<p>I have a cute little mouse in the house. I guess the house seemed appropriate to him/her rather than the 30 inches of snow we had. Are there live traps that work? I don't think I have the heart to kill the little fellow. Is there any chance there is just one who came in from the fields or is it more likely that there is a whole family watching a little television and eating popcorn somewhere in the house? </p>
<p>If my dog chases him down and eats him, is that dangerous to the dog?</p>
<p>If you don’t have the heart to kill him, then you should be prepared to enjoy an ever increasing population of mice in the house. </p>
<p>I would guess the odds of a dog catching a mouse are slim and none. If he were to catch and eat him, it wouldn’t be a problem unless maybe the mouse was full of mouse poison. Even then, the size of the mouse is small. That is a bit more of concern for cat owners.</p>
<p>I have found that mouse poison, place up out of reach around the perimeter of the basement is the best “out of sight, out of mind” solution. All the traps make you listen to the mouse dying and dispose of the remains. With the poision, the mice just go and die.</p>
<p>We had a mouse in the house once. That’s when we decided to get our first cat. Two days later we came home and kitty had taken care of the problem.</p>
<p>Live traps do work, but I have a cautionary tale. We had mice, and I put out standard, spring-loaded traps. The result was so grotesque that I decided to try humane traps. What I found was a transparent plastic trap that closes up when mouse goes in. Then you can take it somewhere and let him go. I caught one, and took it the park–you have to open the trap with your fingers, so you might jump back abruptly as the mouse runs out, as I did. “This is so much more humane!” I thought. So I put out another one of those traps. And forgot about it. For a long time. When I finally noticed it again, inside it was a mouse mummy. Not so humane. Anyway, they do work.</p>
<p>The other thing you should do is make sure there is no food they can get to. We first found out we had mice when a five-pound bag of rice in our basement was mysteriously empty. We found little caches of rice all over the basement, under cushions in the couch, behind books in the bookshelf, etc.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t the smell of dying meeses be awful? I have only bonded with this one. Once this one - or his twin - is caught, I will be okay with using the sticky traps and disposing of them. Strange - I know. This one scooted all the way across my den/dining room open space so in that distance, the dog might have a chance. I guess I’m off to the store for traps. I took a picture of him on my phone and sent him to my friend who is probably calling doctor right now to come to carry me away.</p>
<p>Every year, when the weather turns bitterly cold we get a mouse or two in the house. I get hysterical. I am totally beholden to my DH for taking care of poisons, traps etc. He earns big points with me for fulfilling that duty.</p>
<p>I am suspicious, however, because often I never see said creature. He goes down to the basement, asks for a little bag from grocery store and heads out to the trash. I suspect when he thinks I am annoyed with him he manufactures a mouse and gets himself immediately in my good graces.</p>
<p>When he was in the hospital getting his defib, I could hear something that sounded like scratching. I called Critter Control and they charged $200 to put out bait.</p>
<p>Awww - I had to put my cat down just two weeks ago today. She would have made short order of him. Maybe that is why I have a mouse - are they that quick to move in? </p>
<p>I think I am going to start with the live trap and then set out some of the sticky traps in the basement. I have to put them where the dog can’t mess with them. I guess I have to leave him in his crate while I’m out now so the mouse can feel free to roam about to find the trap.</p>
<p>the sticky traps are probably the most inhumane. i didn’t think much about it when i bought one 20+years ago…then I had to dispose of a live mouse stuck to some glue. inhumane for the mouse–and for me, too! i have heard of finding a mouse leg stuck to the trap which i assume indicated that the mouse allegedly chewed off a leg to survive. not exactly the picture you want to paint, either.</p>
<p>use some poison. they crawl off and die. (not very humane either, but out of sight…)if they do smell, it won’t last long.</p>
<p>cartera, you crack me up. </p>
<p>I am just picturing your dog in the crate being tortured by the roaming mouse, like a cartoon.</p>
<p>We have mice that crawl up the walls through our garage and into the attic, where they sound like they have a logging operation going at 3am, right over my head.</p>
<p>They went away for a couple of years when I put the cat’s crates (to carry to and from vet) up there with the cat hair all over them, but they seem to be immune to the smell now. Back to the traps. and yes, we have forgotten the traps for a LONG time up there in the attic. ugh, I never will be able to move.</p>
<p>I think they know when you don’t have a cat.</p>
<p>We live in an end unit in a townhouse condo. We always get the aforementioned mouse, but my next door neighbors never had one. Until they and their cats moved. Lovely new neighbor asked me when the weather got cold if I ever had a mouse in my house. </p>
<p>I, of course, explained my theory about my husband’s possible duplicity and told her maybe he had spoken to her spouse.</p>
<p>
I bet that’s it. They are that quick to move in. I’m sorry for your loss.</p>
<p>Thank you zmom - she was a dear and is missed. </p>
<p>You guys are all cracking me up. Duplicitous mouse imagining husbands, scenes from the epic movie, Saw Mouse II, eau de dead mouse…</p>
<p>Those roaches crawling across the bottom left hand side of my screen in that ad are not helping things.</p>
<p>1 mouse is usually a sign of 3 or 4. Best solutions include making sure your food is unavailable to it - meaning no plastic bags it can reach. That entails checking every entry into the cabinets or pantry, particularly any gaps of any size at all along the floor. Stuff those with steel wool. A mouse can fit through a space slightly larger than a dime; if the head can fit, the mouse can fit. Other than that, live traps do work but the mice aren’t that likely to go in if there’s other food available, which means you still need to check for gaps. I wouldn’t worry if the mouse is somewhere in a basement. Every house has more than enough cracks and spaces for a mouse to get in. They’re looking for warmth in the cold and your job is to keep them out of your food stuffs.</p>
<p>My dog catches and eats mice regularly. She has allergies and irritable bowel disease and nonetheless thrives on a diet of wild mice (which she digs out and grabs and swallows whole, in a display that has horrified many an onlooker at the puppy park).</p>
<p>I have used the live sticky traps with success. They are not humane, in that the mouse will not survive being caught in one and will die slowly. However, if you put the trap and mouse in a heavy duty plastic bag and put the whole thing in the freezer, the mouse will die quickly and painlessly.</p>
<p>My sister, the vegetarian who thinks I’m cruel to mice, uses these traps: [Victor®</a> TIN CAT® Mouse Trap, Model M310](<a href=“http://www.victorpest.com/store/rodent-control/m310]Victor®”>http://www.victorpest.com/store/rodent-control/m310)</p>
<p>I have very little food that isn’t in the fridge and I can put more in there like bread, pasta, etc. I’ll have that little guy dressing up like Oliver Twist and swinging a little soup bowl in a day or two.</p>
<p>dmd - my mom is coming to visit next week. Now I have visions of telling her to grab whatever is in the freezer that she wants for dinner and everyone getting a great surprise.</p>
<p>dmd what kind of dog do you have?</p>
<p>ZM: I have two standard poodles.</p>
<p>We have a cat who catches the mice in our stonewall outside. </p>
<p>But not long ago, my DH was in the basement fixing our internet connection and whoosh! he saw a mouse scurry past. With about 10 inches of snow outside, the mice apparently discovered inside was so much more comfortable. If they hid in the basement ceiling, they were safe from the cat. She rarely ventures downstairs. My DH staked out the places where the mice hung out and purchased a few cheap spring-loaded traps from the local hardware store. That first night, with the trap smeared with peanut butter, he was ready. Before he had even come upstairs he heard a SNAP!! By the third day, he was 3-and-3. I even found one very dead rodent, having fallen from the ceiling, crushed by the trap and flopped over on its back.</p>
<p>Now that it’s almost spring, we gotta get our fat cat outside again. She’s been busy playing with her fake mouse. I guess she thought my DH was playing too.</p>
<p>My dog caught a mouse once and she’s fine. I was actually proud of her as she is such a shy girl (beagle).</p>
<p>
I never knew poodles were so macho. Of course I’ve never had one.</p>
<p>
I’m jealous that you have a beagle. I have a Jack Russell who hates everyone but my D. The love of my life, the prince of pups, the king of caninines is a beagle. (The incomparable Uno. – which reminds me that I haven’t checked his blog lately.)</p>