How to trap a mouse that's in my sights

September 18, 2015 10:32 PM

While I was writing this question, the mouse went away, but I'm leaving my question like this because I want to know what to do if/when this happens again (I've put the old part in italics):

I'm looking at a mouse in the living room of my 1-bedroom apartment, between my bedroom and the kitchen. I've set up this "humane" metal-box trap, baited with peanut butter and honey (right in the middle of the inside of the box). But the mouse seemed to run right through it and get out the other end! It also looks like the mouse is afraid of the trap — the mouse sometimes goes up to it but then scurries away. As an ethical vegetarian, I don't want to do anything cruel — I want to release it from my building, far away, in a park. (I know people say if you release it, it will come back. So I don't need to hear that point again. I'm willing to take the risk.)

I've shined a flashlight on the mouse and it barely moves. It's hiding in a corner. It's slower and smaller than the other mouse I've seen in my apartment in the last couple weeks. I'd like to be able to manually capture it, but my understanding is that's not very likely, and I don't know what I'd use. Any ideas?

Again, the mouse has left since I wrote the stuff in italics above, but I expect to see it again. I set up the trap 17 days ago, shortly after seeing a mouse, but I haven't caught any. Before today, I always saw a faster, larger mouse dart under the fridge (along one kitchen wall) or under the stove (along the opposite kitchen wall).

I've already done a lot: I found some food in my pantry that the mouse/mice got into (chocolate bars and walnuts), and I've gotten rid of all that. And I've gotten extra-vigilant about cleaning things up, not leaving dirty dishes out, etc. My landlord looked around, found some holes in my kitchen wall (along the exterior), and plugged up the holes with steel wool. My landlord set up traps in the basement, directly below my first-floor apartment.

My landlord offered me glue traps, but I turned them down for ethical reasons. I'm even less willing to use poison, since the mice could crawl into some out-of-the-way place and die.

I have a box of rubber gloves ready for whenever I need to take action, but other than that I feel pretty ill-equipped to handle this. I should note that I live alone, with no pets, and I'm not willing to get a pet to solve this.

posted by John Cohen to Home & Garden (30 answers total)

Response by poster: I see it again! Help...
posted by John Cohen at 11:19 PM on September 18, 2015

Best answer: You could use this mouse-bucket, or just scoop it up with something. The can can be substituted with any object, and the bucket with a deep bowl (and can be filled with water/oil to make it a deadly trap)
posted by FallowKing at 11:31 PM on September 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: OK, inspired by that comment, what do you think of this? I just took that photo. I'm holding a big rubber bowl, which you can see is very bendy. And I have a very tall glass, with oil on the bottom (and a lid). So, next time I see it, I'll try to quickly "scoop it up" with the rubber bowl, while holding the glass almost parallel to the ground, and try to put the mouse in the glass.
posted by John Cohen at 12:29 AM on September 19, 2015

Having lived in a wide range of rented properties, I can sympathise; this is one of the most frustrating experiences you can have. I'm going to be a bit negative on the actual grabbing the mouse front. The problem is that a mouse can accelerate massively faster than an adult human. You might train a nimble toddler to catch them, I suppose, but you've already stipulated no pets.

I've not had much success with traps but I'd suggest using lots of traps and different baits.

My real experience is that you're only going to get rid of mice by not trusting your landlord's assessment of what 'blocking up holes' entails. Last time I had a mouse problem it took 12 hours of labour hermetically sealing the entire flat (in a 200 year old building) with wire wool and foam sealant. I only saw one mouse in the flat after that, and it fled down the stairs the day after I finished my fortifications, and was never seen again.
posted by howfar at 12:43 AM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think you've got no chance. Mice are quick. But they generally can't jump high enough to escape a slippery-sided plastic bucket.

If you're doing the catch-and-release-far-away thing on ethical grounds, you should be aware that whatever place you release your mouse is almost certain to have as many mice already living there as it will support, that the mice already living there will not take kindly to the new arrival, and that unfamiliarity with the territory will make it easy pickings for the local predators.

