I feel so bad tonight

Whitewavemark2 you should maybe consider taking your mice further away... when we backed onto woods and fields we read that at 2 miles most mice didn't just come back.

Less than roughly 2 miles meant that many did.

Could you be catching the same ones again?

Goodie you’ve been reported

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Obviously don't release them too near to your house. They have a homing instinct. It needs to be more than 500 yards I think.

i would of screamed the house down if i was you,the neighbours thought i was been murdered a few years ago when i found a frog in my garden while weeding,

If the mice stay outdoors, that’s fine. Once they make their way indoors, then it’s war as far as I’m concerned, as they spread disease with their droppings and urine. In addition, they can do a lot of damage to electrical wiring, pipework and wood work. The damage can be extremely costly to put right.

I have an even worse example. As a young wife I was hanging my washing out. I stepped back and there was a crunch. I'd stepped on a baby bird. 50 years later it still upsets me.

My previous cat was scared stiff of mice so that doesnt always work. I would be upset as well but at least you know that it is gone and hope there aren’t any brothers or sisters.

but I do hope he or she hasn’t left a little family grieving somewhere. Just saying
Definitely something that came straight into my mind Allsorts if I could have just let it go I would have
I acted out of instinct completely without thinking I just needed to shut it out my living room however I was faster than it to shut it out and the door trapped it the only consolation I have it was instant no suffering and bang gone it didn’t have time to know anything and thank goodness there was no blood or noticeable injuries it just looked asleep on its side

Now I ve got to put it behind me and hope nothing like that happens again
Thanks for the kind answers

Beatrix Potter influenced you too Dickens? I must say I still see them in lovely little homes behind the skirting board.

Luckygirl3

Most mice are caught overnight. If they are in a humane trap they could be there for hours suffocating.

My humane trap has breathing slats.

I was thinking of putting in a little sofa bed and bedside table...

Most mice are caught overnight. If they are in a humane trap they could be there for hours suffocating.

with humane traps, when caught,you then I presume take the mouse outside and release it only for it to find it's way back in again or it's friend..

Oreo one of DDs cats is a very keen mouser. She's a nightmare. She used to specially bring poor little things and present them proudly to me when I was babysitting. She had a special miaow when she had one. I got to dread the sound.
Luckily, my current old boy isn't a mouser but is a demon on flies, moths and wasps.

Oreo

Aveline

Just having a cat about the place seems to be an effective deterrent

Only if it isn’t a mouser.The cat we used to have brought them in both dead and alive, the live ones then dived under the cooker or fridge.

Yes, an old cat of ours would bring live mice in, and then it’d really be fun and games trying to catch them.

I’d always thought it was a jokey sort of myth, but once, one did actually run up the leg of a DD’s jeans! It was in the depths of winter, but she was straight out into the frosty garden - yelping! - as she wriggled out of her jeans - while the rest of us were (I’m afraid) in hysterics.

Yes ... that is my experience of humane traps too.

henetha 😄

Aveline

Just having a cat about the place seems to be an effective deterrent

Only if it isn’t a mouser.The cat we used to have brought them in both dead and alive, the live ones then dived under the cooker or fridge.

I've had a few mice over the years here. I always use humane traps and mostly it's been successful. A couple have died after being in the traps too long because they must have gone in just after I fell asleep and they were in there all night. I felt dreadful about this and always gave them a little funeral. But mostly I've taken them for a long walk, or occasionally a drive, to release them somewhere nice.
So don't feel bad about this, accidents happen and it's no-ones fault.

I had a bad experience with a humane mouse trap.
Yes it caught the mouse, there it was, still alive but the perspex trap was full of condensation and the mouse was lying on its side panting.
I felt dreadful thinking of the poor little thing frantically trying to escape all night long and losing all that sweat.
I took it across the road into the hedge and opened the trap then just left it.
When I went back after lunch it'd gone, I do hope it didn't have a heart attack.

Just having a cat about the place seems to be an effective deterrent

I understand how you feel OP but as all say, it was an accident.
I don’t live in the country but there are rats and mice all around so we put down traps, and not humane ones.It’s a quick death. Droppings are a health hazard and they chew on almost anything including electrical wiring.
Cheese, peanut butter and choc are all good for baiting traps.

Since my DD moved back in and acquired 3 mini sausage dogs we are no longer trouble with mice.

Bluebell you are obviously a very caring person to be upset by this. You didn't mean to kill the mouse so you are bound to feel remorse.
Nice can be a nuisance and we had lots of them in our loft a few years ago. They started getting into the living area. I bought a plug-in that sends out a noise they hate and very soon they had left.