# I have to murder a wee mouse **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410 "2015-06-25T00:09:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/1 "2015-06-25T00:09:35Z")
In the winter I noticed some droppings under my kitchen garbage bag. I cleaned it up and things have relatively fine since. (Although occasionally the odd tear in my kitchen garbage bag made me think he was still afoot.) Two nights ago I saw the little bugger, and he scurried into my laundry room. Today I bought some death traps. Sorry buddy, you’re cute and all but you can’t live here for sanitary purposes, so you need to die. What should I put on the mouse trap? Incidentally it’s a made in the USA Victor mouse trap that says on the packaging “1 Billion Sold.” That’s a lot of mice! So, peanut butter? Cheese? Cheese smeared with peanut butter? Does it even matter? Maybe anything that even resembles food will do. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/2 "2015-06-25T00:12:11Z")
You have to do what you have to do. The little guy in my house tried to kill me back by putting the D-con in my toaster. Yeah, peanut butter or cheese if you want. Interestingly, there was a short video a few weeks back on CBS that talked about how the Victor trap has remained unimproved and unchanged for a century. People have tried to improve it, but no cigar. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/3 "2015-06-25T00:23:55Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Interestingly, there was a short video a few weeks back on CBS that talked about how the Victor trap has remained unimproved and unchanged for a century. People have tried to improve it, but no cigar. Like Hell. > **[Amazon.com : Victor M310S Tin Cat Multi-Catch Live Mouse Trap - Indoor and...](https://www.amazon.com/Victor-M310S-Trap-Catches-Geometric-Pattern/dp/B00004RAMU)** > > Amazon.com : Victor M310S Tin Cat Multi-Catch Live Mouse Trap - Indoor and Outdoor Humane Catch and Release : Home Pest Control Traps : Patio, Lawn & Garden > [@](#): > > You can get rid of the mice in your house without having to see or touch them or kill them - this live trap is the ideal solution for you! The Victor TIN CAT mouse trap allows you to catch and release the mice without having to touch them. It catches up to 30 mice and is disposable or reusable, depending on your preference. Easy to set and bait, this live trap can be used around food, water, children and pets. I own one, and when I had a mouse issue, it caught several per night. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/4 "2015-06-25T00:27:04Z")
Another vote for the Tin Cat. It’s humane, and it really does work. The little guys get curious, clamber in, sit happily and eat the bait, and then in the morning you can “sentence them to transportation.” (If you feel you must, you can drown them right in the trap. But it’s more fun to go for a walk in the woods and let 'em go sproing. It’s still a death sentence, as you’re feeding them to the owls, but at least it’s indirect.) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/5 "2015-06-25T00:27:42Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Like Hell. > > [Amazon.com : Victor M310S Tin Cat Multi-Catch Live Mouse Trap - Indoor and Outdoor Humane Catch and Release : Home Pest Control Traps : Patio, Lawn & Garden](http://www.amazon.com/Victor-Humane-Live-Mouse-M310/dp/B00004RAMU) > > I own one, and when I had a mouse issue, it caught several per night. Hmm. I didn’t know about that, but alas, my mouse will have its neck snapped. Sorry Mickey. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/6 "2015-06-25T00:36:41Z")
We have used peanut butter, but it’s not fool proof. I have heard “Snickers” (the peanut and nugget candy bar) is a better choice. They have to work harder to nibble at it, which keeps them in position for the death blow. Good on you for not catching and releasing. For one thing you have to take them miles to guarantee they’re not just coming straight back. For another - vermin!:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/7 "2015-06-25T00:41:07Z")
Chocolate. Chocolate chips. No mouse can resist. Trust me on this. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/8 "2015-06-25T01:05:17Z")
I’m setting the traps (they were sold in a package of two) now. A chocolate chip, smeared with peanut butter. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/9 "2015-06-25T01:25:37Z")
Wee sleekit cowran tim’rous beastie, What a panic’s in thy breastie! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/10 "2015-06-25T01:34:45Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Wee sleekit cowran tim’rous beastie, > What a panic’s in thy breastie! Hahaha. I actually thought of Burns as I wrote the OP. Nice! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/11 "2015-06-25T01:34:55Z")
