Build a Humane Mouse Trap

And then you have a pet mouse.

I could have used this last year. My patrol base in Iraq was rampant with mice. I spent a year peeling the angry little guys off of the glue traps. I figured that those were as close to humane as I could get my hands on at the time. I'd throw the now sticky mice into a gatorade bottle with some food, then drop them off somewhere far from home while I was out on patrol (cap removed).

How did you get them off the trap without killing them? Just curious. I didn't think it could be done.

I have humanely caught mice in a similer fashion, by placing a plank over a bucket with bait on the end. A paint stirring stick is the perfect plank. Set it such that it's a few inches over the lip of the bucket. Set the other end on another surface that is level with the bucket so that it acts as a bridge. When the mouse walks across it and over the bucket's edge towards the bait, the plank will tip from the weight of the mouse, and it will fall inside.

You have to consider the sticky traps "less-than lethal." Sometimes the mice would die due to choking. But for removal, first, put on gloves, I had a pair of the beefed up hatch flight gloves, think they're called operator gloves that were thick enough to keep the little guys from biting through, then you grab the little bugger by the tail as close to the body as you can and slowly and gently but firmly pull up and away from the glue. The mouse will be sticky. Don't grab the mouse by the body, experience says that this will end in the demise of the mouse. (RIP mouse, sorry). I had a couple dozen successful catch and releases. One failed. One mouse got a piece of my thumb when I stupidly did not where the gloves. You can also re-use the trap through quite a number of catches.

I've humanely caught mice with a normal mouse trap...instant, no pain.

another ingenious extension to the plank over bucket solution was a dowel and paper towel roll over bucket. smear the paper towel roll with peanut butter and stick the dowel through it, and sit both on the bucket. this way the mice will climb to the center on the dowel which is stable, but then the paper towel roll will simply spin them off, and this one is reusable to catch many mice without having to reset it each time. we've definitely gotten buckets of mice before.

A bunch of bleeding-heart? Apologize for actually using your empathic abilities? Why?

So then what do you do with the mouse, put it outside, so you can catch it and its new offspring again, or set it free further away so it can become someone else's problem?

Mice can easily be removed from a glue trap with a little vegetable oil.

These do not work. I spent 4 hours making a whole bunch of them two days ago. The mice do not go inside of it, although I place them on the wall right where I know they are walking. It looks like I have to spend my money on the humane traps after all plus I wasted so much of my time.

"So then what do you do with the mouse, put it outside, so you can catch it and its new offspring again, or set it free further away so it can become someone else's problem?"

Why would you write this? Put the mouse in a field, where it will join the heaps of mice already living there.

I built this trap and caught 3 mice overnight. They started to chew through the side, but did not get through before I checked it. Then I just took the top off and let them out near the dumpster at work. I did not expect it to work but it works great.

Another easy way to catch mice without hurting them that I have used is to take a paper towel roll and balance it on a counter top, place peanut butter at the end of the paper towel roll and put a garbage can or something the mice can't jump out of underneath. Balance the paper towel roll so that it will fall when the mouse runs to the end. The only problem is making sure that the same mice don't come back inside once you have caught and released them. I have heard that if you release them into a stream, or moving body of water, they won't be able to follow a sent trail back to your home. But I have not tried releasing them into water yet. 9+ mice caught, I just hope there not the same ones...

i got a hampster or mouse in december and it is in the basement we now she/he is there because when we lay food it`s gone the next day. i have tried soooooooooooooo much to get her/him back a trap down there might work but dose any 1 have suggestuns on how 2 make a trap without killing her/him?

How to remove mice from glue traps so they don't starve and so you don't break their legs and/or tails:

ITEMS NEEDED
Q-tips
leave-in hair conditioner*
*(Infusium 23 spray works great)
large plastic jug or bottle with little air-holes
snug-fitting latex or rubber gloves
a gentle touch
patience
empty, clean five-gallon bucket*
*(or cheap plastic trash can)
chemical free paper-towels (or an old cotton sock)

At all times keep your fingers away from the mouse's body, feet, and face. They bite when they are frightened. Keep a Q-tip's length between you and mouse at all times (unless you're very gently handling it by the tail).

On a flat counter-top or tabletop (with the five gallon bucket very close by) spray a bit of leave-in conditioner onto the mouses stuck feet and fur, where they come in contact with the glue-board.

