One more vote for spring traps and peanut butter.
(The glue traps have a couple of problems: mouse is often still alive when you find it and cannot be humanely released from glue, meaning you get to kill it; if you leave for a long weekend or extended trip, the mice caught in glue will slowly die of dehydration/starvation.)
I am sure it may have happened, but I have never heard of a spring trap injuring but not killing a mouse–and the kill is quick.
Not only are the mice now in the house, they’ve managed to make their way into my computer and they ate my last post. Argh. So my roommates went out this morning and bought a bunch of glue traps, so that’s what I have to work with until I can go shopping. I discovered the reason that a mouse decided to come into my room: a bag of Starbust candy that I had dropped on the floor last night and didn’t think to pick up. Ironically, it didn’t go for the peanut butter jar or the loaf of bread that I also had in my room.
BlackGriffin, if you’ve got a funny story I’d love to hear, I really would need a good laugh right now.
Now that there was a mouse in my room and it has discovered a source of food (all of which are now gone), I’ve decided to reopen the vent into my room and place glue traps right below it, as this seems to be its favourite way into my room. Both times that I have seen the mouse, it either escaped through the vent or tried to only to be thwarted and had to crawl under the door. Let’s just say that I am blasting Optimistic and I’m making alot of noise. Will all of this noise scare the mice back to where they came from? How about A Day in the Life by the Beatles? The part right after the crescendo where John stuck in that high-pitched noise that only animals could hear. Would that drive the mouse crazy? What if I make a copy of those couple of seconds and loop it endlessly? Any chance this could work?
I know I might’ve switched between mouse and mice in here. I have seen only one mouse, but I have to believe that where there is smoke there is fire and there are plenty more to come.
Vegetable oil is the trick for humanely releasing mice caught in glue traps–at least according to the box. I’m in the “evil fuzzy pellet-leaving disease vectors should DIE DIE DIE DIE” crowd, but I can respect the “catch and release” folks. 
Yup, go with the whack-a-trap. Years ago, I saw a mouse in my house and cornered him. But then I looked at him, shivering, and he was soooo cute and grey and fuzzy with those black marble eyes, and I couldn’t kill him. I let him scurry away with loud remonstrations to leave my house and never come back. (Think Scar to Simba in Lion King). Well, “he” turned out to be a “she” who was not very impressed with my Scar routine and the next thing I know she and her entire extended family had moved in and were taking deep advantage of my mercy.
In the end we went from the glue trap (stupid me thought you could just release their paws and drive them out to the woods), then had to resort to the big guns (poison) and while it worked very well, it made walking back into the house and discarding the carcasses very unpleasant. There must have been a dozen mice that ended up as bloated carcasses throughout my house, including inside the dropped ceiling of my basement. (You knew they were there because of the stench.)
But then again, do you even need an excuse to crank Optimistic?
Me and a bunch of friends recently had a three-day Insomnia-Fest, and Optimistic was the theme song.
The cleaning continues…and I found out their nice little hiding place in my room. Inside my right rollerblade, goddamned Starburst wrappers everywhere inside. That’s it, now it’s personal, that mouse better not have been chewing the inside of the blades or any chance of a catch and release program is gone. You little bastards are going to die.
The old fashioned traps are fine. Peanut butter, chocolate or cake. Change the bait if they don’t take one.
They stick to the walls so place traps along the walls, where the dropping are most. or gaps they are using. They can get through a hole the size of a pencil.
Unfortunately they also pee all the time everywhere they go (you can use a special light to show it up - might be UV not sure) so thorougly clean worktops etc or where ever they might have been.
I gotta say, glue traps suck. They don’t kill the mice, really, they just stick 'em tight. The owner of the pet store I used to manage bought some once to control a budding rat infestation in our warehouse, and I opened the store one day to several very much alive shrieking rats, with multiple broken legs and half the skin peeled off their bodies.
I’m not opposed to vermin eradication, but at least do it in such a way that it’s a quick kill. Snap traps are the way to go.
~mixie
I’ve had moderate success with the live traps. The time before last when I had mice, I baited 'em with horse feed and they went for it. A catch & release (with a little chorus of “Born Free”) and it was done. This last mousie was just too clever. FInally, hearing that I could free then with vegetable oil, I bought glue traps. Worked like a charm, the very first night. The next morning here was this little field mouse (I live next to a pasture and when it gets very rainy I tend to get mice) stuck to the trap. I took him to the release spot along with a bottle of vegetable oil. It didn’t work nearly as well as I hoped, but he seeled okay - he’d only been stuck by his tail and one foot. I finally got him loose and went away. When I went back to check I found the little mousie dead. So all the glue traps had to go.
