respect for all creatures, as long as they don't smell bad or look ugly

grunta123 said :

BTW… I still don’t understand the desire to put a rodent in your freezer next to good food??? Disgusting. Probably the same people that don’t wash their hands after going to the toilet.

if it was a freezer i used for food, I wouldn’t put a mouse in it. It sits in the garage, till the day that we decide to sell it or use it. very handy for vermin control, and it is kept out of sight from the kids. They probably wouldn’t understand the idea of sending the cute mousey to sleep in the freezer – or why the cats don’t go in there…

BTW… I still don’t understand the desire to put a rodent in your freezer next to good food??? Disgusting. Probably the same people that don’t wash their hands after going to the toilet.

I remember we had a bunch of rats having parties at our house when I was younger before I discovered this magnificent treacle like glue in a small can. Anyway… I ended up trapping and catching one of the rats in the kitchen with one of the straw brooms.

Little bugger bit me as I grabbed him around the neck to send him to sleep (1 all at that point) but I learned and used dad’s welding gloves for his little friend that I got a few days later.

Still leaves you with the job of knocking them on the head, but that is just something you have to do.

We also had small cat traps that we used to catch some of the bigger rats in the ceiling. They were harder to dispose of. A real struggle to get the cage open and get hold of the mongrel without it getting away.

Unless you are in a lab or have pet snakes, the only good rat is a dead rat I don’t really care how it happens.

I have deployed mouse traps from mortein in the roof cavity to remove some that were particularly noisy at night. they did the job, but the screaming was unbearable. we got a couple of the ultimate traps from powells’ stock feeds. they did the trick, and into the box freezer for a little sleep. much easier and not a problem in disposing the poor little buggers.

Mothy said :

I had a mouse problem at my apartment. Solved easily with the plastic re-usable traps. Though they did leave some little critters alive and pinned – those were rewarded with a trip to the big skip, alive.

Now, if you want to go right over the top, get all painless yet clean, there’s always the Rentokill RADAR system. http://www.rentokil-initial.com/press/item.php?id=271

A trip to the skip bin, alive?
shame on you.
Too gutless to finish them off yourself?

Spring-loaded traps do the trick. Once when I had concerns about killing them I caught one in an upturned ice-cream bucket with the corner raised on a small stick tied to a string which was then tied to a peanut-butter loaded cracker. I took it outside and let it go and it ran around like crazy in the sunlight for 1 minute until a magpie spotted it and scooped it up. The incident decided it for me.

I like the idea of the carbon dioxide. That probably just feels like having a general anaesthetic and not coming back out of it.

I had a mouse problem at my apartment. Solved easily with the plastic re-usable traps. Though they did leave some little critters alive and pinned – those were rewarded with a trip to the big skip, alive.

Now, if you want to go right over the top, get all painless yet clean, there’s always the Rentokill RADAR system. http://www.rentokil-initial.com/press/item.php?id=271

I already know of a humane way of killing a redback. Stomping on it with a boot is fairly effective. Make sure you grind your heel into the ground and the spider should die almost instantly.

Having said that, although I’m terrified of spiders I will always try to usher them out of the house with a broom rather than kill them.

Interesting news from the CRC though.

If you are worried about the old traps being ineefective, buy them and add a couple more coils to the spring using a pair of pliers. Takes few minutes out of your sunday, but in terms of humane it is the way to go.

Plus showing kids how to juice of mouse traps keep them occupied, rather than throwing fruit at the neighbours, robbing servos or being run over by a bus.

nicnacvb said :

Me? Nothing. Not my area of expertise. And I’m a squeamish vegetarian 😀

But there are organisations such as the Invasive Animals CRC and CSIRO which I would think should be part of the solution.

I do, however support animal welfare organisations who try to encourage more humane methods. And I don’t want to become one of those people who is happy to kill pests in any way without a thought towards the animals suffering.

Do you disagree with my line of reasoning on the issue?

So, would a redback receive the warm and fluffy treatment?

