I think there is a mouse in my cabinet...

[Deleted]

Let the kids pull out the pots and pans. Tell the the first one to catch a mouse gets an extra hour of TV.

[Deleted]

I'm for throwing in a glue trap. I had this issue a few years ago. Thankfully haven't seen one in years! Although that could mean I have a snake in the basement  

[The Captain]

You should pull all the pots and pans out anyway and check for, ummm, droppings. If you see anything wash everthing down with bleach and put a trap baited with chunky PB to get the bugger (cheese is too easy for them to grab and not trip the trap). Wipe the cabinet down with bleach as well as you do not want to risk having your cooking vessels contaminated.

Remember, the mouse is FAR more terrified of you than you are of it...

I could lend you a cat or two if that would help?

[busymom]

Bait your mouse trap with peanut butter, & just put it in there.  Mice can't resist the stuff (don't ask me why).  If there's one in there, you should hear a loud "snap" shortly.  Good luck!  (I don't like critters in the house either.)

[busymom]

Captain!  LOL!  I didn't even think of it, but I could send Bad Boy Puppy in there.  He's VERY GOOD at catching critters... 

[steph08]

Aug 16, 2013 8:02:36 GMT -5 The Captain said:

You should pull all the pots and pans out anyway and check for, ummm, droppings. If you see anything wash everthing down with bleach and put a trap baited with chunky PB to get the bugger (cheese is too easy for them to grab and not trip the trap). Wipe the cabinet down with bleach as well as you do not want to risk having your cooking vessels contaminated.

Remember, the mouse is FAR more terrified of you than you are of it...

I could lend you a cat or two if that would help?

See, my advice is exactly the opposite - cheese, not peanut butter! The mice tend to lick the peanut butter off, and it isn't enough pressure to set off the trap. But get some cheese and really shove it into the holes in the mouse trap - that way they apply a lot of pressure to the trap and get caught.

We live in the middle of nowhere with no other houses, so we tend to get mice during the winter. However, this summer I have already caught 3 under our sink. I hate them.

[mtman]

Around here we have a saying......If you see one mouse......You have fifty.

[thyme4change]

My cats will often bring mice in the house.  I hate it when I find them alive and in the kitchen - usually I just find a head or something in the living room, where the cat decided to have a meal.  But, I will say that in general, mice are kind of cute and seeing one run around isn't as devastating as having to remove one that is caught in a trap.  I will stay married forever, just so I will never have that chore.

There was a super cute mouse in our dining room a couple of weeks ago.  My cat was chasing it around the base of the table.

[Deleted]

Get a Havahart trap. then release it, preferably not too close to the house.    YOu will see eveidence if you have mice in your cabinets.

[imawino]

Aug 16, 2013 8:40:28 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

My cats will often bring mice in the house.  I hate it when I find them alive and in the kitchen - usually I just find a head or something in the living room, where the cat decided to have a meal.  But, I will say that in general, mice are kind of cute and seeing one run around isn't as devastating as having to remove one that is caught in a trap.  I will stay married forever, just so I will never have that chore.

There was a super cute mouse in our dining room a couple of weeks ago.  My cat was chasing it around the base of the table.

They are pretty cute!  I have a catch and release policy personally, but I also have a dog and a passel of cats who have a whole different policy so there is not ever likely to be a mouse that lives long enough for me to see it, much less set it free. 

[Regis]

We use the T Rex mouse traps with peanut butter.  Never fails to catch those little guys.

But if you have a mouse, you need to find out where it got in the house and close it up.  Otherwise, you're just going to continue to get mice in your house.

[imawino]

Aug 16, 2013 8:01:42 GMT -5 oped said:

I'm for throwing in a glue trap. I had this issue a few years ago. Thankfully haven't seen one in years! Although that could mean I have a snake in the basement  

Glue traps are pretty cruel.  If the plan is to kill it, better to use a snap trap that usually does the job instantly. 

[dannylion]

Or you could just give it a name and call it a pet.  I do that with the young black snakes that venture into my garage at least once every summer.  I always name them Rita. 

[violagirl]

I have a catch and release policy, but my dogs and cats do not. At least the dogs get it over with quick. Cats play too long.

[Deleted]

Danny how many Ritas do you / have you had?! LOL

We had a mouse a few years ago. I freaked out too. One night I saw this HUGE RAT run along the baseboard in the DR. Turns out it was the shadow of a mouse LOL. I bought 3 no-kill traps. It took three nights for us to catch him (or her).

We released the mouse in a wood near our house. I remember that morning well. It was a Wed morning, when DS3 had to go to English school, MILES away. So DH and I argued about who was going to have to be ready early to release the mouse. I remember doing it. Apparently DH remembers doing it too. LOL. I remember googling it and DH and I debating between using cheese or peanut butter or chocolate.  

We used cheese the first night (no luck), PB the second night (no luck), and chocolate the third night (got it!). Coincidence, or not?! I have no clue LOL. But if I had to catch another mouse, I'd opt for the chocolate. 

[The Captain]

Sorry, no catch and release.  If the bugger(s) figured out how to get into your home once, they WILL do it again (and bring their families to boot).

