Mouse or baby rat?

[malumbu]

My dad drowned stray kittens in a sack. He said it was one of the most awful things he ever did. This was a time before animal charities newtered strays. He's long since departed and it was probably the most humane way he knew of - unless you break into a chemists and steal the chloroform. The first litter he found homes for.

He once put a fork through a mouse nest in the compost heap kiling the mother by accident. He then forked through the babies explaining that they would die in any case. Me as a six year old wasn't traumatised. A different world then.

I can just about stab slugs. Snails are easier as I try to teach them to fly.

[Robert Poste's Child]

Glue traps must be terrifying for the mouse, and would certainly terrify me too, ditto the humane one (imagine the poor parent mouse trying to find its way back to its babies; the guilt would give you nightmares). I use the modern plastic version of the traditional trap as they do a clean job without the splatter effect you sometimes get with the old ones.

Apparently the sonic devices also work but best avoided if you have any pets.

[Jules-and-Boo]

you could always borrow a cat and they woudl quickly disappear.

having said that , if my cat catches one she doesn't really 'get it' and just sits on the little thing and suffocates it.

practically, figure out where the gaps are - under kitchen units and so on and plug them

http://everydayroots.com/how-to-get-rid-of-mice - /how-to-get-rid-of-mice

some good ideas here

[Sue]

Robert Poste's Child Wrote:

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>

> Apparently the sonic devices also work but best

> avoided if you have any pets.

If your neighbours use sonic devices, the mice come to you :))

[LondonMix]

Yes, they are cruel. However none of the other traps we used worked. It was our last option. We had several mice and the numbers and droppings were multiplying in our kitchen. Unfortunately, they were coming up to our flat from our neighbors' lower flats through the walls and we couldn't find the holes they were using.

Let's just say it was a horrific experience for the mice and for my husband.

ETA: One of the main issues PETA has with glue traps are people throwing the animals away while they are still alive, leaving them to starve to death etc. That's why my husband killed them immediately. Still, trapping an animal for any length of time is cruel (including in a humane trap).

Jules-and-Boo Wrote:

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> glue traps are really cruel.

[LondonMix]

We have (had) two cats. They weren't really interested in helping out. We also tried the sonic device which we kept using after they were gone.

Jules-and-Boo Wrote:

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> you could always borrow a cat and they woudl

> quickly disappear.

>

> having said that , if my cat catches one she

> doesn't really 'get it' and just sits on the

> little thing and suffocates it.

>

> practically, figure out where the gaps are - under

> kitchen units and so on and plug them

>

> http://everydayroots.com/how-to-get-rid-of-mice -

> /how-to-get-rid-of-mice

>

> some good ideas here

[LondonMix]

Yes, the generations before us were made of much sterner stuff for better and for worse. My friends dad used to trap rats in a bag and just kill them by slamming them on the floor. He was totally unfussed but my friend was traumatized just witnessing it.

We have to remember though that ours is one of the first few generations in which most men haven't had to actual kill people in war, haven't had live through famine, etc. We are privileged (and therefore able to be softer / kinder) in a way previous generations couldn't have imagined. We can't judge them by our standards.

malumbu Wrote:

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> My dad drowned stray kittens in a sack. He said

> it was one of the most awful things he ever did.

> This was a time before animal charities newtered

> strays. He's long since departed and it was

> probably the most humane way he knew of - unless

> you break into a chemists and steal the

> chloroform. The first litter he found homes for.

>

> He once put a fork through a mouse nest in the

> compost heap kiling the mother by accident. He

> then forked through the babies explaining that

> they would die in any case. Me as a six year old

> wasn't traumatised. A different world then.

>

> I can just about stab slugs. Snails are easier as

> I try to teach them to fly.

[Sue]

I once worked in a plant centre, and there was a problem with rabbits munching the plants at night.

So a rabbit catcher was called in. He left with a number of rabbits in a bag.

He told me he was taking them away to let them loose elsewhere. I was so naive, I believed him :(

It occurred to me afterwards that live rabbits would not have been able to breathe in a zipped up bag :(