But if the only reason you're not using an ordinary snap trap is ordinary squeamishness, fair enough.
posted by flabdablet at 12:46 AM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I know it's supposed to be an uphill battle at best to try to manually catch a mouse, but it was frustrating to see the mouse right in front of me, barely moving. So I'd at least like to try.

I'm not really interested in going off on a tangent about whether releasing a mouse is an ethically good decision. I've been pretty clear about what I want to do: I want to release it, not kill it. That's what my question is about.
posted by John Cohen at 12:51 AM on September 19, 2015

Best answer: Here's a funny trick that worked for me more than once:
Use a boot. Preferrably a high boot, that when lying down looks like a nice safe hidey-hole. Lie it down close to where you saw the mouse, and within your view from your normal spot, and keep a close eye on it.
If a mouse is that nonchalant and curious, chances are it may get into the boot all by itself and then you can grab the boot, stuff something in it to keep the mouse inside, and you'll have it trapped.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:08 AM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't think you're going to be able to catch even the slow one. Mice are small, and really don't like being held so it will be squirming and probably slip out of your hand. Your goal should be to get the mouse into a container it can't get out from, and that you can use to carry it to a place you can release it. The bucket trap above is designed to do that. Or try this if you want something fancier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZTrssT8dcg. If the mouse is ignoring one trap, try setting a couple with different food items. It'll fall for one of them.
posted by hermanubis at 1:09 AM on September 19, 2015

Posting this in case the bucket/boot trap thing fails.

....My landlord offered me glue traps, but I turned them down....

There is a way to use those glue traps, get them out alive, and release them. A friend of mine has used the glue traps when the humane traps and other mechanisms of catching live mice failed. However, soon after they were caught in glue traps, using gloves (and having a bucket or container to put the mouse into), she used a q-tip and used a combination of alcohol and oil to gently wash the mouse and get the mouse out. All of her mice have survived, although one or two subsequently escaped from the bucket and ran free in the apartment again.

If this is your goal, I would test it to confirm your solution works and only have those traps down when you are home (ie, don't go on vacation with glue traps sitting out).

Just another possibility if your other techniques fail ... or if someone wants to get a mouse out of a glue trap.
posted by Wolfster at 3:02 AM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

I found some food in my pantry that the mouse/mice got into (chocolate bars and walnuts)

That would be a strong possibility for bait for your trap. They know this kind of food and trust it.

However, it sounds like your trap isn't working that well. We've used a metal-box-like humane trap; ours requires that you wind a spring to make it work. Is there any chance you haven't got the trap working correctly?

You could also try lubricating it.

If they can't get to any other food, they'll try the trap again.
posted by amtho at 3:11 AM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

Mouse season is just beginning here, so I'm getting prepared for the winter influx. The trouble is that mice can fit through a tiny tiny gap, so it is tough to seal them out.
I use a plastic humane trap (pic here) which I put peanut butter in.

It usually takes the mice a few days to get used to it, but after that we catch them and release them in an abandoned farm house a bit of a walk away.

Stick with the humane trap for a bit, and try not to handle it, or use gloves if you do, smell will keep them away.

As for catching them yourself, I have done it, but by chasing a mouse into a container and then having something to cover the top. I did once manage to trap one in a corner and catch it in a plastic bag, but I wouldn't recommend trying that way. Create a dark small space in advance and then try and herd the mouse that way. It might work.

Good luck.
posted by Fence at 4:21 AM on September 19, 2015

I caught a mouse once in an old metal portable hot plate. Mousy was willing to go hide inside the hotplate because it was a nice, safe hiding place where I couldn't possibly reach him. He got in through a narrow space where I could poke crumbled bleu cheese, but couldn't get my fingers in. What Mousy didn't realise is that once he was in his nice safe new hiding place I could pick the hot plate up and carry it outside....