With two Q-tips, begin gently working the mouse's tiny, delicate feet and fur away from the glue.

Spray a little more conditioner on the glue-board (beneath the mouse) as you go---every time you manage to get a foot or some fur loose (which will form a layer BETWEEN the mouse and the glue, enabling it to stay un-stuck). Little mouse will get re-stuck immediately if you do not do this.

When you're on the last appendage (foot or tail) hold the mouse and trap just a few inches above the bottom surface of the five-gallon bucket (or deep plastic trash can).

CAREFULLY work the last appendage free of the trap (you can sometime pull very gently on the tail but it's best just to use the Q-tips as little levers).

Let the mouse fall gently into the bottom of the five-gallon bucket. He'll be happy with some ripped up paper towels (unscented, no chemicals, mice are sensitive to this stuff) and a few honey-nut cheerios or some granola. (Seriously, they love this stuff.)

Take the mouse to a wooded or brushy area with natural shelter and at least some kind of food source, and release it. (Blackberry bushes are great shelter and food.) Leave him a pile of oats. He'll love you and respect you in the morning. Preferably don't do this in the dead of winter... have the common sense to wait until spring so they don't starve or freeze. (I typically keep the mice I catch until then and let them go when the snow thaws. They're such cute little buggers, but not when they're crapping all over my pantry... ;-)

-Naiya
Portland, Oregon

See Dealing with mice and rats: A humane approach to pest control

hey-- a simpler way to free mice from glue traps is with some water and cooking oil-- just stay away from the little guy's face, and put on some plastic gloves. pour a bit of oil and water on the parts where he's stuck and mush it around with your finger until he's almost free. Just make sure to stay away from his face and put the trap in a box so he doesn't scurry away. this worked the other day for me, when the new apt. I moved into had left a trap set for us.

at what point do you actually kill the mouse?

Just wanted to leave a quick comment about the glue traps. We did not know our pet mouse was pregnant when she got out, and we set a glue trap for her thinking it was humane. She had the babies and they all climbed onto the glue but she didn't. We found the babies when some were still alive and fatally pulled one of (the skin stayed). We were so horrified we took the trap + babies to our vet, who charged us a fee for each pinkie to euthanize it. So, do yourself a favor and don't buy the darn glue traps.

Umm what is the point of this? :)

Oh I love this idea. Every year little deer mice move into my cottage to winter over in a warm spot. Every spring I hate to killthem: I just want them to go back to the woods.

A tip: house mice (which breed year round, and whose "natural" habitat is your house) have a very strong smell. Field mice and deer mice don't. You can drown the house mice, and just take the others far enough away so they find a better spot before they come back.

Umm what is the point of this? :) I wonder the same thing.

A trap along the same lines but with less work, is by using a glass milk-bottle. Pour a little olive-oil inside and roll the bottle to coat the inner surface, insert your bait through the opening and use a lot. Leave bottle resting tilted slightly upwards near where you know the mouse has been.
The mouse should get in easily enough but after stuffing his face, he will have expanded considerably and will find it hard to drag his fat self up an oil-coated glass surface. Even if he succeeds, his bulk will probably prevent him getting through the neck until he slims down a bit.. To release him, just take the bottle to a shaded area and leave it.. He will eventually get skinny enough to leave and predators will be unable to get in to him..

I've tried four different methods in the past few weeks..........

1. Victor No Kill trap - worked for two mice - released them away from home. Another mouse was able to get in, eat, and leave somehow.

2. Victor Snap trap - sadly killed a mouse, but it was instant. However, another mouse was smart enough to grab the food and get away without releasing the arm

3. Another No Kill trap - where the mouse apparently was small enough not to lock the door, ate, and left.

4. The Glue Trap - caught a mouse, it was still alive, but barely it seemed. Sadly, I didn't know what to do with it after that. I thought it would've killed him with some type of non-toxic poison lethal only to mice. If I get another, I'll try the veggie oil method to remove him. However, I think I'll bag the sticky traps and throw them away.

better idea, simply genius!!!!:

http://glass.typepad.com/journal/2005/09/how_to_catch_a_.html

I have two dogs and kids at home and I was looking for an safer alternative to snap traps, glue pads and poison.