My cat has no interest in mice, as long as they leave enough food for her.
StG
Okay, Here’s my story about a mouse.
This happened a few years ago.
My house is located on the end of a long driveway, that goes between 2 houses. On the other side of the road is a bush block. This story involves Method No. 2, from my previous post. But anyway.
Then, we all would troop up across the road to release the mouse straight into the bush, to stop it coming back.
Once we thought we could stand on the near side and the mouse would be scared into running across the road. Not so, the silly thing did a large hopping semicircle away, then back across the road to OUR side. Dad had to try to chase it back, but the mouse kept hopping away down the middle of the road. Eventually we were victorious.
Second story.
My sister went up by herself to release a mouse, but she didn’t see where it went. She assumed it just hopped away. She stood up and when she was walking back it felt like a twig was caught in a fold of her trousers, but when she shook her leg the mouse dropped off and ran back to the bush.
And those are the true stories.
Overall I think that “live trap, feed to pet” is the best alternative.
I’ve had great success with live traps. I usually bait them with dog food. (I’ve had them work within ten minutes of being placed near the mouse-hole.)
I can’t stand to kill them. After all, it’s not their fault that they’re mice, nor can you blame them for trying to house and feed their families.
Live trapper here, of course!
I’ve had a lot of success with a little plastic box trap. It’s about six inches long by 1 inch square or slightly bigger. I think it’s made by Victor, the snap trap people.
Anyway, it’s got a sort of gated front that comes down when the mouse goes to the back of the trap for the bait. I’ve also got a large box trap for rats. Both work just fine. I’ve caught a lot of escapee’s as well as the uninvited rodents.
A word of advice though. Release them a long way from home. If you just take them to the nearest bush, they’ll probably beat you home!
No glue traps!!!
They are nasty, cruel, rotten things made by someone with a real hatred for animals. Really. I firmly believe they should be outlawed. I’ve used snap traps when it wasn’t my choice - landlord’s orders - and I have had mostly clean kills. One or two weren’t. If you must kill 'em, that would be my choice. Poison is just nasty too, and possibly dangeous to other animals in the neighbourhood who might catch a weakened mouse.
The other methods of discouragement should be followed too. Securely package all food, put wire mesh on any openings and tightly fitting doors on cupboards. Watch out for your garbage can too.
If you can’t get a cat, what about borrowing one for a week or two? Maybe you could offer to catsit for someone going out of town. Even having a friend bring their cat over to spend the night once or twice might act as a deterrent, especially if you’ve got the food locked up anyway. Don’t forget to make sure there’s no source of water, either. You want the place to be worthless, from a rodent point of view!
Oh yeah, peanut butter. For sure!
First of all, exclusion is not going to work. A mouse can get through a hole no larger around than a dime, and if you think you’re going to find every crevice of that size and manage to seal it up, you’re crazy. Sealing obvious flaws is not a bad idea, but it’s not going to solve the problem.
Put out traps, either snap traps or glueboards. Both can be procured at hardware stores and home centers. Go into your basement and/or crawlspace (mice will get in at lower levels, and then move around the house at will). Look in corners, against the walls, up on the sill plate. Look for signs of mouse activity, such as droppings, which are black, about the size and shape of a grain of rice or a caraway seed, or a collection of acorns or seeds or shredded paper. Chewed areas on the wood is a sign also.
Mice have poor eyesight, so they stay close to vertical surfaces. Make sure as much wall space as possible is accessible to set traps (and retrieve them). Mice will eat in corners, as they can literally cover their backs while they eat.
Bait snap traps with a small amount of peanut butter and place them perpendicular to the wall with the trigger end closest to the wall. This will allow the mouse to approach the trigger from either side of the trap. Place them near corners and then every eight to ten feet around the perimeter of the foundation. Do the same on top of the foundation near the sill plate.
If you use glueboards, place them lengthwise against the wall in the same manner described above. Some glueboards are scented, but if yours aren’t you can soak a cotton ball in vanilla extract and place it in the center of the board (really, this works).
Check in your kitchen pantry and under the kitchen sink for evidence also. Placing a couple traps in these locations isn’t a bad idea. And keep your food off the floor and in sealable plastic or glass containers. You don’t want competitive food sources reducing the effectiveness of your lures.
Check the traps regularly and soon. Many times you’ll be able to see results overnight. Keep replacing the traps until the activity stops. You probably have more than one visitor.