I have also caught a mouse using an ordinary plastic garbage can, like the kind people put out on the curb with a big bag of garbage. Mousy went in after the bait in the bottom only to discover that he could not get back out. A little mouse can often jump more than a foot high when desperate, but not more than two feet.

Your mouse sounds like it is in difficulties. They do not usually hang about frozen in a corner where you can see it. I am assuming it is behind a bookcase or something. It may be that the bigger mouse has just moved in and evicted it from its own little inside-the-wall apartment and it is now paralyzed with fear and wondering where to live go. Mice can be quite territorial with each other, bigger mice beating up on smaller mice and eating mouse babies.

You might also find that baiting your trap with a shallow dish of water would bring Mousy to risk his small life for a sip of water.
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:21 AM on September 19, 2015

Could you borrow a cat for a few days? The smell might chase the mice off, and if so: problem solved.
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:31 AM on September 19, 2015

If you put something like a small cardboard box or something low near it, it'll probably dash under it to huddle out of sight. They like to be under low stuff. If you have any 5 gallon buckets or cat litter pails, they sides are too tall for most mice to jump out of.

I use Smart Mouse traps and they work phenomenally for single-catch (although sometimes I catch two mice at once if one is too small to trigger it and a friend joins).
posted by bookdragoness at 5:46 AM on September 19, 2015

I once caught a mouse using a drinking glass. My cat had found it and was playing with it; it was uninjured but clearly terrified and was in freeze mode. The cat had cornered it and I simply put a glass over the mouse, slid a piece of cardboard under the glass/mouse, and voila, it was trapped and contained.

I don't remember how but I managed to transfer him to a tupperware container and took him to a park and let him go. He never came back. I named him Mortimer because he was very cute.
posted by misskaz at 6:47 AM on September 19, 2015

A mouse that barely moves and stays put when disturbed or exposed is usually a dying mouse - are there other people in your block who might have put poison down? Leave it alone and it'll be dead soon and you can scoop it up.
posted by Flitcraft at 7:45 AM on September 19, 2015

Forgot to add, I would assume a mouse that behaves like that is poisoned and if it was released outside before it is dead, it could put wildlife or pets at risk if they eat it. Do not disturb - leave it to pop its little clogs, then dispose of it carefully.
posted by Flitcraft at 7:51 AM on September 19, 2015

I have caught mice with my hands, more than once, and so have my children. But it is probably a better idea to use some sort of container.

I disgree that mice you can catch are sick. They are actually not good at navigating large (for them) spaces, but at this time of the year they start migrating into buildings in preparation for winter, and till they have found their new hiding places, they are vulnerable.
posted by mumimor at 8:05 AM on September 19, 2015

Those traps are pretty idiot proof to set up, but I don't really trust them to catch the mouse and keep the mouse all the time. (Don't worry abut winding a spring; they don't have one.) They don't spring the doors shut enough for my taste, and I don't think I'd trust a sufficiently motivated mouse couldn't get out. We use them sometimes to catch loose mice at work (I work in a wild mouse lab), and while they do work I think it's more about our mice looking for somewhere quiet and contained and small to hide in. I'd imagine a feral house mouse wouldn't have that particular motivation so much... although it definitely sounds like your house mouse was acting strangely. Poison sounds likely, or being stunned or otherwise injured.

I prefer Sherman traps for catching mice, like this, or something like this that fully closes the door after the mouse. The linked Smart Mouse traps that bookdragoness mentioned also look good. You want something that will snap shut if you tap sharply on the top of the cage, but won't snap shut as you just set the trap down. Live traps should also be checked daily if you're worried about harm to the mice; too long without food or water and most small rodents do not do well.

Please do not try to manually capture the mouse. Even if you did manage it, house and deer mice are vectors for several nasty diseases--hantavirus, for example--and I'd worry a lot about you catching something nasty. And I agree with others that manually capturing mice is very difficult--I have manually captured wild mice who got loose at work, and that was in an environment with minimal possible escapes for them, very few places to hide, and the ability for me to corner them and nab them when they dart out. And even then, given that I can do that, I would nearly always rather set a live trap and pick them up and return them to their home cages when they're caught because that minimizes stress on them dramatically. Directly handling a wild rodent is a bad idea for all concerned, basically.

One note on baits: try mixing peanut butter or honey with oats. It makes it easier to clean the traps out and set baits, plus it's cheaper and a bit more sanitary. The walnuts that the mice already use might be a good bait, too.
posted by sciatrix at 8:08 AM on September 19, 2015 [2 favorites]

You might try a different kind of trap. We've had good luck with this style. They take a tiny bit of peanut butter in the far corner and are easy to check with a flashlight. I've never had mice escape once they are inside. Good luck! (Winter is coming here so thanks for the reminder to set the traps out.)

Oh and my husband managed to catch one once manually, I think with a box or something but it was a fluke. I think I was shining a flashlight on it so it couldn't see very well and it was kind of cornered behind a cabinet. I wouldn't absolutely count on that technique to work very often especially if you are by yourself.
posted by Beti at 9:12 AM on September 19, 2015

Probably too late for this - but the last time I had a mouse cornered behind my fridge I used a vacuum and a coffee can to get it out of the house. I took a stocking and put it over the vacuum's tube (before it attaches to the long straight attachment), so that it would suck up the mouse but not go into the bag itself. It trapped the mouse so that I was able to shake it out into the coffee can slightly stunned. Mousie went outside and was none the worse for wear, he was awake and alert by the time we were outside.

Kind of a random way to do it, but he wasn't falling for the bucket trap or anything else.
posted by checkitnice at 9:12 AM on September 19, 2015

Long time ago, I was awakened in the night by our cat playing with a mouse. I was able trap the mouse by dropping a plastic mixing bowl over it. Then I slid a cookie sheet under it, and was able to take it outside and release it.

I use basically the same idea on bugs.
posted by SemiSalt at 9:15 AM on September 19, 2015

I got pretty good at catching mice by hand before, but it was after the cat had been playing with them so they were probably terrified and exhausted. We were also not living in a place prone to hantavirus (although I think the major danger there is old, dried poop that goes airborne, rather than living mice).

I recommend heavy work gloves, so you don't get scratched or bitten if you try it. There was no special technique except to sneak up on it and slap my gloved hand down over it.

FYI, our ultimate solution to the mouse problem was to hunt down the nest, which turned out to be below a bookcase upstairs, and poison them after humane traps failed to work. The cat had been treating the nest as her personal mouse playtoy vending machine, but wasn't interested enough to kill them.
posted by telophase at 11:46 AM on September 19, 2015

We caught a mouse at my office once in a large-ish cardboard shipping box. Set the box on its side with a piece of cookie inside. Once the mouse was inside, you could hear it scuffling around in there. Picked up the box, tipping it so the opening was on top and loosely closed the flaps. The movement of walking outside with the box was enough to keep the mouse from getting a foothold in the cardboard to climb out. Tipped it out once outside.

You would have to be prepared to do the release part immediately after the catching part, though. A mouse could pretty easily climb out or chew through the cardboard.
posted by mon-ma-tron at 12:06 PM on September 19, 2015

My husband managed to throw an upturned tupperware box over a mouse once (from some distance), but that was kind of a fluke. If your mouse is really that slow-moving it might work though (then slip cardboard underneath and take it outside). Not sure why you need to catch it though - as various people have said, it will just come straight back in unless you've sealed up all the holes.