Found the Catch A Mouse at www.greenbottleusa.com . Worked great caught a mouse the first night and it was easy to release the little guy. I took the trap outside and rotated the cheese shaped entrance and two minutes later he was free.

Uses empty plastic water and soda bottles, can't beat it..... Eco friendly and humane.

Felt really good to free the little mouse ....

if you let them go will they come back to your house?

Watch out for mice jumping out of buckets. I released one from a no-kill trap into a bucket so my kids could see him. I was going to let him go in the woods by my house. He JUMPED straight up and out of the bucket and run back toward the house. So if you are planning something that catches them live-beware-they can jump!

For anyone who believes that normal snap traps are humane: I will leave you to judge what is and isn't humane, but you should be aware that these don't kill mice instantly. In my experience, mice usually take about thirty seconds to die, even when the bar hits them squarely on the neck. The only instant kills I've seen have been a direct hit to the head. True story: as I was typing that last sentence, a trap got a mouse right on the head, and it still took it more than ten seconds to die. Earlier tonight I saw the other extreme, almost a minute of writhing that left a bloody scene reminiscent of CSI. But anyway, you get my point. And you probably think I live in a house of cheese.

P.S. Thanks to all who have suggested trap ideas.

P.P.S. Mr. Howell - those who are criticizing releasing mice probably live in cities or suburbs, for which I pity them.

why not just kill it with a club

To the unitelligent person who said they have used a regular mouse trap, instant no pain junk...

It's too bad that there are people out there like you that do not care about the lives of animals. Likewise, if you think it is instant and there is no pain involved, maybe you should have someone whack you in the back of the head with a 2 x 4 and see if it is instant with no pain.

By the way...I live in a metro city and have used human mouse traps to catch and release the mice.

Glue traps are inhumane and cruel. A friend of mine, who didn't realize this, placed a glue trap out and his daughter's guinea pig escaped and found the trap. After taking an hour to pry this poor creature off, leaving skin behind, he took it to the vet which cost $1000.00. That evening, not realizing it had a traumatic day, I commented to my husband how screwed up their guinea pig looked. His hair was as if he had stuck a paw in an electric socket. He looked totally frazzled - hair standing straight up. My friend, now, no longer uses glue traps after witnessing the horror of the animal screaming at the top of his lungs in absolute pain.

There are humane ways to capture and release rodents effortlessly. Our cat brought a mouse in and after several attempts to capture it with our two store bought humane mouse traps (which always worked) and two home-made traps we were at a loss on how to catch it. This mouse chewed through the store bought ones and still managed to go into one of the home made ones and climbed out of the soda bottle. The other home made trap, it wouldn't go near. We then purchased another humane mouse trap made of metal at Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) or online at www.victorpest.com in hopes that it would work and YES it did. It went right in - no hesitation and so we caught it in 1/2 a day and let it go with a week supply of food. Use peanut butter on a cracker.

The trap is called V (victor) traps! Please be humane because you have the power to do so.

Any tips for using the Victor brand humane traps?

I have a couple(?) of mice, and I bought two "Victor" Humane Traps a few weeks ago and they are not working!! After about a week I tried putting more bait along the end of the plank inside the trap, and they somehow took the bait out without getting caught! (I have also tried the homemade versions with the paper towel roll over the trashcan and they just knocked the roll into the can.)

Are my mice intellectual geniuses, or is it me? They don't seem that afraid of me, as they are now hanging out in the living room with me while we watch the evening news.
If it weren't for the feces they leave everywhere - and the fear of them introducing themselves to any guests I have over - maybe we could continue to watch the news together. But they are now too comfortable and MUST go...but I will not kill them. I have seen what those horrible inhumane traps do. Including the glue traps!! If you don't get to them in time with the oil, they will literally rip off their own limbs in their attempt to escape.

I've caught a mouse with a glue trap before. I just poured vegetable oil on it and gently pushed his feet with the eraser of a pencil and he scurried off into the field where I let him go. It was easy. If you're going to use a glue trap though, check it often so they don't suffocate.

Thank you for this post!!!!

I have a poor terrified mouse in my apartment trying to get out... my cat brought him in. (I actually saw it heading to the door once, about 10 inches away, and the cat chased him back inside the apartment). I hate killing things... especially when it's my cat's fault he's even in the apartment to begin with.