A mouse in the house

me and my brother trapped one in the bathroom a while back, while it tried frantically to escape i managed to throw an unused towel over it and punched it with my bare hands to stun it, my brother then took it outside in a plastic bag and commenced smashing it against a brick wall.
not humane at all... but i would hate to be in a similar situation as wjprince.
its situations like this i wish i had an air rifle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BktLpmDNwt0

Did you/your brother not own a spade?

I'm a bit live and let live with the little furry ones. If I just see them about occasionally and they aren't being a nuisance, I don't do anything. Only once or twice has this escalated, and then only slowly and not to the plague-like levels I've heard from others. I take action when they start eating my stuff, basically. It's been a case of stuffing wire wool in gaps, making sure food is put away and crumbs cleared, and only once using conventional traps. Only ever caught 2 I think, that was in a house where they would shortcut (middle of a short terrace) boldly through the living room. One housemate minded when they stopped to nibble the pears so the traps were brought out.

You could try using peppermint oil - mice hate the stuff. In a previous house we had a mouse problem and placed balls of cotton wool soaked in peppermint oil (not the worse smell in the world for us humans) around the kitchen and other areas where the mice had been. Within a couple of weeks, and a few top ups of the oil (it dissipates quite quickly) all traces of the mice had disappeared and they never came back.

It's a bit like bike locking isn't it? You can go all out in any mousey or potentially mousey situation, or you can just make your house a little less attractive (to mice) than your neighbours...

That sort of thing tends to be frowned upon by the authorities.

Does making your house unattractive to mice break any law? If not, they (not sure who) can frown all they like, surely?

By doing that? Yes, it's generally considered to be a contravention of the law.

I have found success with this. You used to be able to hear it running along the floorboards up and down the hall at night but since using this there has been no sign of it whatsoever.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005GKCFV6/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B002UVOJV8&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1Z0X4W1JWWB2PPG0CK44

Outsourcing FTW

Now you've all got me worried...

The one you see is evidence of the 20 that you don't see.

Really? Which one?

We put these all over the house when we had a mouse problem, didn't work that winter but did stop them coming back the following year... Glue traps, never again... Grim...

Seriously, does this not strike you as even faintly obvious?

And even without the law, doesn't even your own sense of common decency suggest that you should never, ever do that?

I'm agog.

If you know where they're coming in then plug the gap with some wire wool.

Definitely this and I would go further, ie actively look for any hole or gap to plug with steel wool and hold it in place with expanding foam. (Helps with insulation too)
If you have damp areas, invest in bronze wool instead so it won't rust.
These motherfuckers are not Beatrix Potter creations - kill them in the face with fire etc in the most convenient way for you.
I have had them staring me out in my garage and making pinging noises as they climb over bicycle wheels. I still shudder at the thought.
I had made the mistake of storing fat balls in there and they had chewed into a plastic bucket to get at them.
Final point - pull the fridge out and anything else that moves in your search for holes and keep everywhere scrupulously clean to remove food sources.

Years ago, my cat brought back a mouse. It had bitten through the poor blighter's spine, so only its front legs worked, it's rear ones dragging along helplessly, as and when the cat let go of it to have a play (like they do).

I wanted to rescue it, but couldn't let it live or put it outside as moggy would just go out and have another few hours' 'fun' with it, so the decision was taken to put it out of its misery, and quickly. The only thing I could find was this;

.. full of vinyl, so it weighed a fair bit. Dropped from a height, only took 2 goes. Felt dreadful for hours. Still, no more suffering for Mr/Mrs Mouse.

/CSB

By doing that? Yes, it's generally considered to be a contravention of the law.

What are you saying is a contravention of the law?
I don't get it.

We did the pepper mint oil on cotton wool thing.
It didn't work one bit.
Then when we moved house we found all the balls of cotton wool had been dragged underneath the sofa and shredded to make a lovely little nest for the fuckers.

Minty comfort.

Seriously @Sharkstar just get a cat. Cats rule.

We came back from holiday to find that some mice had decided to move in.

We have a Jack Russell though, so once he'd started his crusade against them it was brutal and swift.

He did knock a lot of stuff over though while trying to stop/turn on wooden floors.

I wouldn't recommend the wire wool thing if your dog can get at it. Trying to pick it out of his teeth was an interesting experience.....

By the way, if you want to bait a trap, use malt paste, it's like crack for rodents.

If you're going down the humane route, I used this: http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p60863?utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&mkwid=sDVGkgMv7_dc&pcrid=46335775343&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=CjwKEAiA2ve0BRDCgqDtmYXlyjkSJACE

to get rid of about 6 mice from my house. Took them about 5 miles away to where I work and released them in the park (Think it needs to be a fair distance for them not to come back). Most of them seemed to be wood mice that had come into our house for warmth and an abundance of crumbs, but one was a house mouse and that bastard was tough to catch. Made light of the trap a few times, gnawed its way out of a recycling box that I'd put it in. So when I caught it the final time I stuck it in an old saucepan and gaffer taped the lid on.

Basically the trap worked fine for most of the mice but one of them was able to get out once it'd got stuck.

Seriously, does this not strike you as even faintly obvious?

Apparently not. Which law?

What has my "sense of common decency" have to do with anything?