Set out some glue traps last night and waiting for rodents to be caught.

Anyone know the proper of method of disposal of the creature(s)?

 

I am not a fan of glue traps because they do not kill the rodent so they will die a slow death from dehydration. I would kill them as soon as you find them in the trap with some method that would kill them as quickly as possible. Hitting them with a bat/stick or shooting them would be good options IMO. Then you can just toss them in the trash.

 

I prefer the snap traps but I have a stepson that is partial to the glue traps .... until it catches one, he said the only thing he could figure out to do was take it outside and run over it with his car

 

Using heavy shovel method similar to what Tolyn said is probably the quickest and most humane.

 

Do not drive over sticky traps to dispatch critters. The glue is so sticky it can attach rocks and debris to the tire unbalancing it. My mother did it once and it's a major PITA to remove and clean up.

The shovel or bat method is probably the easiest. When you do it keep in mind that you intend to kill the animal as quickly as possible so don't go tappa... tappa... tappa. You want one swift blow that ends the animals suffering as quickly as possible. With tray style glue traps I'd lay a sheet of waxed paper over the critter and trap before whacking so you don't accidentally end up with the trap stuck to your shovel.

 

ok so it's basically the quickest way to kill them.

(Don't laugh but) I just figured there was some "county deposit area" where everyone drops them all off.

Point is mute for now since the traps haven't caught anything

 

Most counties don't have sufficient mice to require a deposit area.

I'd be concerned about other animals finding the mice wherever you leave them and getting stuck in the glue. For many reasons you're better off with snap-traps. The humane solution, though, is catch and release.

 

Could you simply drop mouse and stickytrap into a bucket of water and let them drown? At least you wouldn't have the mess of blood and guts splattered all over the place if you smashed them with a shovel.

 

There is no shortage of mice in the world and releasing them just means they'll be looking to get into someone else's house (unless you release them close enough to yours that they come back to the same house...).

 

Nothing humane about drowning.

I don't have an answer but I suspect the poisons that cause internal bleeding and disrupt blood coagulation are the least inhumane methods.

 

A seal box fastened to the exhaust from a gasoline engine? I don't really know. Do others have an opinion on that method?

 

Ray, that just seems like too much work to dispatch a mouse. While I prefer snap traps if I had to kill a mouse I'd use whatever method was handy and efficient - most likely bashing his head in with something. Personally I wouldn't loose any sleep if the mouse suffered for a minute or so - the main thing is to kill it so it doesn't come back!

 

I agree with Tolyn, and for that reason would ditch the strips and get traps. We live in the country so even though the house is essentially sealed they still find there way in, and every once in a while one will still be alive in a snap trap, so I quickly dispense of them with a shovel before opening the trap. They're one of those things that very few people want running around the house, but that doesn't mean that you want them to suffer. As far as catch and release or whatever you want to call it, you will most likely find that it is illegal to transplant any wild animal, due to spreading diseases, etc., and you can almost bet that they will return if you simply release them at the farthest corner of your property, so your best bet, as mentioned before, is to make them dead as quickly as possible, and dispose of them in the garbage.

 

FWIW, I only use snap traps in my home.

 

Stick the whole trap w/mouse in a 13 gal. plastic garbage bag, close the bag tightly around the tube of your shop vac. and turn it on for about 30 seconds or so. Remove tube, tie off bag and put in garbage can. Simple....

 

You glue the suckers feet to a trap and then you want to know how to "humanely dispatch them? Step one - use a kill trap and you won't have the problem.

Am I the only one that considers mice in the house the same as I would consider cockroaches in the house? I don't give a rat's (mouse's?) tookus about a humane way to "dispatch" them. Snap trap, shovel, boot heel or a .45 ACP it makes no difference to me. It's a friggen' mouse!

We are being politically corrected to death. While that is happening the mice are being humanly trapped and released?

 

The only animals I caught and released were possums and raccoons. They'd come in our cat garage door and eat the food. Normally I'd just corner them, grab them with a pair of welders gloves drop them in a trash can and release them in a wildlife park about 5 miles away. They were always youngsters. Don't think I'd take on an adult raccoon.

 

Not sure I'd want to take on an adult possum either! 20+ years ago before I had a heat pump and solely relied on wood for heat it got down to zero one night. I heard the dog barking and assumed it was because of the cold but when I went out on the porch for firewood I saw him barking into his house instead of having his chain stretched out towards my house. When I went to investigate all I saw was the opossum's teeth Can you just imagine the dog sleeping, the possum coming in to get warm which woke up/scared the dog so he run out and then couldn't get back in!

CW, I agree with you. While I would never intentionally torture a mouse - my main objective is to kill him!

