Are there any effective yet humane ways of getting rid of mice?

On a personal note, I would just like to mention how absolutely and completely freaking terrifying it is to open a cupboard for a midnight snack only to have a tiny dark shape fly out at your face. That said, I have since learned a great deal about protecting myself from living projectiles. It is a matter of survival!

REPELLINGI have found several successful strategies for repelling mice. I like to combine them, because if even one mouse slips past your defenses it will invade full force.

The ones I use are similar to this one. I got mine at Home Depot for about $10. You can also make them.

They're just fabric sewn on the sides (and down the center if you make one that slides around both sides), which you can stuff with foam, Styrofoam, fabric, etc. The goal is to make it impenetrable, so make sure that you really pack it.2. Use peppermint oil, which you can apply with a spritzer bottle or a cloth to areas the mice frequent. For me, the stench is almost impossible to stand, but it does work quite well.

You can also use this to get rid of mice--when combined with a few traps, you should see things clear up within a few weeks. 3. Make sure that all cupboards and cabinets have doors that fully seal when closed/are too heavy for a mouse to open (strong little suckers!), and check the insides for holes/cracks. Even small fractures have the potential to lead in mice and if not that, at least ants.

Seal any holes; I use putty or gorilla glue, whichever I have. Even a wad of poster putty works.4. Seal all pantry food in plastic bags, Tupperware, jars, etc. , or store in the refrigerator.

Clean all dishes and surfaces immediately after use. Do not leave standing water out for them to drink. Make sure all cabinets are closed when you leave the room.

Empty the garbage frequently, and do not snack anywhere that it would make you "uncomfortable" to find droppings...such as your bed, because they WILL run across you in the middle of the night.5. Check your house for areas they could be getting in. For instance, my house has a very tiny attic crawl space and you can hear their feet running across the ceiling.

If it gets that bad, you might want to consider getting the house sprayed regularly by pest control. While this will kill the existing mice (which I don't consider to be "humane"), it will repel future mice, which means you won't have to capture or kill them again.6. If you don't want to have your house sprayed, you could consider spraying your own barrier around your house.It's generally called something like "home defense" and can be found at any home supply store, with more limited selections available at grocery and drug stores.

CAPTURING/DETERRINGI'm going to assume that by "humane" you mean capture-and-release. Even the "quick" kill traps are awful; one I tried once was a box that essentially smashed the mouse flat...ugh. The only problem with live mouse traps is that they cost more than killing traps but can still only be used one time.

Captured mice panic and urinate all over the traps, repelling future mice from going anywhere near it. The same thing happens with killing traps...that whole "the smell of their dead" concept.1.Do all the steps for repelling mice.2. The best trap I have found for catching mice live is identical to this one, but it's sold at Home Depot under a different name and is cheaper.(For some reason, the Home Depot website doesn't list all of their products.

Any Home and Garden Stores generally have racks and racks of different pest control products.) Use a smudge of peanut butter as bait. Dispose of the trap after you've released the mouse (which you should do many miles away from your home or it will come back! ), because they won't fall for the same one twice.

I also found this corner design, which capitalizes on the mouse tendency to run along walls. You can try making your own humane traps, such as the following: A Much Better Mouse Trap and Easy Have-A-Heart Mouse Trap. I've never personally made a trap and they seem like a lot of work for a trap you can probably only use successfully one time, if at all.

Since mice generally hide out in the kitchen, place traps in front of the dishwasher, refrigerator and, if you have a drawer under your oven, in there as well. They also like to hide behind microwaves and toasters; they will go for any crumb, so clean around those appliances frequently.3. Move everything off the floor throughout the house.As they get comfortable, they spread out and create sort of "pit stop" nests.

THINGS THAT HAVEN'T WORKED FOR ME1. Poison blocks/pellets. They eat it like candy and come back fatter two days later.

Also, do not use them if you have pets--if the mice eat it and your pet eats the mouse, your kitty will get sick.2. Traditional wooden mouse traps.3. Glue traps.

After the first mouse you catch, they get wise to it just like the wooden ones. Though, you will catch any unknown buggies you didn't notice.(P.S.Any formatting errors are because I copy-pasted this from my notepad.).