My contractor told me a mouse needs a space smaller than a quarter to get in.  It can be in the attic vents, etc.  I have seen a mouse scale up my brick walls so this is not as impossible as it sounds.

I live pretty much in the middle of a nature preserve so we get mice every fall when the weather starts to get cool.  It's war, plain and simple (and a health issue to boot). 

My cats are obviously too well fed...

[Deleted]

A watched pot never boils, Wrongside. Seriously, I think I stayed up two entire nights waiting for the trap to work. It finally worked on the third night after I went to bed. 

Just go on with your business, and check it out twice or 3 times per 24h.

[dannylion]

Danny how many Ritas do you / have you had?! LOL

I generally get one a year.  One year there were two, but not at the same time.  They're generally no bigger around than my small finger, though some have been slightly larger/older.  I expect they smell the mice that get into the garage and come in to investigate.  I doubt, though, that their jaws are large enough yet to accommodate a mouse, but I'm not really sure.  I call each one Rita because they are all very slender and gracile, and Rita seems like an appropriate name for something so supple and sinuous.  The full-grown black snakes generally stay outside, probably because they can't fit through the small opening at one bottom corner of the garage door.  The snakes never stay very long.  One time I had a chipmunk in the garage, but it departed fairly quickly when it realized it had made a mistake.  Last week there was a wee toad, which I captured and put out in the garden myself as I did not want to back over it with my car.  I live next to some woods and a pond and a big field, so there is a lot of interesting wildlife around here.  Most of it stays outdoors, though, fortunately. 

[thyme4change]

Aug 16, 2013 9:48:31 GMT -5 imawino said:

Aug 16, 2013 8:40:28 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

My cats will often bring mice in the house.  I hate it when I find them alive and in the kitchen - usually I just find a head or something in the living room, where the cat decided to have a meal.  But, I will say that in general, mice are kind of cute and seeing one run around isn't as devastating as having to remove one that is caught in a trap.  I will stay married forever, just so I will never have that chore.

There was a super cute mouse in our dining room a couple of weeks ago.  My cat was chasing it around the base of the table.

They are pretty cute!  I have a catch and release policy personally, but I also have a dog and a passel of cats who have a whole different policy so there is not ever likely to be a mouse that lives long enough for me to see it, much less set it free. 

We do try and catch them.  My husband puts them in the trash can - his theory is that either they will die in there, or they will make it to the and live in a mouse dream-land.  And it prevents the cats from bringing them back inside.  The only time we set a trap is when there is one loose in our house and we never see it, but it leaves gifts and offerings in our kitchen cupboards.  I have my limits.  Poop on my food, and I will cut your head off.

[Deleted]

Aug 16, 2013 9:59:20 GMT -5 imawino said:

Aug 16, 2013 8:01:42 GMT -5 oped said:

I'm for throwing in a glue trap. I had this issue a few years ago. Thankfully haven't seen one in years! Although that could mean I have a snake in the basement  

Glue traps are pretty cruel.  If the plan is to kill it, better to use a snap trap that usually does the job instantly. 

You know, I haven't had one in a long while, but if it becomes necessary again some day I will look into the alternatives, Thanks. 

[constanz22]

Funny you brought this up. I keep a trap set behind the tv cabinet all the time. They come in through the fireplace, especially when it gets cold. I hadn't really thought much about it. Hadn't had one in months. It's been pretty cold here the last few nights, like 40's. I was doing something over there today and noticed a mouse in the trap. He was a fat one too. I'll have to reset it tomorrow. I was always told that if you catch one, there are usually several as they usually travel in "families" of about 5-7. When I had cats, they could care less. The dogs bark at them and chase them. It's actually comical. They are chasing the mouse, I'm chasing them, yelling

[thyme4change]

Aug 16, 2013 20:25:24 GMT -5 constanz22 said:

Funny you brought this up. I keep a trap set behind the tv cabinet all the time. They come in through the fireplace, especially when it gets cold. I hadn't really thought much about it. Hadn't had one in months. It's been pretty cold here the last few nights, like 40's. I was doing something over there today and noticed a mouse in the trap. He was a fat one too. I'll have to reset it tomorrow. I was always told that if you catch one, there are usually several as they usually travel in "families" of about 5-7. When I had cats, they could care less. The dogs bark at them and chase them. It's actually comical. They are chasing the mouse, I'm chasing them, yelling

We left a snap trap behind our stove because there is a space back there that acts as a nice safe passageway that the cats can't get to.  One week the kitchen was smelling bad, so I took out the trash, cleaned the trash can, sanitized the dishwasher, sanitized the garbage disposal, made sure there was no nasty produce in the fridge or in my fruit bowl, checked to see if something fell on the floor next to the fridge, and I could not find that damn odor.  Every day I just cleaned and cleaned, and it never got any better.  After a few days, I got a call at work from my husband who said "I located the smell, and I have disposed of it."  

[Deleted]

Aug 16, 2013 17:00:59 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

I think the mouse got in because of the kids leaving doors open too long.  They'll open the door and shout an entire conversation to a kid down the street.

I set up the mouse trap a few hours ago and no mouse yet.

Probably not because the kids leave the doors open.  Mice don't want to be anywear near you.  They can sneak in through holes near the foundation the size of a pencil.