How to Catch a Mouse: Killing It vs. Keeping It Alive
Bumping on a mouse in your house is a scary experience. To make the matter worse, the sound that mice make when their gnawing electrical wire and `scratching walls can render you sleepless.
Considering these bad experiences and the fact that house mice can spread an array of pandemics such as Lyme disease and salmonella, no one would wish to share a shelter with these annoying rodents. If you spot them in your house, consider removing them soonest possible before they wreak havoc.
Catching a Mouse Alive
Although mice are nasty animals, some people would still be moved nearly to tears upon seeing a lifeless mouse. They prefer catching a mouse alive and releasing it somewhere else far away from their houses.
If you are one of them and have no idea how to do it, you can use the following to catch a mouse alive:
- A spoon and a bucket
This mouse-catching approach is practical when you want to trap a mouse that you suspect has been walking on your kitchen’s countertop. Place a deep bucket against the counters and just above it, place a spoon with a peanut dollop on the edge of the counter.
The peanut should be on the handle end of the spoon and while the spoon ought to be balanced off the counter’s edge with the end with the bait being above the bucket.
When a mouse tries to reach the bait, it, together with the spoon, will fall into the bucket. Since the bucket is too slippery for the mouse to climb, it will have no escape option but to wait for you to determine its fate.
- A coin, a glass, and bait
Smear some peanut butter (bait) on the interiors of the glass. Then, put the glass on the ground in an upside-down manner and then put nickel below the glass to support it.
The coin should prop up one side of the brim of the glass. The coin will fall, making the glass to drop when a mouse gets in to reach the peanut butter and the rodent will be trapped inside the glass.
Mouse Trap: Killing a Mouse Using a Spring-Loaded Trap
If you want to kill a mouse without using any chemical, then, the use of a spring-loaded trap is the best option.
However, you should handle this trap with utmost care since a simple blunder can cause you injuries. Besides, it should be placed in an area with less human and non-targeted animal traffic, else it can do more harm than good.
Apply peanut butter on the small paddle of the trap. Then, place the trap in the spot where you suspect or spot mice mostly. Once the mouse tries to reach the bait, the trap will spring, hit the rodent with much force and hold it there until the time you remove it.
Since the mouse will die upon the trapping, it is advisable that you dispose it off soonest possible before it starts to decompose and produce a foul smell.
One of the drawbacks of attempting to catch a mouse alive is that the rodent has chances to escape and continue to enjoy the comfort of your home.
For instance, in the bucket and spoon method, a child or a pet may drop the bucket, and this will give the trapped mouse an opportunity to escape. Besides, if a mouse is trapped inside a glass, your child may lift the glass, and if that happens, the animal will just run away and retreat to its previous or new hideouts in your house.
On the other hand, once the mouse is killed, you rest assured that it won’t come back again. If you have a mice infestation problem, call Control Exterminating immediately. We offer professional mice and rats exterminator service in NYC areas.***
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