It would be interesting to pain toenails or something and see if he comes back.
Thanks for not killing him. 
He’s back. He’s seriously back. I’m totally shocked. I really thought the stories of “you have to take it really far away or they’ll make their way back” weren’t true or at least exaggerated.
I’m positive it’s the same mouse. He has the little kink in his tail and if there were more than one mouse that were so unafraid that they run around my living room surely I’d see them both at the same time at least once. He’s doing all the same things as before.
Now what the hell am I supposed to do?? He’ll never go in the trap again.
And because he was “gone” I gave the budgies a bunch of cheerios and now there’s crumbs all over and he’s happily eating them.
sigh
Try the trap again, near the bird cage. If you can’t drive him to Memphis, buy a cage and keep him as a pet.
You’d think they could go crash at somebody else’s house, but no, they just come right back. You can catch it again. Vacuum up the cheerio crumbs and get rid of any other food the mouse can reach (and yes, they do climb, so it’s not safe even if it’s on a shelf), and he’ll get hungry enough to take the bait. If the bait you have isn’t tempting enough, try something else. You can wait until morning to take the mouse for a walk–you don’t have to do it in the middle of the night. BTDT
I’ve never had a mouse that was too smart to catch, but sometimes you have to get really creative. If one thing doesn’t work, try something else.
Air rifle / BB gun.
Update for anyone who cares.
I basically have a pet mouse. I caught him one more time but again, it was in the middle of the night and the trap is very small so this time I basically went outside and let him go right there. He was back in 14 hours so he cut off 3 hours from his last trip.
I bought a large live trap, put food, water and bedding in there so I wouldn’t feel bad about leaving him sitting for hours in a tiny trap. He won’t touch it. Won’t even touch any of the other traps either anymore.
He was gone for 4 days and I figured he was dead or at least gone for sure. He showed up again one evening. The people below me moved out and the carpets were cleaned and the apartment painted so maybe he left because of the fumes or something.
He pretty much just lives here now. I decided that as long as it’s just him and I never see signs of more than one, I’ll keep putting out and baiting the live traps. I’m hoping that eventually he’ll forget his trips outside and wander into the trap. I bought some raisins and I’m going to try those.
He comes close enough that I can see the little bulge under his tail so I know he’s a boy. The budgies don’t even pay attention to him anymore and I don’t swear at him. It’s all just “meh” at this point.
You could buy a mouse cage at Petsmart to keep him out of your kitchen.
Have you considered giving him a cookie? Followed by a glass of milk, a straw, a napkin, a haircut, a broom, a nap-time bed, a story, paper, and crayons. Then tell him you need to look in the garage for a magnet so you can put his drawing on the refrigerator. He’ll be a sitting duck when you come back into the kitchen, blazing away with your 12-gauge.
Ummmm.
Belay my last.
Ahem.
They are amazing.
Problem solved.
That is the trouble with being humane. I’ve tried catch and release. Each time, the mouse was back in my home before I was.
Don’t think I haven’t thought about it. I started looking at the cages, then all the tube add-ons, bedding, accessories, food “oh that food is crap, he needs this food - no wait! He needs to go outside!”.
That’s the one I have! Inside that is peanut butter, raisins, seeds, water and cheerios - he won’t go in!! He stands outside it and sniffs through the windows and looks in the doors but won’t go in.
When I used to have parrots and lived in the country I had a problem with mice as well- there was one particular shelf where I consistently saw turds so I set one of those humane traps there and waited. I checked faithfully several times a day and often it was sprung but that was because if I bumped the shelf or you walked too hard next to it, the trap would close. So I was constantly resetting the stupid trap.
One day I went in to feed the birds and look at the trap- wide open, bait still in it, so I went to get their water. I returned and it was sprung, so naturally I assumed I’d tripped it when I went by. Picked it up oh so casually, lifted it to my face and opened it…to see 2 tiny eyeballs peering out at me. I don’t know if he screamed first or I did but if there had been a hidden camera I would have won all of the money. He skittered off, I about had a heart attack and I never opened it so casually again. The funny part is, it didn’t feel at all heavier than when I’d just picked it up, that thing must have weighed like half an ounce. Cute little guy. I did catch and release him but I’m sure he moved right back in- when you live in the country you just live with mice sometimes.
Hahaha so funny.
And yeah when it’s sprung there’s no difference in how heavy it feels. I wiggle it back and forth a little and then listen. The first time I put him out I opened it, and held it down near the bushes and nothing happened so I figured I must have sprung it accidentally and there was nothing in there. Then I gave it a few more shakes and he plopped out.
Honestly if he could promise me that it would only be him and never another one, I’d just leave him be. He only hangs out in the living room where the cages are. Under the cages is hot water baseboard heating and I think he lives behind it as it runs the length of three walls. I also think he must be getting in where the water pipe comes in.
His trap is freshly baited and I rubbed peanut butter all over the little hallway and stuck seeds into the peanut butter. Fingers crossed but I’ve pretty much given up.
They don’t smell nearly as yummy as real peanut butter. I had to bait them with PB anyway.
Before the West Nile wiped them out our crows would sometimes beg. They learned to recognize the car, so one came up to me at the grocery store, begging like a baby bird. In public? Had it no dignity? I laughed at it. It deserved my laughter.
With mice, I enjoyed the company of Mr Mouse I until he went upstairs. I warned him. Then Mr Mouse II and I were getting along fine until he brought home a girlfriend. I caught two adults but not before they brought about a teaspoon of D-Kon for the kids, though the female looked virgo intacta when I caught her.
FG, let me introduce you to my Little Girls. They could solve your problem and you could post the details! Everybody loves a post that includes graphic detail. 
Have you placed it next to the wall, as instructed?
did you clean it with soapy water, after the last use?
I would give up on the live-catch traps. They may seem humane, but kicking the mouse out into the wild isn’t doing it any favors.
Last time I caught one was the night before a trip; we couldn’t be bothered to detour to the park first, so mousie got a 2 hour drive to the seaside.
He didn’t beat me home.
If you can keep a pet bird, you can keep a pet mouse.
Snap traps work quickly. I know they can fail, but I’ve never had that problem, and I’ve trapped a lot of mice. I use chocolate to bait the trap. It’s easy to clean up, unlike sticky stuff. Yes, I re-use the traps.
I wouldn’t use sticky traps because they are inhumane, nor poison because the mouse crawls into an inaccessible place to die, and then they rot and you can’t remove the stench. But I’ve been quite satisfied with snap traps.
They will sneak into your bedroom at night and eat your toes. :dubious: