[Yoda]

There just doesn't seem to be a right forum for this discussion so my thread landed here.

How do you deal with mice/rats that invade your living space and what do you think is the most humane way to do so?

In the past I have tried the poison that had generic coumadin in it and it was supposed to make them bleed to death. Doesn't sound very humane. I have seen another poison with a different active ingredient but I was not familiar with it and cannot recall the name.

I have used the metal traps before but have found a few mice caught in the traps still alive. Not too humane either.

So this week I bought some glue traps because my sister said she had success with that recently. Last night a mouse got stuck in it and the more he struggled the more he adhered to the glue. Humane? Well no pain from the glue but surely it was anxiety provoking and then I wondered what his cause of death was.

I wish I had cats again. Some of my cats would eat rodents and small birds and others would just kill them and leave them as a gift for me.

Any other ideas or feedback?

[Maven]

You can see reviews and find some humane mouse traps (and I appreciate that you want to find a humane way to rid your home of destructive animals) at Amazon.com: humane mouse trap. My parents once had a glue trap set up, and one of my dog's young puppies got its tail caught in it. There's nothing humane about glue traps. Maybe one of these ones from Amazon will help. Good luck.

I'm not sure there will be a humane solution. Sometimes you just have to do what it takes. I understand and appreciate your concern though.

[lizardlady]

Yoda, there's a product called a Mice Cube. It's a live trap for mice. They crawl in and a door closes behind them so they can't get out. Then you take the whole thing outside and dump the mouse in the wild. I used to use one in my house and it worked well. It only works for mise though. It's too small for rats.

I know you lost all your cats to coyotes. Could you get a cat and keep it in the house? That way it could catch any mice/rats that get inside. I'm not sure how humane being killed by a cat is though since they like to "play" with their food before they kill it.

[IowaFarmGal]

I saw a testimonial that bobcat scent will make them flee the building. Not sure how bad it stinks. They were selling crystals that you could hang up in old nylon stockings. I was looking at that myself. I've read that real peppermint extract on cottonballs deters them. Glue traps are horrible but effective. Some of the poisons, just reading the warnings scared me to death. Snakes down the burrows?

[lizardlady]

Yoda, I forgot to mention the tried and true redneck form of rat control - a shotgun! Just blast the blighters into oblivion. Probably not good for your interior decor though.

[Maven]

I hate even releasing them into the wild. What if a hawk or an owl flies by and sees the mouse, and snatches it up? That's a horrible way to die. Or by any other animal that would kill and eat it. You can't really keep them as pets, because wild mice don't do well confined and kept as pets, I've read. But it's really such a hard thing for me.

[NWgirl2013]

Yoda~ I don't know if you have a yard or whatever but I had Great Success chasing away rodents with cayenne pepper. Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but I bought it at a grocer that sells stuff in bulk. I laid a trail of it all around the perimeter and when they walk in it, if they walk in it....I dunno! Don't think it kills them, they just leave.
This works for moles too. I put it down the holes and they don't come back.
Good Luck with this ...

[H3rmit]

I trapped them in one of these traps:

http://www.rodentman.com/images/RM-1007%20001.jpg

It worked for the first few, which I let go out in a field, and then, I swear, they figured out not to go in the trap. You have to block up where they are getting into your house. My house was very old and so that was very difficult. Eventually I sold out and got a better house.

After the traps stopped working I used poisoned bait. I had to get them out of my kitchen. I didn't like mice crawling on top of the fan hood and leaving marks in a pan of bacon grease and crapping in the cupboards. Sorry, but at that point it starts to be my survival or theirs.

[Maven]

I agree, H3rmit, unfortunately, if you can't get them out of your house, you have to take other measures. I prefer the quickest and most painless death, but I don't know what that is. I've heard some caught in mousetraps survive and suffer, so I can't claim that would be better. It's just so sad.

[ptangptang]

Unless you fancy the slow and laborious method of humanely catching them and taking them miles away to release them ( they prob soon get eaten anyway) i think the only way is whatever is quickest.
Best thing is to read as many reviews of traps as you can and pick the best. A house cat would be good but not neccersaily the most humane. But if they get into the house you dont want them peeing everywhere. Juat tell em to stay in the loft or under the floorboards and not chew the cables. They understand English you know.
I heard a noise once in the loft and just thought it was birds ( they nest under the eaves) but it was a squirrel and before long they built a nest and i ended up with a family of 5 up there. Cute and clever but not when they chew your cables. Cost a fortune for the pestman to get rid of them. He only used traps but i'm not sure i could confront an angry squirrel even less kill it. Good luck.