These are the most humane ways to get rid of mice: 1. Use live mouse traps. When the mice enters on this traps the door will close trapping the mouse for live release.2.

Essential oils like peppermint, mothballs, ammonia and onion are said to be an effective deterrent of mice. Fox urine can also be used because foxes are predators of mice.3. The cat is also one of the proven and effective way of driving mice.

If the mice will smell the presence of cat they run away.4. Proper house keeping is also important to discourage mice from visiting your house. 4.

Yes, I bought a thing called a mice cube at Wal-Mart. It is a plastic box, rectangle shaped and it is just a tiny bit smaller at one end than the other. The smaller end is the entrance to the cube the door swings in so the mouse can get in but when it tries to leave it is trapped because it is smaller and the door won't open.It is rumored that mice love cheese, not really, what they love is actually peanut butter.

If you put peanut butter in the bottom of the trap you will catch them gauranteed. Before you start this process you need to find out how they are getting in. They can squeeze into very small places, but if you fill in any holes and gaps with steel wool they won't be able to get through, the steel wool hurts their little noses and mouths.

So seal off the place where they were coming in once you find it; mine were coming in from a vent that led outside from the kitchen where the dishwasher was one of the tines in the vent was bent and they were squeezing in there. Once I fixed that and put out the mice cube, I got the mouse. I noticed they were nesting in the shed on the patio, so I borrowed cat litter from the neighbor and dumped some in there.

I have also heard that snake poop which can be purchased at a pet store will keep them away. Of course having and indoor cat or two will deter them as well.So that's all I know about that. I haven't had any more mice since then.

I drove my little mouse to a field far away and let it go.Be real careful of that though because you can get what's called hanta virus from mice so don't inhale there waste or get it on you. Best wishes.

Mice tend to represent a larger problem. Identify what their food source is and get rid of it. The mice will get hungry and go somewhere else to live.

Problem solved.

Thanks for the interesting question, Philipy. I think I might be able to help you out here. I found an interesting website that's going to be right up your alley here.

The following are useful tips for accomplishing what you asked, removing, repelling, and/or deterring mice from your premises without causing them very much harm. Several non-lethal suggestions are offered at stretcher.com : "Scarecrows for Mice? I've got mice in my garage.As I have to store car seats, kid toys, and other things I don't want doused with mouse wastes, I'm looking for a way to drive them out, short of getting a garage cat.

Any "scarecrows" or other non-lethal ways of driving them off? Marc B Predator Urine We have often used and heard of others successfully using Predator Urine to rid their yards, garages, etc.Of varmints! We are fortunate that our local hardware store carries these products but if yours does not here is the Web Site: predatorpee.com They seem like nice people and in fact referred us to a local distributor thus saving shipping costs!

Jerry Cats Are Still Best Get a cat, the living mousetrap. The cat will never get tired of going out into the garage to find mice. The ones she kills, she will bring to you and the ones she doesn't will have run off and stayed off, for the smell of cat will keep them away.

On top of this expert 'round the clock service you will have a barrel of fun playing with the cat indoors. You will hardly even notice the cat taking over your life and your home. By then you will not care.

Tip: Get your mouser at a local animal shelter. Ours had to put down 600 unwanted cats last month but gives coupons for vet services for those who are adopted. NEW Instead of a Cat This solution does work, and it is short of getting a cat.

Get some USED kitty littler from a friend's cat. Place it in small tubs (margarine) in several places around the garage. Mice think "smell like cat--must be a cat".

Same with gophers pour it down the hole. Wear gloves and do not use if you are expecting. Blanch T.

Remove Food Source The best solution for getting rid of mice is to get rid of their food source. Find out what is attracting the mice to the garage and get rid of it or seal it up. We had a mouse problem in our home and did this.

We put our garbage in a sealed container, wiped up any food spills, sealed up pet food, and didn't leave food sitting out. Our mouse problem disappeared! Melissa G Moth Balls I use this method and it keeps my garage completely clear of all living creatures.

Buy a net laundry bag for washing nylons and other delicate fabrics at Wal Mart. Buy 5 boxes of moth balls. Put them in the bag and hang it in your garage near the door.

