# What killed the mouse? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2026, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-the-mouse/1034293 "2026-10-31T16:34:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [October 31, 2026, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-the-mouse/1034293/1 "2026-10-31T16:34:35Z")
I put out some sticky traps last night. This morning I found one of them had caught a mouse, which was now dead in the trap. So what exactly was the cause of death? I don’t assume it coincidentally died of natural causes. But this wasn’t a spring trap; being caught didn’t kill it. Its face was uncovered so it could breath. It had no apparent injuries. I would have assumed that a mouse caught in a sticky trap would still be alive several hours later when I found him. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-the-mouse/1034293/2 "2026-10-31T16:46:46Z")
The critter probably died of a heart attack. I don’t generally object to glue traps, but it’s probably best not to think about them too much. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-the-mouse/1034293/3 "2026-10-31T16:51:16Z")
You may have to do a proper mouse autopsy to find the actual cause of death. It usually takes at least a day or two for a mouse to die of dehydration so we can probably rule that one out. Mice can injure themselves in sticky traps, so that’s a possibility. They can break bones, chew off limbs, all sorts of things. The actual cause of death in this case would likely be blood loss, possibly from internal bleeding. It’s also possible that the mouse exhausted itself trying to break free, and collapsed face-down into the sticky glue. Even if it managed to pull its face free, the glue might have clogged its airways and caused suffocation. Getting a bit into IMHO territory here, but while spring traps are a lot more violent, I think they are also a lot more humane. At least it’s over with fairly quickly for the mouse. I’ve had a lot of luck over the years with spring traps and peanut butter, except for one particular mouse that I nicknamed Rambo Mouse. It took basically blanketing the entire floor of an area that he kept going through with spring traps to get that one. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-the-mouse/1034293/4 "2026-10-31T16:52:43Z")
Possibly it struggled really intensely and basically worked itself into severe dehydration and exhaustion? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-the-mouse/1034293/5 "2026-10-31T16:57:23Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > At least it’s over with fairly quickly for the mouse. “Glue traps take hours. It’s a slow, horrible death.” “Well, at least it gets you out in the open air.” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-the-mouse/1034293/6 "2026-10-31T17:01:55Z")
The clock struck one, but the other got away. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-the-mouse/1034293/7 "2026-10-31T17:05:41Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > You may have to do a proper mouse autopsy to find the actual cause of death. Every day I’m amazed at what you can find online. (warning: PDF) > **[Mouse-Necropsy-Procedure.pdf](https://unclineberger.org/pathologyservices/wp-content/uploads/sites/1238/2023/04/Mouse-Necropsy-Procedure.pdf)** > > 581.28 KB ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-the-mouse/1034293/8 "2026-10-31T17:14:41Z")
They often get glue in their nose and suffocate. I think that’s what usually kills mice in glue traps. (I only use snap traps. I’ve never had one fail in a “damage the mouse without killing it quickly” way. I often use a tiny piece of chocolate jammed into the trigger. Chocolate is rigid, and as soon as they start to nibble, they move the trigger. Also, the chocolate usually falls out with the mouse when i take it to the mulch pile to dispose of the dead mouse, and i can reuse the trap.) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-the-mouse/1034293/9 "2026-10-31T18:03:47Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > It’s also possible that the mouse exhausted itself trying to break free, and collapsed face-down into the sticky glue. Even if it managed to pull its face free, the glue might have clogged its airways and caused suffocation. That’s horrific. 😢 I have had to kill lots of mice in my apt and I only use snap and electric traps now. I used to have glue ones and after seeing the results one time I realized just how _incredibly_ cruel they are. They are really awful things. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-the-mouse/1034293/10 "2026-10-31T18:45:20Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > after seeing the results one time I realized just how _incredibly_ cruel they are. They are really awful things. We had periodic mouse invasions at my workplace and always kept a box of snap-traps around. One year one of my co-workers said he had seen a mouse in the lunchroom on graveyard shift and was going to stop at a store on the way home to pick up some sticky traps. No need said I, we have a box of snap-traps in the locker-room, just pick up a little jar of cheap peanut butter and I’ll set a couple tomorrow. He says no, he prefers sticky traps. I say I think they’re kind of cruel. That’s the point he says - I hate them and I want them to suffer 😑. I found some bait and set the snap traps immediately and got the mouse just to preempt him. It was not completely unexpected coming from this particular guy, but…ick.