kill or non-kill trap for a mouse?

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That is why I love peppermint or peppermint/spearmint sprays for mice. It does not hurt them and it does not hurt us. It is organic and natural so if you have sensitivities to artificial smells you probably can do this. And if you don't have a sensitivity to it is a very therapeutic scent so it is wonderful to have in the house. And they will absolutely avoid it so they won't come in in the first place. So you can enjoy their cuteness from afar and be 100% organic and humane and live house mouse free. And if the spray is too strong of a scent for you, use mint plants. They are inexpensive and can be inside and outside and they multiply very quickly so you can spread them around. Then you can also use them for tea and cuisine.

I say it's better to have a trap that kills it quickly and puts it out of its misery, than one that merely keeps it alive while it scrambles to get out. A non-kill trap may be better if you're watching it closely and you can let it go as soon as it gets trapped, but most people only check their mouse traps every so often, so a mouse could be stuck in a non-kill trap for hours.

Also, I live in an area where mice are common, and I simply don't like having them around because they urinate and defecate on everything. That's just unhygienic. They supposedly spread disease too. Fortunately, we just have mice, and not rats. Alberta is one of the world's only rat-free areas.

I'd love to have a pet skunk. They are relatively cute and friendly. However, since rabies runs rampant so easily among skunks, I'll kill them any time I get a chance.

A pet porcupine or two would be fun, too.

I seem to live along the Rodent Superhighway.

I set live traps for months and months and months-- all I got was mice doing the cha-cha in my roof. I have two cats, and my neighbor has more than a dozen that live in her yard. To absolutely no avail.

Now I set t-rex type traps. I won't do glue traps. If I am going to kill them, I can at least not kill them by dehydration.

I HATE doing it. I LIKE mice. I feel a very strong kinship with the jumpy little boogers. I dread checking traps, and grieve when I get one. I have been known to have mouse funerals.

But they don't get to poop in my pantry. Period. End of story.

Definitely none lethal trap. No reason to kill it, it hasnt done anything wrong, nor is it evil or anything.

Its quite an eye opener when you realize that you dont have to kill all animals.

I would personally catch it and go to great lenghts to put it out somewhere with a lot of nature, ideally a forest, then also bring some food and put in a pile where i put it out, maybe even a carboard box or something it can use a shelter. for the first night, sure it might run away asap but it will probably find its way back.

I imagine it would take it quite a bit of time to make a new home. Then at least it can find the food again and have a temp home.

If i got a mice i might even just let it or them be. Like just catch them, get them too a vet and make sure they cant breed more, then just back home and put it / them out again. Having a wild mice wouldn really bother me at all. I would probably even feed it.

If the non-kill trap hurt the mouse severely, I would go for the one that kills so they aren't miserable. If I was using one that safely caught the mouse, I would most definitely release it. I used to often rescue mice and birds from my cat.

This looks like a nice trap.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0T-DceJlg0[/youtube]

even though I voted a kill trap, it's only because I have two cats who eat mice, so in effect that is a kill trap. When years ago I had a job at a place where I had to get rid of them, I asked permission to purchase live traps. I'd check every morning, and if necessary walk them about a half mile out into the woods and let them go. I will never, never use glue traps. Here at home I carefully collect living things - if possible before the cats do - and let them go outside the house.

Apparently, chickens will catch and eat mice as well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iubf1oJdQQQ

I'm not embedding it since it may be a bit graphic for some viewers. It is perfectly natural though, and it's not like someone just took a live mouse and fed it to their chickens.

Respect all living beings as you would want to be respected.

A miniature guillotine where the mouse has to put its head through a hole to get the cheese would be the ultimate mouse trap. Just connected the cheese to the trigger mechanism and add a little basket for the head. I think it would sell like hotcakes.

Something like this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r17jVg8Li7w[/youtube]

I have cat so...

In England, it's against the law to trap mice and release them into the wild because they're classified as pests. So I'd have to set a trap that kills them.

When my cat has lizards I won't let him in the house because I don't want to clean up lizard blood. But I never take them from him or show disgust. I'm not disgusted, he is doing what nature designed him to do.

And presents and live prey are shows of love. When your cat brings you a mouse they are offering to share food with you. You should be flattered.

When I was a kid we bred mice for my brother's snakes, it was cheaper than buying them. We always made sure they were happy. We gave them treats of fresh veggie peels and apple cores daily. A favorite pass time was to make climbing toys from popcicle sticks and nontoxic glue.

But they were not pets. (OK, one or two pretty ones ended up in a separate cage). But they were always well cared for before meeting Slither. That's just nature. It's not always pretty, but the snake had to eat too. Cats have too eat. And don't forget, most of us humans eat meat. My mom actually slaughters some of her own food. But the pig and chickens are very happy.