because mice can squeeze into 1/4" of space and get in that way.

[leftyladyfrommo]

16. I disinfect more than anyone on the planet.

[Me.]

19. Excellent

But as I said you can't see everywhere they go. I wish you all luck and success with this.

[leftyladyfrommo]

23. They go everywhere.

My next step is to start disinfecting everywhere.

In some ways it is kind of funny. I don't think my house has ever been cleaner. I am cleaning constantly.

[leftyladyfrommo]

20. They have been around for a long time.

I don't worry about getting sick from them anymore. I think they are just born and live and die in the crawl space so they aren't running around in garbage and areas where there is a lot of filth.

My main concern is that they are so destructive. Poor little guys. They can't help being mice.

[Me.]

21. They Are Being True To Their Nature

which is what makes this such a difficult problem. I commiserate with that $150. I don't know how much we spent.

[Arkansas Granny]

15. My dil says that peppermint oil will deter them. She put a few drops on cotton balls and placed

them in her cabinets, under the sink and any place she had seen signs of mice and it seemed to do the trick. She used pure peppermint essential oil, not the flavoring that you find at the supermarkets.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. I know you already have three dogs,

but consider getting a cat.

Some years back, after the cat we had passed, we didn't plan to get another one. But after about 8 months or so I was not only hearing but I was beginning to see mice in the house. Went to the animal shelter, adopted a wonderful cat, and pretty soon, no more mice.

I am not sure that cat ever actually caught a mouse, but her presence in the home was sufficient to persuade them seek residence elsewhere.

[leftyladyfrommo]

22. One of my dogs is a mouse hunter.

She knows everywhere the mice are and she constantly is one the watch for them. She just whams them with her paw.

My other two dogs don't seem to really care all that much.

I know people will just laugh at this but from a Buddhist perspective it might be better to kill them. Then they would have a chance at a better reincarnation the next time around. Actually, that is just a rationalization. One of the most important precepts in Buddhism is not to kill and they mean any sentient life. Even if it causes hardship.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

24. She may be a mouse hunter but she sure isn't scaring the mice away.

Cats often do. I suppose it's the way they smell or some such. Although the real problem might be that your mice are extremely well established in your house.

How much hardship should a Buddhist endure? What if the mice carry Bubonic Plague? They can, and here in New Mexico the Plague is endemic because mice carry it, and every year several people get it and often a couple of them die.

[leftyladyfrommo]

31. That us a good question.

I have asked myself that.

I really think that as long as you do every compassionate thing that you can.

[WhiteTara]

25. You do have another solution.

Move. If you don't get rid of the 50 mice now, you won't have an inch of space without a mouse. Traps might work.

[Beakybird]

26. It's good to be humane

But you have the right to live without vermin.

[iscooterliberally]

28. I would contact the Tomahawk Trap company.

I trap cats and get them fixed. We have a lot of strays in my neighborhood. I bought a couple of the traps that they sell at Lowe's or Home Depot and had to return them. They just don't work. This company makes mouse traps, but I was unable to tell if they were humane or not. It seems like they could be, but you should call them to verify before you order anything. They're inexpensive too. Here's a link to the company so you can find out:

http://www.livetrap.com/

Good luck!

PS - to clarify, the Tomahawk traps worked! It was the ones that I bought locally that did not. I had to order the Tomahawks online.

[jalan48]

29. I tried the catch and release. Before I knew it my Rottweiler caught a mouse in the house.

At that point I switched to snap traps. Mice urine in my silverware drawer over road my loving instincts.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

30. A good mouser cat? Mine eats what he kills, and to my way of thinking its more moral (and

healthier) food for him than the canned cat food I also feed him which is made from poorly treated and abused livestock animals.

All I can say is Im sure glad my Orangie loves fresh mousie - Im not sure what Id do otherwise because none of the other methods sound like anything Id want to do. Its also good for my cat's mental well being I think to have something useful to do - he will spend hours waiting for them to come out at night.

Wouldnt sonar just drive them outside anyway? They're ok outsid e- their ancestors knew what to do for many milennia. If you have acompost pile they'll take up residence there or will nest in the grass under the snow.