The invasive Animals CRC is doing some work to control numbers already:

The IA CRC (and formerly the Pest Animals Control CRC) spent considerable research effort investigating the feasibility of virally-vectored immuno-contraception for rodents. The overarching concept was that the genes for proteins that are critically involved in fertilisation or implantation could be inserted into a virus that would infect mice. The inserted genes would then be expressed in an animal infected with the recombinant virus and the infected animal would simultaneously raise antibodies to the virus and the reproductive protein. In this way, fertilisation or implantation would be prevented without affecting the animal’s sexual activity or social status in the population.

http://www.invasiveanimals.com/invasive-animals/rats-mice/index.html

Have you thought about using those electrical\magnetic pulse things you plug into the wall socket as a deterrent, you can get them off danoz direct but ill sell you mine for only 2 easy payments + postage 😉
I have a dog that eat’s mice, so its traps for me.

Granny: “If you are anything like me, then there is nothing more traumatic or disgusting than a mutilated, headless rodent served up to you proudly for breakfast by some over solicitous feline. This is pretty much enough to make me reasonably hysterical. Blood and guts are not my forte.”

I sympathise or empathise?

My dog is forever bringing home mutilated cats, still meowing in his clutches. I shout at him “Kill them quickly” but he never listens.

Morgan said :

Or carry disease.

You have got to be kidding, clever mouse traps releasing them in the park? They are an introcuced species that are classed as vermin. Give me a break.

I don’t want to handle dead mouse bodies, especially when they have been half mashed by the old spring loaded trap. I’ve also heard a poisoned mouse in pain as it died, wasn’t nice. OK, I am a wimp.

Some of you have given me an idea. If I put the entire trap in the freezer after catching it the mouse would simply fall asleep and die. That could be an option, no pain for mouse and I am lowering the population. Then I could just tip the frozen mouse in the bin, too easy.

Just stay up late with your potato cannon at the ready.

NB: do not use near small children.

Why kill them at all? (unless you really have a plague)

I set up an upside-down shoebox sitting on the lid, with crackers under a small stick which flimsily holds up one end of the box. (with some holes so it can close quickly)

Overnight the mouse goes in, nudges cracker, box falls down into its lid. (the edges of the lid prevent the mice from otherwise easily nudging under to escape).

Then just let them go in a ‘bushland’ area.

Works well if there’s only half a dozen mice or so, just takes a few goes but once you get rid of them that’s pretty much the end of the problem. peace 🙂

bren said :

Wow, really discussing the big issues here! Mice = pest = disease.

I have ‘catch and release program’ at home for non-dangerous spiders… but for mice? You’re kidding right? Why take them down to the local park, so they can run into someone else’s home – do some community service and terminate them.

Can I release them near your home so you can do your community service ?

In the words of Homer Simpson: “Can’t someone ELSE do it”?

Only if it gets the whole mouse; if it just gets a tail, leg or foot I imagine it might be pretty painful for the mouse…

What’s so inhumane about the traditional spring-loaded trap? ‘Tis a swift death – nothing cruel about that.

The mice are pests and obviously need to be killed – but Weezie is just saying that there must be kinder ways to so this than allowing creatures to suffer in agony for up to a week.

Weezie – just google ‘humane kill mice’ and you will find a bunch of advice on methods of killing them with minimal long-term suffering. Catch them in the ‘kind’ traps and then employ the methods suggested by the animal liberationalists on the various blogs (dry ice, exhaust fumes, snap spine, freezer, brick etc…).

None of these are pleasant, but they are quicker and more humane than seven days of painful internal bleeding. The other suggestion I have is to contact a pet store that sells reptiles, as they probably have access to quick/humane killing methods for the mice that they feed to their snakes (they may even take the mice off your hands).

Good on you for caring enough to post about this issue.

Me? Nothing. Not my area of expertise. And I’m a squeamish vegetarian 😀

But there are organisations such as the Invasive Animals CRC and CSIRO which I would think should be part of the solution.

I do, however support animal welfare organisations who try to encourage more humane methods. And I don’t want to become one of those people who is happy to kill pests in any way without a thought towards the animals suffering.

Do you disagree with my line of reasoning on the issue?

I dont advocate suffering for any creature, but mice and rats are noxious pests that dont just inconvenience humans, they compete with native animals and damage the ecosystem. Im all for sacrificing noxious pests for the greater good of all, I dont understand why someone would catch and release a noxious pest into the wild, even if it is the local park. Humans bring with them many parasites and pets that further damage the fragile environment we live in. My bug bear is feel good environmentalism, I congratulate people who make conscious decisions to be humane to animals, become vegetarian, protect the environment etc, but always be aware of what you are doing and its impact further down the line.

