What to do about uninvited house guest?

[Xena]

So, basically, I was in bed last night, and I leaned over to turn on the alarm clock, and I noticed a dark shape moving over near the wardrobe.

As I watched, the shape darted across the room right towards me and shot under the bed!

So I was like "erm phil...there's something under the bed".

Anyway I think he thought I was seeing things, so I lay down and shut my eyes.....

then I started hearing rustling under the bed (I've got all sorts of crap under my bed...carrier bags and stuff). At which point Phil said "what was that?"

Clearly now he believed me.

Anyway we both sat up and looked around, and as we did, the thing came back out from under the bed and ran towards the door.

Now we leave the landing light on so that a little chink of light comes into the room so that it's not pitch black for Lydia.....

anyway as it got into the chink of light, I saw what it was....

a very small brown mouse!!

It got up on its hind legs and started patting at the door crack - it obviously wanted to get out but it couldn't fit through the crack.

I'm telling you, I was in shock! A MOUSE!!! It was sooooo cute though!

Anyway, Phil was saying "oh my god, we have to buy some mouse traps". I said "nooooo you can't KILL it!!!"
He eventually agreed that it IS very very cute so we won't kill it.

I made up my mind to catch it, so I got an empty SMA tin and crouched down on the floor ready to catch it as it came past (it had run off again under the bed).

I was crouched there for AGES....by this time it was about 2am! And I'm having to keep ridiculously quiet 1)so as not to wake Lydia, and 2) so as not to scare the mouse.

Then it ran straight past me...I didn't have a hope in hell of catching it.

Finally I decided to open the door a bit so it could get out. As cute as it was, I didn't want to go to sleep with a mouse running around the bedroom!

So I opened it, got back in bed, and waited, and sure enough the mouse ran out. Then I shut the door.

Thing is, this morning I went downstairs and saw it in the living room - then it ran off again behind the sofa. Damn pesky thing!

So....does anyone have any ideas how I can catch a mouse without killing it? It's obviously not hygienic to have it running about the place - especially when Lydia likes to play on the floor! But I really don't wanna kill it, it's so sweet.

 

[Jo]

Hmmm, i have this problem

except i have never seen it just evidence

i have just bought a repeller from ebay
http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search. ... MEWA:MEVSI

I have set traps but it is a genius it takes the bait but doesn't set the trap off

good luck hun, 'cos its driving me mad

 

[Xena]

oh wow that repeller looks alright - just makes the mice move away from the annoying sound it says. That sounds nice a humane! Cool I must get one of those

Thanks hun.

Good luck with your mouse too!

 

[PyscoFalcon]

Go to a petshop or someone that has gerbils and practise handling and catching them.

Then catching your mouse would be a sinch! The amount of escapee gerbils we've had helped us catch a mouse easy

 

[Xena]

Well I used to have a chipmunk....which was a ******* to catch but we used to manage....but this mouse is like Houdini! And the fact that he keeps popping out...he's teasing me, I just know it lol!

 

[Cat&Noah]

here you go, one humane mouse trap, using a recycled tin can http://www.pestfree.co.uk/cat-can.htm

 

[Hypnorm]

Human mouse traps are good as you can go release it some wher else.

Don;t waste your money on the repellers they don't work.

My FIL had two as he lives out in the sticks in the scottish borders and every winter gets mice in. even with the repellers they came in and chewed the carpets etc. we now have them as they ease my OH's tinitus..?!

 

[muffin]

you can get humane traps in B&Q and places like that, we have cats who bring mice in all the time!! lace the trap with peanut butter, mice cant resist it(cheese is a Tom and jerry myth!)

good luck!!

 

[cassi]

aww i want a free pet mouse!!! i used to have 2 mice, they were so cute, but one got a lump on his back and then he died, then his brother pined himself to death because of his brother dying :'(.. So then i got 2 pet rats! they were great they used to share my dinner with me lol, and if i ever had a can of beer with dinner they would come and lick some off the top of the can lol..bless em.

Now i have cats,, i dont think it would work somehow lol.

cas xx

 

[budge]

get a trap and put some peanut butter on the eating end. The mouse will go and eat it and the trap will spring shut chopping off the mouses head. Sometimes the trap just misses the mouses head though and gets its body in which case to put it out its misery get a tea towel lay it over the mouse and then get a brick and drop it on top of it.
Job done

 

[Miracle babe]

I really hate to say this but where there is one mouse there will be others, unless of course this little guy was brought in by a cat.
Apparently they never come in singles

 

[budge]

you're right -my brother had an infestation of them and im afraid humanely getting rid does not work. Threy return.

 

[LauraB]

I've got mice!

I use humane traps - you have to check them at least every six hours to make sure you don't leave one sweating in there - they do have tiny little holes, but little mousey can still get distressed and the whole idea is, after all, to be as nice as you can to them

I have also used blue poison on occasion though, especially when I'm feeling particularly overridden with them

 

[budge]

but laura do you not just keep going around in circles with them? trapping them releasing them and them re invading your home?

i say chop their heads off and donewith it. they are vermin and spread disease. I couldn't share my abode with a mouse

They breed as fast as you kill them anyway.

 

[LauraB]

budge ....... I edited my post afterwards, to admit that I do actually kill the little buggers with blue poison sometimes

I was told they take the poison back to their young and regurgitate it

Sometimes I lie in bed, casually listening to them enjoying the taste of my roof rafters in the attic, and I spend a few moments wondering how long it will be before a hole appears in my bedroom ceiling and one falls on my face I think I would actually die if that happened

 

[budge]

i noticed the edit but i was too lazy to edit mine.

M sister had rats in her loft last year. I would have to leave the house if i got rats. Mice are one thing rats another.

 

[Urchin]

i noticed the edit but i was too lazy to edit mine.

M sister had rats in her loft last year. I would have to leave the house if i got rats. Mice are one thing rats another.

When we lived in Thailand we had a wooden hut on the beach. One day we realised 2 rats were coming into it every night

Over there you can buy 2 big round discs, the size of LPs, covered in the thickest, gloopiest glue you can imagine. I don't think they are allowed over here.
We loaded the middle of the disc with some crisps and went to bed.
A few hours later we were woken up by this almighty SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEAK SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK! and they were both stuck fast to the glue.
I didn't even look, Richard gleefully jumped out of bed and battered them to death with an old umbrella

 

[LauraB]

!!!

 

[budge]

i noticed the edit but i was too lazy to edit mine.

M sister had rats in her loft last year. I would have to leave the house if i got rats. Mice are one thing rats another.

When we lived in Thailand we had a wooden hut on the beach. One day we realised 2 rats were coming into it every night

Over there you can buy 2 big round discs, the size of LPs, covered in the thickest, gloopiest glue you can imagine. I don't think they are allowed over here.
We loaded the middle of the disc with some crisps and went to bed.
A few hours later we were woken up by this almighty SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEAK SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK! and they were both stuck fast to the glue.
I didn't even look, Richard gleefully jumped out of bed and battered them to death with an old umbrella

 

[Xena]

i say chop their heads off and donewith it. .

well, aside from me wanting to be humane, there's also a very slight problem of my having a neurosis of severed heads. anything to do with severed heads (on telly, whatever) and I turn into a trembling almost-crying mess and have nightmares for weeks....

so that's a bit of a ******* lol

thanks everyone for the ideas. i saw it again in the living room last night. think i'm gonna head to homebase and see if they sell any humane traps today.