# Catching a Mouse



## Sasha5113 (Sep 24, 2019)

The cats brought us a mouse in the night, and racing around with plastic cups has been unproductive. What’s the best way to attract a very smart mouse?


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## Keesha (Sep 24, 2019)

A smarter cat?
A bigger pail or towel. 
A big fishing net with small netting. 
A no kill catch device trap - expensive 
Mice bait that they eat and die but I don’t recommend this. 

Put piece of food under pail with a string and piece of stick holding it up.... and wait patiently ?


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## Giantsfan1954 (Sep 24, 2019)

What's racing around with plastic cups? Mouse pong...


Keesha said:


> A smarter cat?
> A bigger pail or towel.
> A big fishing net with small netting.
> A no kill catch device trap - expensive
> ...


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## Ferocious (Sep 24, 2019)

Sasha5113 said:


> The cats brought us a mouse in the night, and racing around with plastic cups has been unproductive. *What’s the best way to attract a very smart mouse?*
> 
> *Answer, find a mouse of the opposite sex, ,  then release it in your abode.....simple really.....***


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## Sasha5113 (Sep 24, 2019)

LO*L*! I have to veto Ferocious’s suggestion, though; I’m terrorized by the thought that this one is pregnant. 
Keesha, if not smarter, then hungrier. One of these troops is on a diet, down from 19 to 17, and should have understood that this was her way to sneak extra. That food-under-pail trick was our way of catching robins as kids ... why did we want to catch robins, do you suppose?


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## RadishRose (Sep 24, 2019)

xxxxxxx


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## win231 (Sep 24, 2019)

I'm an animal lover, but I know there is only ONE way I've successfully used to get rid of a mouse or rat:
The simple spring trap always works.  I did have a smart rat in the house several years ago, but I outsmarted him.  I first put the trap out with some prune on it & the trap NOT sprung.  After he got used to eating from the trap with no problem, I set the trap & it worked the next day.
By the way, prune or banana works better because all rodents have a sweet tooth & it's stickier which ensures enough pressure & pulling on the bait tray.  And, I use double-sided tape on the bottom of the trap to prevent the trap from moving  around on the floor.

I'm surprised your cat let the mouse live.  My cats would bring in only HALF of a mouse or rat or squirrel.  Once, I woke up with a squirrel's head in my hand & the cat purring on my bed.  (just the head...I don't know what she did with the rest of it).


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## Keesha (Sep 24, 2019)

Sasha5113 said:


> LO*L*That food-under-pail trick was our way of catching robins as kids ... why did we want to catch robins, do you suppose?


Cause you were a kid?
My cat has brought in a few live mice. 
Why? It’s my guess...... to play with!
Cats are one of the few animals, besides humans, that are true sadists. They like to torture the mice before killing it. 

Luckily we have a Yorkie that was taught how to hunt by the cat but is much better at it. She kills mice as a past time hobby while walking in the woods  and it’s done in a split second. 
Of course Yorkies were bred to be hunters. 

That’s it. Buy a Yorkie!


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## mike4lorie (Sep 24, 2019)

Well here it is the Redneck way, but they don't survive... But it works...


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## Ken N Tx (Sep 24, 2019)

mike4lorie said:


> Well here it is the Redneck way, but they don't survive... But it works...


They survive if you do not put water in it...


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## mike4lorie (Sep 24, 2019)

Ken N Tx said:


> They survive if you do not put water in it...



Good Point @Ken N Tx


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## Don M. (Sep 24, 2019)

I don't have a "heart" where mice and rats are concerned.  Every Fall, it seems that the mice find their way into our basement....probably if I have the garage door open for more than a couple of minutes.  Therefore, around this time of year, I place a half dozen "traditional" traps, baited with some cheese, in the garage and basement.  Generally, I can count on crushing a half dozen of these pests every Fall/Winter.


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## Keesha (Sep 24, 2019)

All mice need to enter your home is a 1/4 inch.


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## win231 (Sep 24, 2019)

Keesha said:


> All mice need to enter your home is a 1/4 inch.


That's right.  And huge rats need only one inch.  I understood that when I had a pet Boa Constrictor.  I'd drop in a huge rat - much larger than the diameter of his head.  After he crushed it, it was much smaller.  And as he swallowed it, he always had one coil around it to stretch it out as it went down.


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## Sasha5113 (Sep 26, 2019)

All is well. Timmy the Mouse spent two nights rearranging our closets and our cats. Today we cornered him in the linen closet and swaddled him in a small brown towel. He was carried out to the dune grass under a dogwood tree to forage at will. Now I’m going to throttle Boomerang, the tom who brought him in.


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## terry123 (Sep 26, 2019)

No mice here and will never be.  Old fashioned traps will be used without any regret.  If you want to live, do not come here!  Just pertains to mice, rats and bugs of any kind.


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## C'est Moi (Sep 26, 2019)

Sasha5113 said:


> All is well. Timmy the Mouse spent two nights rearranging our closets and our cats. Today we cornered him in the linen closet and swaddled him in a small brown towel. He was carried out to the dune grass under a dogwood tree to forage at will. Now I’m going to throttle Boomerang, the tom who brought him in.


I hope you drove him several miles away or he probably beat you back to the house.


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## Butterfly (Sep 27, 2019)

win231 said:


> I'm an animal lover, but I know there is only ONE way I've successfully used to get rid of a mouse or rat:
> The simple spring trap always works.  I did have a smart rat in the house several years ago, but I outsmarted him.  I first put the trap out with some prune on it & the trap NOT sprung.  After he got used to eating from the trap with no problem, I set the trap & it worked the next day.
> By the way, prune or banana works better because all rodents have a sweet tooth & it's stickier which ensures enough pressure & pulling on the bait tray.  And, I use double-sided tape on the bottom of the trap to prevent the trap from moving  around on the floor.
> 
> I'm surprised your cat let the mouse live.  My cats would bring in only HALF of a mouse or rat or squirrel.  Once, I woke up with a squirrel's head in my hand & the cat purring on my bed.  (just the head...I don't know what she did with the rest of it).



I agree about the old fashioned traps, but I use peanut butter as bait.  Mice come in my house right through the dog doors when the weather gets cool.  I know they're coming so I set out traps ahead of time.  The only problem is I can't put traps on the floor in most places or I'm liable to catch a dog's nose or paw (a very painful and unpleasant experience for both me and the dog).


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## Sasha5113 (Sep 27, 2019)

If a mouse comes in of his own volition, all bets are off, and peanut butter on one of the new-dangled plastic traps is the way we go. But poor Timmy was CARRIED in in someone’s mouth, so compassion ruled.


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## Warrigal (Sep 27, 2019)

I have a soft spot in my heart for mice too. I just don't like their smell in my kitchen cupboards.
I have done a catch and release several times in the past but haven't had one for donkey's ages now.


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