It is a big issue for people like me who don’t want to cause suffering in others, whether they be mice or men. I am not saying there is no argument for population control. All I am saying is let it be done humanely and with as little suffering as possible. FFS.

I have in the past used baits because unfortunately I had no alternative. But it would be good if people would put a bit more effort into finding a way to get rid of theses pests humanely and effectively.

So what are you planning to do about this?

Wow, really discussing the big issues here! Mice = pest = disease.

I have ‘catch and release program’ at home for non-dangerous spiders… but for mice? You’re kidding right? Why take them down to the local park, so they can run into someone else’s home – do some community service and terminate them.

(The jar lid method gets used on a part of a farm where we rarely set foot, so is a fire & forget method of getting rid of bulk lots of mice, where by the time I find them they are shrivelled little husks of mousefur.)

Springtraps and a regular check ftw if you don’t want rotted corpses.

I think it’s disgraceful that we humans are the idiots that introduced these pests and yet the animals are the ones that suffer for it.

I believe that pests should be controlled (killed if necessary), but that we should be responsible enough to conscientiously research ways of doing it humanely rather than being lazy and sticking with the cheapest (which just happens to be the most painful, unpleasant) way.

I have in the past used baits because unfortunately I had no alternative. But it would be good if people would put a bit more effort into finding a way to get rid of theses pests humanely and effectively.

The old spring loaded mouse traps are as close to cheap, effective and humane as you’re likely to get.

Putting the bodies in the compost makes it a green choice too.

Cardboard soaked in a vegetable oil is as effective as just about any other bait.

You do need a LOT of traps. You also need to ensure they aren’t put anywhere where a non-target animal (like children) might do themselves a damage.

We had a mouse problem earlier this year.

I tried many methods of trying to irradicate them, and after about a fortnight of being kept awake by them trying to get to my dogs kibble I bit the bullet and went for the baiting solution, they have not returned.

Anyone who disturbs my slumber deserves to die a painful death.

In all seriousness, I am an animal lover, but not a pest lover. These things have a brain the size of a grain of rice, they are severly incontinent and they pee everywhere. They pose a serious risk to health and hygeine and the only thing that drives them is food and the unquenchable urge to breed.

Think about this…

– The female mouse will give birth to 4-6 litters a year, which will contain 5-10 young. These young can reproduce three months after birth, so it is calculated, that within one year, a single pair of rodents can be responsible for as many 400-700 pests.

– They contaminate more of your food than they eat and carry disease-causing organisms such as salmonella, rickettsial pox, tapeworm, trichinosis and hantvirus just to name a few.

Kill em! Kill em all!!!

Cheap, effective, or humane. Pick two.

For mine, a bit of milo mixed with some corn meal\flour & plaster of paris, in an upturned jar lid.

Having once lived in an area in the grips of a mouse plague, I have an abject hatred of the little bastards. The grain silos would be full of them but once the grain was gone, they’d go on a rodent rampage and eat anything. When there was nothing left to eat, they all died and left rotting carcasses everywhere. A thorough spraying of Baygon kills them.

I’d suggest a python, put it in the kitchen overnight.

Cyanide. It is a very fast death, and according to the one person I have met who experienced cyanide poisoning (didn’t die obviously), it is not very painful.

I think mice are rather nice;
Their tails are long, their faces small;
They haven’t any chins at all.
Their ears are pink, their teeth are white,
They run about the house at night;
They nibble things they shouldn’t touch,
and, no one seems to like them much,
but, I think mice are rather nice.

We learnt this when I was at Primary School. And I still do think mice are rather nice and we refuse to use mice poisons in our home. There are humane ways to kill these creatures rather than letting them suffer and die slow, miserable deaths. I’m with you on this one Granny and Weezie.

Whatsup said :

We purchased some “Clever Mouse Traps” from Bunnings. They capture the mouse alive and well so you will need to check them every morning, if they are full we drive to a local park, where we let the little beasties go. No critter handling required, just open the lid and away they run. We use peanut butter as a bait which attracts them nicely.