You might also do a thorough inspection of your house and caulk all cracks and openings they could get in through - up through the holes cut for plumbing, under kitchen sink, etc.

[Alpeduez21]

32. Mice reproduce super quickly

Like most food populations of animals. A mouse is pregnant for 30 days. Producing on average 5-6 mice. They can get pregnant again within a few days. Babies are ready to reproduce in 6 weeks.

In a month your 50 mice could be 200. In the 3 months it will take for winter to be over you will have over a thousand mice. Food sources will determine the sustainability and reproduction of the population. If you won't kill them or put them outside (like two miles away, outside) you will have a VERY serious problem. Call a professional and see what advice they offer. Mice chew walls, wires, carpets, furniture, and wood. They poop and pee everywhere. I am afraid you will have to put down quite a number of them before this situation becomes tenable again. I may be wrong.

I use humane traps and release the few mice we get a year. I live in a very rural area. I mentioned to coworkers my humane mouse habit and the universal response, on separate occasions, was inevitably "Why? They're just mice."

While I am not in control of life it should be considered that mice are just food for larger things to eat. Like I said I catch and release but with such a big infestation I think more drastic measures should be considered.

[Kali]

33. If you think you have 50 you probably have 500.

They are considered pests for a reason, they are filthy and can spread disease. Seal up and/or call a pest control company before your neighbors call the health department.

Yes they are cute, go to a pet store and get one to keep in an aquarium or something if you want pet mice, a house infestation is not a good thing. "Humane" traps are just bullshit to make people feel good and either the animal dies in a new location or becomes someone else's problem. Seal up and use old fashioned snap traps, they are as humane as you are actually ever going to get. They kill fast and are reusable.

[LeftInTX]

34. No matter how humane you are, sooner or later some will die

Many times they will die within walls and there is no way you can remove the dead mouse without removing the wall. We've had rats die between the walls and the smell is hell for weeks.

Prevention is the best, an exterminator can set up external barriers. The best thing is to get them out of your house first before any barriers are set up. Setting up barriers with 50 mice inside may not be practical, because they will simply be trapped in your house and will keep reproducing.

[leftyladyfrommo]

35. I found something that is really working. Just in case someone else has this problem.

I bought 2 metal boxes at Walmart for $6.94. They can be used as catch and release or you can put in a glue sheet.

I just put some peanut butter and some mouse food in the boxes. I caught a bunch of them really fast. I put them right by the place where they come up from the crawl space.

I just took them over to the park near me and let them loose. There is a whole lot of deep ground cover there. They will either make it or not but at least they have a chance and they are back in the ecosystem where they belong.

I will just keep using the boxes until I don't get any more mice.

I work with animals all day long so killing them is impossible for me. There are a lot of people that think that dogs are unclean or filthy (including out joke of a president). It all depends on where they are. Mice are a really important part of the ecosystem if they are outside where they belong.

[Kali]

36. there are MANY species of mice

house mice have evolved to live in human habitations, that is what they do. the animals you are releasing are either going to die or find their way into nearby homes/buildings. it is more humane to use a snap trap.

[meow2u3]

37. You might want to get a few of these

The most natural method of getting rid of mice. What they don't kill, they scare away.

[MissB]

38. We used to lure them into a tall plastic garbage can

The can was square sided and tall enough that they couldn’t jump out. They’d find enough stuff under the sink to crawl on to jump in bit not enough to get out. We’d put some food in the bottom of the can. They’d jump in and we’d have a live mouse.

We took them to the nearby overgrown gully and let them go. Many would likely be eaten, but that’s on them not me.

We use snap traps nowadays. I’m sure we’ve snapped momma mice before because we’ve found nests of dead baby mice. We’ve reduced their population significantly in the last two years- I want to say it’s been 18+ months of no snapped traps (we keep snap traps set up in parts of the house we’ve seen evidence of mice in so we know when they’ve been triggered.)

[Wolf Frankula]

39. To Keep Them Out

Get a lot of used kitty litter and spread it outside the house along the edge. They will stay away.

Wolf