That's all there is to it. I use this in my out building and in the storage facility that I rent. No bugs, no mice, and no birds.

Stephen Chew Proof To prevent mice from gaining entry to your garage, stop up any openings (i.e. , around door frames, holes in baseboards, etc) with steel wood pads. Mice will not chew through these!

K. Humane Traps I thought up a way to help my mother with her mouse problem, and it worked pretty good, without killing the mice. Build a "pit trap.

" You need a narrow,deep, smooth sided container- a five gallon bucket might work, but make sure it has no scratches on the inside walls. You place a ramp up to the lip of the bucket and place some sort of smelly bait (peanut butter, cheese) in the bottom. It works best if you have some sort of lid on the bucket with a hole about 3 inches in diameter that the mice can drop down through, as mice can jump rather high.

This way, they will hit the lid when trying to leap out. If the bucket has any scratches or grooves on the inside, they mice will be able to climb out. To release them, you simply turn the bucket on its side with the hole at the bottom.

Make sure you are some distance from your house (and anyone else's) when you release them, or they may move right back in! Depending on your mouse problem, you may have to do this several times. Rebecca Pepper Liberally This trick works great and won't kill the mice: sprinkle ground cayenne around the garage (inside & out), and especially near entry holes.

The critters can't stand the stuff! DJM Try Pellets Having lived on dairies and in rural areas for all of my adult life, I have had to deal with mice on occassion. I found my answer in a product called *Just One Bite*.

I have never in the years I've used it had a mouse die in the house. I put the pellets out in jar lids and within 2 or 3 days the mice are gone. I can't recommend it highly enough!

Katharine W. A 'Good-Bye' Mint Mice hate the scent of peppermint extract. Simply sprinkle *pure* peppermint extract on the items in your garage you don't want the mice in or on.

A friend of mine has used this in the interior of his antique car as well as on it's upholstery and never had a problem.It needs to be repeated monthly. E. " As you can see, several helpful, and humane, means of getting rid of mice are presented above.

I cannot personally testify as to the effectiveness of all the methods listed above, but years ago when I had a mouse problem, I did find that cayenne pepper and peppermint extract were both very effective in deterring Mice from entering, or at the very least, staying in my home. Hope that helps, man!

Glue traps will work for mice, and if you catch a mouse on the trap you can take if far away from the home, and pour a lil vegatable oil or mineral oil around the mouse(not near his head)an they can work their way off of it. Vegatable and mineral oils deactivate the glue on glue traps. Here are some other types of humane ways to catch mice- Humane "Smart" Mouse Trap @ Amazon.Com ($12.68) A bit pricey for a mousetrap, yes, but judging from the user reviews and the PETA seal of approval, this temporary holding cell for mice gets a cruelty-free gold star.

Just put bait inside the "house" and when a mouse saunters in for a snack, the door snaps shut behind it. Can be cleaned and reused over and over again. Tip-Trap Live Capture Mouse Trap @ Greenfeet.

Com ($2.99) Although not as spacious as the above mousetrap, the Tip-Trap is cheap, effective, and cruelty-free. It uses a trapdoor-type of entryway to quarantine mice, shrews, and voles.Reusable. Victor Tin Cat Mouse Trap @ Ace ($18.49) The Tin Cat from Victor is ideal for folks dealing with roving mouse house parties since this super-sized, humane device can trap up to 30 vermin at once.

Victor PetChaser Sonic Rodent Repellent @ Home Depot ($15.99/2 pack) Here's the thing with most trap-and-release mouse traps: you have to feed the critters and then handle them. If you're like me, you may not want to do either of those things. This is where the Victor PetChaser — the Yoko Ono of mouse control — comes in handy.

It's a plug-in device that uses noise that's inaudible to humans but drives mice nutty, keeping them out of your home. Humane Mouse Trap @ Clean Air Gardening ($12.99) Want to incorporate recycling into your mouse catching? Attach a regular plastic bottle (even 2 liters will work!

) to this clever mousetrap that looks like a giant piece of cheese. After a mouse wanders through the cheese "entranceway" and into the bottle, an access gate activates, trapping the critter in the bottle.To free the mouse, simple take the device outdoors and rotate it upside down to release it.

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