How can I get rid of a mouse in my house?

Question

There is a mouse in my house.

What's the most effective way to get rid of the mouse (and any "friends" it might have) and ensure that it doesn't come back.

Answer 1

Get a kitty:

(Thanks to Wikipedia for the image)

Answer 2

Use a mouse- or rat-trap:

(Thanks to Wikipedia for the image.)

Answer 3

There's always the live trap option as well.

Advantages include:

• No mess
• No poisons to worry about

Disadvantages:

• The mouse can always find its way back if you don't take it far enough away.

I haven't used these myself, so I'm not sure how well they work.

Answer 4

Shoot it with a BB gun. No kidding, I killed one in my old apartment this way. And if you're a good shot, it's one of the most humane ways to kill them.

Just have some Resolve, or other carpet cleaner on hand. They bleed way more than you'd think possible.

Or if you spot a mouse outside, I'd opt for a .177 caliber pellet rifle. We've been having a mouse problem in our attic the last few months, and when I saw a field mouse scurrying about our backyard this weekend, I wasn't giving him the chance to get inside. A pellet rifle has a much farther range than a BB gun, and it is more likely to kill with the first shot (more humane).

Answer 5

I'm a big fan of covered mouse traps. They work like the traditional mouse traps, but they keep the wrong critters (your pets, that is) from setting off the trap. They also have a nice cocking mechanism.

Answer 6

Whether you are using any of the varieties of traps or poisons, you also want to remove all possible food sources for the mouse so that the only thing for them to eat is the poisons or the baits on the traps. Sweep the floors. Clean under and behind the stove and fridge. Empty the shelves of your pantry completely and look for droppings and chewed packaging to see where the rodent has been active. They can chew through paper, cardboard and thin plastic wrapping, so you'll need to put things like cereal boxes into locking plastic tubs.

PS: if you keep all your food in airtight locking plastic tubs, then you are also reducing your exposure to other kitchen pests: pantry moths, cockroaches, etc.

Answer 7

Glue traps. Probably one of the most inhumane ways to catch a mouse but they do work.

Answer 8

For live traps, I have had good luck with the Ketch all.

It will trap multiple mice in one shot, it is reliable, and the mice seem to enter the trap even without baiting.

Answer 9

For kill traps, the best one I have found is the Victor electronic mousetrap.

I had several types of kill traps laid out in my house, and these seemed to be the busiest of the bunch.

Answer 10

There're poisonous compounds for that - they come as poisoned seed or poisoned wax, so it's unlikely that a human or home mammal eats them.

They are quite effective - you leave them on a disposable plate somewhere in a corner near a place you saw a mouse and soon some of the sompound is gone and the mouse is dead. Some of such compounds prevent mouse degradation - they conserve its body so that the mouse dries up and turns into a mummy which is much better than degrading and smelling somewhere where you can't reach it.

Three major drawbacks:

1. Some other animal could eat them and get poisoned.
2. You never know when and where you find the dead mouse.
3. Once the mouse gets half-poisoned it becomes sick and can move carelessly around the house. If there's a cat nearby it can easily catch and eat the poisoned mouse and get poisoned as well.

Answer 11

Is this a good choice? Hardly, but you did ask! It is how the coyote would do it of course, if he tired of his roadrunner "diet".

Answer 12

I saw this on that castle prepper show. Take a 5-gallon bucket, place an aluminum can on a wire and secure the wire to each side of the handle when it meets the bucket. The aluminum can will now span the bucket and spin on the wire. Then add peanut butter to the can. The mouse will crawl out to get the treat, and spin over and fall into the bucket. The sad part of this show was they put bleach in the bucket to kill the mouse, not sure if that was actually necessary but I guess the mouse could jump out if still alive.

Find the video here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSk79YcuIRQ

Answer 13

Tomcat Spin Traps (or similar make/model)

Pros:

• No poisons.
• Instant kill (supposidly)
• Indicator to tell if mouse is inside.
• No exposure to dead rodent
• No graphic visual of death

Cons:

• Disposable ... once a mouse is caught the entire trap is thrown away.
• Arguably inhumane as you're still killing the mouse.

Answer 14

I've taken care of a lot of mice in suburban homes, a farm, and houses in the country. I've tried all sorts of traps and poisons. What I've found works the best, by far, is The Better Mouse Trap It's a rocker style of trap, and while there now other brands using this same idea, this one still outperforms the others.