What the hell is that supposed to mean?
You’re not implying that you torture these animals, right?
Because those glue traps are utterly disgusting, satanic and IMO, should be banned.
I’ve used these traps. They’re easy to bait and set with no risk of catching your fingers while doing it. They can be disassembled and cleaned easily. Disposing of the dead mouse (and they always ended up dead) is simple.
I’ve also used this. It’s fast and self setting. The only problem is it sometimes won’t release the dead mouse.
The best mouse trap I’ve used was made of plastic and looked a bit like a clothes peg / clamp. It was reusable, pretty clean, could be reset by stepping on it, made of recycled plastic and best of all, when closed the bait was no longer accessible so other mice couldn’t steal it.
I’ve always wondered: is it possible the mice aren’t dead and we’re actually catching the same mouse?
SPCA showed a picture of a cat caught in a glue trap. It was disturbing.
The glue traps are a problem. One day I saw a mouse get caught but was in a rush to go out & figured I’d deal with it when I got home. So when I came home, he was on the right side, and
*DISGUSTING SCENE AHEAD *
LEFT 1/2 HIS FACE on the left side when he pulled it off!
The good ol’ fashioned Victor wood one work every time, snaps their neck, and if you put on gloves & use a screwdriver, u can pry the springarm open to reset while holding over the garbage to dispose of the victim. A trap was good for 5 or so before the wood cracked. And peanut butter worked beautifully as bait. Also, Cap’n Crunch.
I know far more about this topic than I care to. My girlfriend and I got a pair of female English Fancy Mice as pets (seriously cuter than Jerry of Tom and Jerry). Nice, easy to care for pet that only lasts a year or so, so no big commitment if you do not like them. They are easy to handle, take little room, and do not smell or make much noise.
Unfortunately one of them had been accidentally put in the male cage at the pet store of a while before we got her and came with 11 surprise bonus mice. When they were weaned we kept the males in a separate cage, but a friend staying over accidentally left it’s door open one night… At the population height we had 50 mice. Mice get cancer… a lot… with tumors as big as the rest of them. So, for a while I had to kill about one a week for the better part of a year. This was not fun. This is what I learned:
Drowning: Incredibly cruel. The things, desperate for air, struggle with every ounce of their being for several minutes, shoving down the bodies of any of their comrades in a desperate attempt to get air. That was with something holding them below water, if they had to run out of swimming energy first it would be even worse. The water I used was ice cold, so that does not help much if at all. I figured if I am going to do this to my pet I better see exactly what it is I am doing. Watching this practically killed me and I will never do it to another living creature.
Freezing: They are right that the surface to volume ratio means they die much faster than people, but faster than people does not mean fast. The poor things know they are dieing and scratch will all their might to escape before finally succumbing after like a half hour or more.
Snap Traps: Did not use these as I know about the significant chance of breaking their back without killing them leaving them paralyzed and in excruciating pain, and then you still have to find another way to kill them.
Electric Traps: They work on the first go most of the time and the animal dies in a couple seconds. Seems pretty horrific for them during those seconds though. On occasion they do not die right away though, and that is absolutely terrible. It is barely able to move and in awful pain. They will piss and shit themselves and unless you thoroughly clean the trap out with soap and water after each one, no others will go anywhere near it.
Trauma: I could never bring myself to womp them with a hammer and putting them in a bag and smashing the bag up against something seemed far too uncertain to work the first time. In desperation I once even decapitated one. That was a terrible mistake. Blood spurted into the air everywhere and both the head and body took a while to realize they were dead. Damn thing looked at me while gasping for breath when it didn’t even have lungs any more. Stuff of friggin nightmares. However you do this, be prepared for a mess.
Spinal Dislocation: This is supposed to be one of the most humane ways, but it is not easy. I had a fairly cooperative mouse who did not mind being held and had not idea what was happening but I could not get it to work. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be with one that was not tame. If you do not squeeze and pull hard enough you get a very befuddled mouse wondering what the hell is going on, though it did not appear injured or overly stressed. I have heard that if you do it too hard you can pull their head right off (see Trauma).
Gas: Honestly could never get it to work. Tried many methods. Eventually got to putting the mouse in a plastic baggy and filling it as much as possible with a nitrogen canister. This just annoyed the mouse who was getting really pissed off after 10 minutes in the bag. I have never seen a mouse execution chamber you could buy that uses this, but if there is one that would probably be the best way.
Take them to the vet to be injected with killer drugs: Way the hell too expensive. Would be looking at several thousands of dollars considering how many we had. Also, they look at you like you are an idiot. We did this, but with a sugar glider we had that had cancer. Makes a bit more sense when you consider they live up to fifteen years.
Unless your location is wildly inaccurate, you aren’t my older brother… but you sure sound like him.
Except, it was a plastic bag, and a large flagstone (flat paving stone). :eek: ::barfy::.
Best I can say about it was that it was probably very fast. I was watching (I was 5 or so) and have a vague memory of the splatter.
(yeah, this is the same older brother who once disposed of a small snake found in the house by, well, disposing of it - in the kitchen sink garbage disposal :eek:).
Well let that be a lesson to you to deal with such things when you see it, otherwise it’s just unnecessary suffering. And a lesson not to use these fucking things.
Your squeamishness shouldn’t be in the way of doing the right/humane thing. If you don’t like the sight, put it in a plastic bag. Mice are so delicate and fragile, it shouldn’t be difficult to smash the head hard. Lights out, it will feel nothing.
For an animal that small? What kind of rip-off merchants are you seeing?
And why would they look at you like an idiot? They are the idiots if you ask me… you went to the vet with the best interest in mind for these animals, to give them a peaceful death. That should be applauded, and those idiots should consider why they’re at such a job in the first place. They should be respectful of the fact you’re doing this. It’s as if they have zero respect for these animals.
If all of your pets are getting cancer–get the Hell out of that house!