What''s the best , most humane way to get rid of mice in the house?

Question

Thank you.

Answer 1

Go to your local shelter and adopt a cat.

Answer 2

They supposedly don't like the smell of peppermint. I tried the peppermint essential oil on a cotton ball but I can't claim that it worked for sure because I might have trapped them. I have a new herd in my garage and will be trying it again. A friend of mine said to try putting Bounce sheets (the fabric softener) around because they hate the smell and that has worked for her. Mice can go through cracks and holes as small as a pencil eraser tip, so they can come through any small opening. But I'd try getting them out of the attic because the next place they'll be heading is your flat looking for food. Your cat will be a great tool. It may not be humane for the mouse, but mice are dirty and carry disease. You need to get rid of the mice that come into your flat, letting your cat do it's thing or with a snap trap with peanut butter. Mice are creatures of habit so if you capture one and let it go, it will be back (unless you give it a swim). So think of yourself first.

Answer 3

A black snake moved in to the house for awhile, we didn't see a mouse at all for 3 or 4 years, but the snake either left or died in the wall somewhere last fall, no idea which. Our 3 cats provide an excellent 2nd line of defense. If we put out traps or poison, and the mice in our house die by a human hand, I know this is going to sound weird, but they pester me in my dreams, then I find them the next day. But they don't bother me when the cats or the snake gets them, I guess that's just the natural order of things. A new snake moved in this spring, we tried to get it and throw it back outside, but it got away from us, so it's happily munching in the walls now, I guess..... It gets a little disconcerting, the old one was 6 ft long, and you could hear it sliding around in the small space that isn't even worth calling an attic, more like an access area. We know how big he is, because even though he never went in to our living area, we would find his shed skins in the basement, but if he was ever down there when we go to the basement, he gets scared, and goes to hide where we can't find him.....

Answer 4

I used to think that catching them alive and putting them outside was a humane way to get rid of them, but I don't now.

Now I think the best solution is a snap-shut trap, like the safe 'n sure (see link, there's bound to be something similar in your area). You should deploy several, in the areas where mice have been known to go, with the trap by the skirting as mice often track along walls, with peanut butter or chocolate spread as bait (renew every few weeks).

Try to find out how the mice are getting in to your house and see whether you can stop them - that's the most humane solution long-term.

http://www.redboxhardware.com.au/index.aspx?page=products&catid=7&scid=124&gid=1268

Answer 5

I personally hate mice, and have found them to be very persistent. I personally prefer the snap traps to just get rid of the things. But, I also have a trap that I use that I found at my local hardware store. It can live trap up to 15 mice at a time. It's spring loaded, so the mice go in, the dial spins, and they don't get out. It's clear on top, so you can see the mice inside so you know when you need to dispose them.
Make sure you go around and seal up all the cracks in your house. We used the spray foam to seal everything. The mice chew right through it, but by putting that on we were able to tell where they were getting in. Once we found the chewed foam, we were able to seal the holes with steel wool--mice hate it.

Answer 6

Kitten or cat. If you don't want it in the house, leave it outside and feed it dry food 2 times a day, about a handful, and pet it occasionally. Mice will flee! We live with a wooded area behind us. We have a born wild kitten, about 11 months old now, that we feed. It is a good hunter! No more mice! I have actually seen the kitten eating a mouse. The kitten runs and greets me when I come home.

Answer 7

I would forget about humane. I had that problem and tried everything "humane". I bought the glue traps and when I caught them, I put them outside and put cooking oil on the glue so that they could escape into "the wild". I watched as an owl swooped down out of a tree in my front yard and scooped up the mouse and trap and flew away. At least that's a natural way to return them to the food chain. After that, I just bought the snap traps and killed them all. I tried moth balls, loud music, and many other "natural" repellents, but nothing worked better than the traps that kill.

I consider cats to be just another infestation. I wouldn't have one in my house.

Answer 8

Go to a sporting goods store and get a bottle of fox urine used for bait in trapping. Dip a Qtip in it and put around outside house natural enemy of mice and scares them away. Can use inside but stinks real bad.

Answer 9

Try getting pure oil of peppermint and applying it to all mouse holes and spraying in places where you see mouse droppings because that's where they travel.

My understanding is mice hate oil of peppermint and it will drive them away.

Answer 10

There are humane traps that capture the animal alive and then you take it outside...far from your house...and release it.