“You got peanut butter on my chocolate chips!” “You got chocolate chips in my peanut butter!” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/12 "2015-06-25T01:36:01Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I actually thought of Burns as I wrote the OP. ::steeples fingers:: “Excellent!” Oops - Rabbie, not Montgomery. Ne’er mind. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/13 "2015-06-25T01:45:08Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > In the winter I noticed some droppings under my kitchen garbage bag. I cleaned it up and things have relatively fine since. (Although occasionally the odd tear in my kitchen garbage bag made me think he was still afoot.) > > Two nights ago I saw the little bugger, and he scurried into my laundry room. Today I bought some death traps. Sorry buddy, you’re cute and all but you can’t live here for sanitary purposes, so you need to die. > > What should I put on the mouse trap? Incidentally it’s a made in the USA Victor mouse trap that says on the packaging “1 Billion Sold.” That’s a lot of mice! > > So, peanut butter? Cheese? Cheese smeared with peanut butter? Does it even matter? Maybe anything that even resembles food will do. What do you think? Nutella. The little mousies love that stuff. If you really don’t want to kill the mouse, you can get a live trap. I have one that works really well–if you’re interested, I can try to find it on Amazon and post a link. You do have to take it far away from your house before you let the mouse go, or it will come right back in. :smack: There’s also the low-budget paper towel tube and big bucket method, but your bucket has to be big enough that the mouse can’t jump out (a 5-gallon bucket might work). I tried this one time but the bucket was too small, so it didn’t work very well.[URL=“[http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/14 "2015-06-25T02:14:17Z")
A stick of dynamite dressed as a buxom girl mouse. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/15 "2015-06-25T02:18:20Z")
A jelly bean really stuck onto the place for the bait works well. In a rent house I lived in when we were young and broke, I used a small piece of paper towel smeared with peanut butter, bacon drippings or braunschweiger liver sausage. Just don’t make it too easy to steal the bait. Make the little beastie tug on it. Make sure you also remove other food sources as much as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/16 "2015-06-25T02:30:04Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > …There’s also the low-budget paper towel tube … Oh oh. Apparently you’re going to be warned now! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/17 "2015-06-25T02:41:09Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > A stick of dynamite dressed as a buxom girl mouse. The very Acme of solutions. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/18 "2015-06-25T03:04:25Z")
If you’re looking for a non-lethal possibility (which admittedly the OP doesn’t seem to be) you can try peppermint oil. Get a bottle at a health food store or some new age shop. Then sprinkle a few drops in each room of your house. You want it to be strong enough that your house smells like peppermint. My understanding is that mice have a much stronger sense of smell than humans have and are very sensitive to peppermint. So enough peppermint for you to smell will be like them getting sprayed in the face with tear gas. They’ll flee your house and if you keep it up for a few days, they’ll settle in someplace else. I’ve had mice in a couple of places and I’ve tried this. It’s worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/19 "2015-06-25T03:10:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you’re looking for a non-lethal possibility (which admittedly the OP doesn’t seem to be) you can try peppermint oil. Get a bottle at a health food store or some new age shop. > > Then sprinkle a few drops in each room of your house. You want it to be strong enough that your house smells like peppermint. > > My understanding is that mice have a much stronger sense of smell than humans have and are very sensitive to peppermint. So enough peppermint for you to smell will be like them getting sprayed in the face with tear gas. They’ll flee your house and if you keep it up for a few days, they’ll settle in someplace else. > > I’ve had mice in a couple of places and I’ve tried this. It’s worked for me. Interesting. Thanks. But for now, the traps are set. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410/20 "2015-06-25T03:46:44Z")
If this becomes a chronic problem, you may want to get a cat. But then you may have to deal with half-dead “gifts” in your shoes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-to-murder-a-wee-mouse/723410.md?page=2)