Clear your food away (inside sealed containers in wall cupboards - they can get into under-counter cupboards and onto the counter itself), seal up any holes you can find, and wait for spring when it will probably leave again anyway.
posted by tinkletown at 2:15 PM on September 19, 2015

I have the same kind of metal humane trap you have and I caught a mouse with it recently. If your mouse was able to walk right through it, maybe one of the levers is stuck? My mouse wasn't at all interested in the trap when it had the run of my whole apartment, but here's how I got him to go in: I had been chasing him around for a while when he made the unwise decision to run under the closed door of my coat closet. I immediately lay a few books on my side of the door so the mouse couldn't run back out from the space under the door. Then I fit the trap snugly between two of the books, with one of the openings facing the closet door. The mouse's only way out of the closet was through the trap. Sure enough, a minute later, the mouse was in the trap. If you think your mouse may be able to go right through the other side, you could block that side with something transparent. The mouse will see the light of the tunnel from inside your closet (or other small, closed room) and think it's a way out.

Another time, I was chasing a mouse but didn't know exactly where he was. So I did what Wolfster is suggesting. I have a huge problem with glue traps and wouldn't recommend their use to anyone who is cavalier about cruelty to mice. But I was determined to catch the mouse that day and get him off the trap as quickly as possible. I set down "mouse-sized" glue traps rather than the large kind that can trap larger animals because the small ones have a shallower layer of glue, and it takes less oil to dissolve it and get the mouse off. Because the traps were so small, though, I was concerned that the mouse might end up running around the apartment with a trap stuck to part of his body. So I stuck a loop of duct tape to the bottom of each trap and then pressed the traps to the floor. The small size of the traps ended up being really helpful because when the mouse ran onto one and tried to pull himself off, it created a clattering sound against the floor that I immediately heard. A heavier trap with thicker glue wouldn't have clattered.

The trap he got stuck on was in the narrow space between the fridge and a wall. It was a strategic placement; mice prefer these kinds of spaces where larger animals can't reach them. He was only on the trap for a minute before I had him at the bottom of a tall container and was using canola oil to get him off. A little oil goes a long way. After he was off, I wiped up the oil at the bottom of the container with a paper towel and then put a couple more paper towels down there so the mouse could walk around on it and get most of the oil off of himself. He actually seemed to like the canola oil - he was even licking it off the paper towel.
posted by Mila at 5:11 PM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'll add that while "my" mouse was visibly stressed from being on the glue trap for a few minutes and having me looming above him, dripping oil on his feet, the mouse I caught in the "humane" trap was pretty frantic too. Either way, you just have to make the ordeal as quick as possible.
posted by Mila at 5:24 PM on September 19, 2015

This won't help you catch it, but if you want to discourage it, I have found spraying peppermint oil (diluted with water and some rubbing alcohol) in drawers, on kitchen counters, and so forth has worked. About twice a year I get a foray into my apartment--a very old building, and not a hope in hell of plugging all the holes--but the occasional re-pepperminting keeps them from setting up shop.
posted by sarahkeebs at 8:15 AM on September 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Thanks, everyone. I caught 2 mice today and released them outside. I don't know if there are any left, but I'll still be on the lookout.

In both cases, I personally caught the mouse and then dropped it into my very tall glass (with oil on the bottom). In one case, I caught it with the rubber bowl shown in my photo (with some oil in it), and in the other case I used the "boot" idea suggested by Too-Ticky. So thanks to her for the good advice, and thanks again to FallowKing for the "scoop it up" idea.

After I posted this question, I saw the mice repeatedly go in and out of the metal-box trap. It seems to be totally ineffective; I'm surprised it got mostly positive reviews on Amazon.
posted by John Cohen at 7:27 PM on September 20, 2015 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: I don't think you're going to be able to catch even the slow one. Mice are small, and really don't like being held so it will be squirming and probably slip out of your hand.

When I said "manually," I meant actively using some kind of implement in my hands (as opposed to sitting back and letting a trap do all the work), not using only my hands! That's why I said:

I'd like to be able to manually capture it, but ... I don't know what I'd use.

(But now I do.)
posted by John Cohen at 8:17 AM on September 22, 2015