The Art Of Catching Mice
Success in catching mice depends upon several factors. One factor of course is sheer numbers. If your home is overrun by the little critters and you set a few traps out, you'll probably catch a few mice. Whether one mouse is smarter than the next may be a matter of opinion, but it seems that if you just have one or two mice in the house, they can be much harder to catch. Perhaps mice feel there is safety in numbers, and become a bit emboldened when there are many of them. When just one or two mice are involved, catching them can at times seem to be an art form.
Cats And Cheese - Two of the main weapons commonly employed in catching mice are the cat and cheddar (or Swiss) cheese. Neither approach is quite what it's cracked up to be. Mice will go to cheese placed in a trap if they're hungry enough. Chances are, if they've been around for awhile, they've found a good food source somewhere and, since cheese is not really a favorite food of mice, may ignore your offering altogether. As far as having a cat is concerned, some cats are excellent mousers, others are not, though most at least will show an interest in a mouse running across the floor.
There are those who claim that only female cats are good mousers. That isn't really true, as male cats can be good mousers as well though it seems that many tomcats are not all that interested in mouse hunting. What does seem to be true is female cats generally do a far better job at catching mice than do the males. So as far as cats and cheese are concerned, a female cat can usually do the job, if she can get at the mice in the first place, and peanut butter makes an excellent bait, far better than cheese.
Conventional Trap Still The Best - Mouse traps are a tried and true method for catching mice, and there are several options available. The spring loaded mechanical trap is the old standby, and is a more humane method than most may think. The house mouse or deer mouse is not a large creature and a conventional trap will generally kill instantly, though there always are exceptions. The main precaution is that of not placing them where a pet or tiny fingers might find them.
Catch And Release - If you've seen your resident mouse there's always the possibility that you think it's cute, too cute to harm. If that's the case get a capture and release trap. The captive trap is usually fairly inexpensive and consists of a plastic box with an entrance. One the mouse in inside (there has to be bait in there!), he can't get back out. He can be released, perhaps a mile or so away, or near a problem neighbor's house, by removing the lid. You don't have to touch the mouse. This is a very humane approach to catching mice, although you want to check the trap occasionally to see if it has an occupant, so the captured mouse won't eventually die of starvation.
Glue And Poison - Two other methods for catching mice are the glue trap and rodent poison. The glue trap is not particularly humane as the mouse will slowly starve to death it the trap is left unattended. The mouse would likely have to be killed anyway, as it might not be possible to extract if from the trap. As far as poison is concerned, there are few that will recommend that approach as there are more bad things that could happen than good things. While unlike a dead rat, a dead mouse inside a wall may not create the bad odor, you still might not want dead mice in a secluded, difficult to get at location. Also, poison must be placed with extreme care if pets or children are present. Use poison only as a last resort, and then with extreme caution.