It’s views like yours that in the past contributed to numerous other problems we face in this country in relation to introduced pests. Get a grip man – these things are a serious problem in our country.

http://www.cse.csiro.au/research/rodents/Mouse_Plagues.pdf

I’d say go for the “Clever Mouse Traps” mentioned by Whatsup.

If you are anything like me, then there is nothing more traumatic or disgusting than a mutilated, headless rodent served up to you proudly for breakfast by some over solicitous feline. This is pretty much enough to make me reasonably hysterical. Blood and guts are not my forte.

Traps. Bleah! Same problem.

If you have a small child you may be able to bribe them five dollars or even ten to dispose of the splatted mouse corpse. If you are very unlucky they will still turn you down and you will have to do it yourself whilst pretending that you’re awfully grown up and don’t mind at all, like when you have to take them along for your bloodtest.

Watching them shiver to death with internal bleeding is also not a favourite of mine. The children look at you with big, solemn eyes like you are Adolph Hitler, Ghengis Khan and Ivan the Terrible all rolled into one. Your boss may not do this to you, however the mouse will, especially if it’s a baby.

Perhaps you can donate the mice you catch to a school science lab where they will gas them before dissection. This would probably be pretty painless.

In short, weeziepops, it’s like contraception. There’s no really good solution. They all suck a little bit one way or the other. Just go for the one you find the least horrible.

Best of luck with it all!

This is a joke thread, right?

Get peanut butter to attract them, then tie little Timex watch bombs to them, and then send to an enemies house. You may or may not require Angelina Jolie for this.

my dog must think its a cat, because it is always catching mice.

Internal bleeding – caused by eating the chemical Warfarin.

Wait until your dimmer years, and you too will probably end up on it! Well you’ll be prescribed it anyway.

(I’m serious.)

A vet euthanasing a mouse?

Use a chunk of wood. If they’re already asleep they won’t know about it anyway.

I’ve only ever had to deal with rodents once, and I found Mr Talon did the job nicely.

Maybe some sort of food laced with a drug that puts the mice to sleep and then you can retrieve them and take them to the Vet to be euthanased. Would be a costly way of going about it though.

I often find that mice (not sure if they’re exotic mice or native mice) are living in the compost (one of those bottomless plastic things). They are quite useful, they shred up all the big leaves and things so they compost faster. I realised they were there when I was watering the compost to get it to compost faster, and a very wet mouse appeared and glared at me. Only problem is, it attracts the snakes (as I also discovered the unpleasant way).

I’ll give SheepGroper’s advice a try, I think. Cats aren’t an option, unfortunately, as a colleague is allergic. Thanks to those who have taken my post seriously and respected my views.

farnarkler said :

I’ll lend you our cats. They’ll soon get rid of the problem.

Hey weeziepops , glad to hear you’re being considerate of even those creatures most consider to be pests, but I’ll say I agree with farnarkler. Cats are the natural solution. It might not be clean and pain free, but it is the ‘green’ solution. Tell your boss that an RSPCA cat and catfood costs less than an exterminator, and they’re fun too.

The best way would be to make work unattractive to mice, that is by making sure there’s little to attract them in the first place. Could food scraps be luring them in? Dirty kitchen areas inside, food litter from people lunching outside?

Death by cat wouldn’t be a nice way to go. Plus one of the people at work is allergic. I understand that some people want to reduce the number of mice which share our world. I don’t agree but am only asking that the killing be done as humanely as possible. It would be good if the RSPCA could offer some advice that would minimise pain to these creatures when humans want to get rid of them.

I assume this thread is a piss-take.

So I’ll suggest AK47s.

If it’s a serious thread, I am embarrassed for reponding.

I inquired on this exact topic with the RSPCA. They use inhumane pest control themselves, they said.

I’ll lend you our cats. They’ll soon get rid of the problem.

Or carry disease.

You have got to be kidding, clever mouse traps releasing them in the park? They are an introcuced species that are classed as vermin. Give me a break.

We purchased some “Clever Mouse Traps” from Bunnings. They capture the mouse alive and well so you will need to check them every morning, if they are full we drive to a local park, where we let the little beasties go. No critter handling required, just open the lid and away they run. We use peanut butter as a bait which attracts them nicely.