When I checked the cupboard this morning, I felt my stomach turn. The trap was partially obscured by the waffle iron, but I could see a thin tail stuck to the visible part of the trap. Without investigating further, I closed the cupboard and announced to R that we had caught the mouse.
Then I asked her what I was supposed to do with it.
I anticipated (correctly) that the trap would immobilize the mouse without killing it outright, but I hadn't planned much further than that. What is the proper thing to do in this situation? R immediately sat down at the computer and searched on something like "mouse glue trap" and came up with some interesting information.
Articles on sites like about.com and peta.org note that there is substantial animal-rights opposition to glue traps because the animal dies slowly, with considerable suffering. This quote of a quote was on the peta site:
A regulatory impact statement released by the Australian government cited a study that concluded that glue traps should be banned “because of the enormous distress that these traps cause, even if the trapped animals are found after just a few hours and then humanely dispatched."
I set the trap just last night, so the mouse had been there for less than 12 hours. Lying on one side, it was completely exhausted and so completely stuck in the glue that it could hardly rustle around when I returned to the cabinet and took a closer look. It seemed that the mouse had lost some fur in the struggle, and was very distressed. While R continued to read optimistic tips about using vegetable oil to safely remove mice from such traps, I took a utility bucket from the basement and drowned the poor creature in 4 inches of water.
Afterwards, I climbed up on a stool and pulled the other glue trap down from the attic. I am not very anxious to go through that again.
I've heard several stories about different methods. Perhaps there's one out there that will be better for us and for the mice.
8 comments:
Great. Now you've got a haunted utility bucket. You can't keep it (again, haunted) but you can't throw it away either, for fear that someone else will unwittingly end up with it. I once threw out a crusty Red Sox hat and saw a hobo wearing it the next day. Bad Karma. No, you have to either a) do some kind of ceremony to address the matter (consult wikipedia, as I am a philosopher, not a witchdoctor, and therefore can't help you), or b) burn it. And given the toxic fumes that the latter option would emit, I would go for option a. Good luck.
We have the same problem sometimes...especially in the winter. We are not as humane because our mice actually got into our food storage (oatmeal, rice, etc) and I guess that angered us enough to take more aggressive action. We have the good ol' spring traps that kill them instantly...at least it's not a slow death.
The problem I have with catch and release traps is that they will be back. They're smart creatures. We had one last year that was living under our bedroom closet floor, inbetween the floor of the 2nd floor and the ceiling of the 1st floor. It would wake us up every night with it's constant scratching and we could not get to sleep. Sheldon tried banging on the floor to scare it away. It worked for a night, then it got brave and would ignore it. They're smart; they're adaptable. So unless you can pinpoint right away where they are entering, catch and release traps will just have them returning the next night.
To conclude the end of the mouse-in-the-closet-floor story, Sheldon tried different ways to get it. Since we couldn't place a trap in there, he drilled a small hole in the closet floor, dropped poison and then filled the space with expandable insulation foam in hopes to trap it in a corner. We haven't heard the mouse since so we assume it worked. Oh and just to let you know, we haven't seen any ghostly mouse sightings either.
THere's sometimes more than one mouse. Ask Joy Melchin. They have been fighting this problem for quite awhile. They were attacking their food storage too so Joy quit feeling sorry for the mice. Find out where they are entering so you can plug that up if you can. If they die on their own somewhere where you can't get to them, you might be treated to an unpleasant smell. Also, don't touch the droppings without gloves on I think is the advice. Helen
The unfortunate thing with mice is there is no humanely way to get rid of them. The glue traps work the best, we have caught several mice in our basement with them. We even had one only get half caught and it was able to push the trap around our crawl space. Try catching a speeding glue trap in a room that is to low to stand in. My advice is to stick with the glue traps.
Back in the good ol days of living above the Poky Reel... we had our share of glue trap captures. After much thought, it was decided the best method was to toss them off the 3 story roof directly into the empty garbage dumpsters behind the theater. We figured the impact would kill instantly, and we got the bonus of it already being in the dumpster. I agree though, we didn't feel good about it. I'd guess at least 12 mice were disposed of in this manner though over the years I lived there... that place was crawling with them.
that poor little mouse, i feel like crying just thinking about it :( I feel so bad for you that you had to do what you did. that must have been really tough.
Maybe they have mini mouse sized paint ball guns... or you could always use a TAZER!!! that would be cool. I dont mind mice all that much but those are the two ideas I can think of tht would make the mouse (HUNT) a little more FUN!!!
When we were to a family reunion in Washington (state of)and we laid some pass-on-clothes on the grass for Michelle to pick out what she wanted we then loaded the rest back in the car to give away to DI back to Provo. When I opened the trunk to my surprise about a dozen WEE LITTLE MICE were running all around! We must have picked up a mother mouse who spotted a nice NEST. What to do? Well, grab a broom, dust pan, capture them all and toss them in the garbage bag and haul it to our dumpster! Later I did feel a LITTLE guilty. But thier ancestor ran across our cabin floor last summer and we could not get it. I think my SHREIK frightened it more than he frightened me! For some time I kept my toes on the couch and worried about getting out of bed during the night for fear...Oh, well!
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