AIBU to disagree with OH

OP...what if the mouse your DH fails to catch in a trap is a pregnant female?

Life Cycle info here www.terminix.com/pest-control/mice/life-cycle/

Heading into Winter mice will be looking to get somewhere dry and warm, can't blame them for that, so now is a good time to act.

Personally, I don't agree with so-called humane traps as you are moving the problem elsewhere which is not good from an environmental viewpoint and unless you release the trapped mice etc several times each day, they are likely to starve to death and the 'humane' part of the procedure is a farce.

I'm not a cat lover but don't suggest a cat either...again, what if the mouse has eaten a bait, then the cat will be a victim of secondary poisoning...goodbye kitty cat!

Spring traps and/or wax-based bait blocks work best and what we used 24/7 for many years in the trade.

Hope this helps?

blubber- so what are you supposed to do with them then,once you've caught them??

Thing is you cant risk putting poison down if theres the OP's dogs there too.What kind of dogs are they?because terriers are good ratters/mouse catchers i believe, like cats? Also, I'm confused as to how your daughters allergic to cats but not the dogs.?

They may be eating the cereal but also building a store of it elsewhere. What is behind the cupboard? Mice follow the urine trail of their mates. They can squeeze through a hole the diameter of a pencil. As well as blocking the obvious entry point and any other small gaps you can find, you need to find the run and clean it with bleach or Jeyes to get rid of the urine trail as well as cleaning the cupboard where they have been. In other words, put them off the scent.

It is illegal to release mice or any other vermin if caught in a humane trap.

I’ve just had this issue, I only saw one mouse in the cupboard under sink where I used to keep dog food. I purchased a humane mouse trap and caught him in first 24 hours, you then have to take them at least 1/2 mile from your home otherwise they just run straight back there. However, the next night I saw 2 of them in the same place, cut along story short pest control say you very rarely get just one mouse, its usually a family of them. It turned out I had a whole family in my loft they were running up and down cavity walls at night for food.

Also look for little black specks of mouse faeces in cupboards and on shelves. They are not continent creatures.

Can't see the point in calling in pest control unless you find that you are overun with the little blighters!
I live in the country, surrounded by fields, so expect to have mice in the house at some point in the winter.
I found that peanut butter or chocolate are best in a trap and continue to set a trap after you think that you have caught them all.
The humane traps really are a waste of money, sorry as unless you take the mouse a decent distance away, they will return and as someone has already said, they may well die in an unknown area to them as knowledge of a food supply is why they come into your house in the first place!
Apart from that, get a cat!

It's not just food mice nibble at, wires and insulation covering are favourites. You need to set traps all over the kitchen, it's never just one mouse. Ask your DH if he would eat in a restaurant where mice had been in the packets of food given to him. If yes, then he needs to read about food health and safety and why restaurants are closed down for infestation of mice.

We had the little sods years ago and when I went to bed it was like River Dance on the bedroom ceiling. My nerves were in pieces and tried everything to catch the culprits. I had to resort to calling pest control who caught 16! They set up CCTV in the loft to see how they were getting in too, they were running up the outside wall and getting in a little hole in the chimney. I had wished at the time I'd got the experts out quicker.

You say your daughter is allergic to cats. Mice are much more serious. Have no qualms at all. Poison concealed in traps is the answer. It contains the mouse as well so no rotten smell of them crawling elsewhere to die. This is a health hazard so get the hole blocked off and fast. Then poison any that choose to remain.

Pest control put down poison. In our case they said whatever it is they put down is taken back to the nest and shared out. They just all go permanently to sleep.

Several years ago we went on holiday to a gite in France. The next morning whilst making breakfast I put some bread in the toaster and turned it on. All of a sudden there was this awful scrabbling noise and I immediately turned the toaster off . I looked inside to find a young mouse staring back at me. I took the toaster outside and let the mouse run out, no way of knowing if it ever came back?

We found mice under the sink who were getting in through the tiniest of gaps near pipework (they really can squash themselves teeny tiny to get in).
The solution was to buy a can of foam which, when sprayed around the pipes, expanded and set hard, blocking up any gaps, however small.
Worked a treat, no more mice and no need for traps.

Theoddbird

Block any holes with tin foil...they won't chew it. Once they can't get into your kitchen for food they will leave. This has worked for me in the past.

My tenant had a RAT problem recently. The people downstairs were accumulating rubbish and it attracted them. My (amazingly efficient, sensible) tenant used wire wool to shove into any gaps and filled the wire wool with expanding foam. He was advised by Rentokil apparantely.

I sympathise with you. My dear FIL was being peg fed at night and we couldn't understand why the tubes were leaking and there bits of paper tissue everywhere! Finally we found the telltale signs and he admitted he'd seen the little blighter! He didn't tell us as he'd had hallucinations whilst in hospital and thought he was having more of the same. Bless his heart, mouse was dealt with, the hole blocked up around the kitchen waste pipe. We all chuckled and said, as he wS on a high calorie feed, it would have been the fattest mouse in town!!
Don't use humane traps unless you are prepared to take it for a long drive!! Good luck.

A mouse can get through a hole the size of a pencil so it's worth getting covers for your air bricks.

Block any holes with tin foil...they won't chew it. Once they can't get into your kitchen for food they will leave. This has worked for me in the past.

I very much doubt there is only one mouse - it’s difficult to tell them apart .

don't keep foodstuffs not in tins at low level.

When we moved into this house, there was a wooden store where previous owners had stored animal feed
I am not exaggerating when I say there must have been a hundred or more mice in there.
Gradually we caught them all with traps, and miraculously none of them ventured inside.
The odd one in the loft, has always been caught with a trap baited with chocolate.

Since we started having cats again, a few years ago, no sign of mice, except for the time Mia brought a live one in and dropped it in the living room. I eventually caught it and took it out onto the river bank at the front. I`ve taken several off her in the yard before she could hurt them, I just take them round onto the bank. I can`t stand the thought of hurting them.

I too have my doubts about humane traps - they sit shivering with fear for hours until they are released. If you release them anywhere nearby they come straight back. If you release them miles away they are disoriented and get eaten by something in a flash.

I use the splat traps and take the bodies outside to the field where the buzzards and other animals eat them as part of the natural order of things.

I cannot see a lot of point in getting a firm in to get rid of your mouse/mice as they will just put down traps.

Callistemon

DiscoDancer we thought we were doing the kindest thing, relocating it but our neighbour is a wildlife expert and said, sadly, no, it would not have survived.

The quickest way is the kindest, apparently.

Thank you, and again, good to know. We haven’t had any mice for two winters now, coming up third. We think we found out where they were getting in. Hopefully, that’ll be the end of it....for now.

DiscoDancer we thought we were doing the kindest thing, relocating it but our neighbour is a wildlife expert and said, sadly, no, it would not have survived.

The quickest way is the kindest, apparently.