Build a Better Mouse Trap
About his earlier Mouse Traps post, “Blackwolf” writes in:
Dan – I have experience with glue traps and have used them off an on as needed over the years. One key point to setting up a glue trap, is to put it in a place where the mice are likely to scurry by.
I’ve never had a mouse in my house, thankfully.
The way mice move, they tend to hug the base boards of the wall of a house, and they like to move under protected overhangs, such as the one created by cabinets at floor level. Another thing they like to do is run under or behind appliances. Keeping that in mind, if you place a glue trap behind your fridge, along the baseboard, you probably won’t even need to bait it. Just wait a few days and you’ll have the mouse.
Yeah, but… what if you have a cute mouse in your house (near a blouse)?
If you don’t like the thought of killing the mice (I’m an animal lover, so I prefer not to kill them if I can avoid it), buy some mineral spirits, and the next time you catch a mouse, put it in a paper bag (making sure the glue doesn’t come in contact with the paper bag) and drive it out to the country side (at least five or six miles away from your house). Use the mineral spirits to gently free the mouse from the glue and set it free. MAKE SURE you wear heavy gloves, and definitely wash your hands afterwards.
Aren’t there organizations that will come to your home and take the mice away, unharmed?
Mice do bite when cornered, and they carry diseases – and while most “indoor” rodents are generally not going to make you sick, breathing the dust generated by sweeping up their feces can give you Hantavirus.
2 Comments
John W. Redelfs
May 29th, 2007
at 1:31am
Take the mouse out in the country where almost immediately some predator will tear him to shreds because he is out of his element. What is so horrible about death? It comes to every living thing, us included. I can see nothing merciful or even useful in taking a mouse out into the country. Just flush him down the toilet. Drowning will be more merciful than what awaits him if you give him his freedom.
Dan Gray
May 29th, 2007
at 6:35pm
Indeed … mice are creatures of habit. I’ve figured out their most popular highways and plan accordingly. We don’t have cats, but we have two dogs that think they’re cats … at least when it comes to mice. The trick is to not put out those glue traps until the dogs are locked up for the night … lest they end up with the traps stuck to their noses and paws … :)