 

My Wife did that Glue Trap thing several years ago . . . . and then she thought she'd go and release the poor little guy into the vacant 1200 acres across from us; but in pulling the Mouse off the glue, she realized that she had pulled all four of his arms and legs out of their respective sockets, leaving him writhing in pain.

So she says she quickly crushed him with the heel of her boot; that was the only way she could think of to quickly dispatch him.

We don't use glue traps anymore, and don't face that problem.

BTW, the problem is now "moot" for us . . . . not mute !

Mice might normally be silent; but they're not mute when all of their limbs have been dislocated !

 

Alluding to Gunguy's remark about handling adult wild animals.

This is a story related by my daughter (the veterinarian).

About 15 years ago, she had just graduated from ESF (Syracuse, NY) and took a job near Lansing Michigan for a lab to study and breed deer ticks to help determine treatment for lime disease.

Because she had little or no money she took residence in a converted truck stop made into two room apartments. Many residents were, lets say temporary residents or those less fortunate than most. Walls were paper thin. A new member of the "community" moved in next door. A rather strange kind of guy. He would sit out front and just watch people. Keep in mind my daughter is a country western music fan, is not prim and proper in terms of dress and at the time had a red van. All she needed was gun rack attached to the van and she would fit the typical hillbilly "look".

One of the things she would do for the job is trap rats from farmlands (the Amish kids thought this was great fun to watch). Often other animals would get caught such as raccoons. With hip boots on and leather gloves she goes out one morning and packs the van with traps and other items. The neighbor as usual is sitting out front and makes a remark..."Going trapping this morning, Amy?" To which she answers "Yes as a matter of fact I am." The guy just laughs. Although he never did or said anything wrong, she never quite felt comfortable with this guy. Anyway, about 2 or 3 hours later she returns with a very big, very angry and rabid raccoon in one of the traps. She was afraid to handle it herself and decided to bring it to work to get help disposing of it but had to come home first.

As she pulls up there is her neighbor sitting as usual. She backs up to the door and opens the rear doors showing the very angry racoon. The guy's eye bug out and she says something to the effect of "Care to see my catch"? The guy never sat out front again or said anything to her thereafter. She thinks he was genuinely afraid of her.

 

A coworker had a mouse problem a few years ago. While he wanted to use snap traps,his wife insisted that he use glue traps. (Of course) he used the glue traps.
His story:
One night, as they were hosting a relatively fancy dinner party, a mouse that had been caught in one of the glue traps (evidently by the back legs only?)came crawling out from under the furniture, dragging the trap with it.....needless to say, the party quickly broke up .

 

OK, another raccoon story. Many years ago in my misspent youth I got into coon hunting. I had a couple of dogs (redbones) and 2-3 nights a week several of us would get together to raise hell with the local raccoon population. Typically we would run a pack of 6-8 dogs.

One night the dogs treed a large boar raccoon in a huge hemlock tree. It kept ducking in and out of sight at the top of the tree. One of the guys decides that he will climb the tree and "shake that sumb***h out". He gets about half way up the tree and comes face to face with a really po'd raccoon on it's way down. All the while the dogs are going ballistic at the base of the tree. Long story short - the racoon jumps on the guy's head and digs in and they both fall out of the tree. When they hit the ground it was one raccoon, one bloody coon hunter and a half dozen frenzied snapping dogs in a giant furball. The guy got bit several times. The raccoon didn't get away. It was in a bygone era - predating catch and release.

 

Great story, Norm! I sense that your daughter can handle herself quite well!

 

Another great story cw! Raccoons are amazingly strong. The madder they get, the stronger they get.

 

I'd have never believed it if I hadn't seen it. When I lived in Santee CA for a while my wife (who had gone early to take care of her son) talked about the size of the raccoons that came out at night. I never thought it possible, but these critters were huge! Their bodies would easily cover the entire tire and wheel of a small car. I'd guestimate 40lbs or more. They lived in the grasslands just past the homes and came in to forage at night. Being suburban CA not a lot could be done about them except don't leave food out and chain the lid to your trash cans.

 

There used to be a large coon that would come up on our front porch and steal the cat's food. My wife walked onto the porch prior to seeing the coon and screamed, she said the coon stood up, raised his front paws as if surrendering before running off.

When our grandson was little a 'possum was on the porch so my wife had him look. He backed away from the storm door hollering 'mouse, mouse BIG mouse' I guess they do look more like a cartoon mouse than a mouse does.

 

Hi all,
Started reading this thread without much expectation since I've used sticky mouse traps for years and have found them efficient and humane (assuming they are checked daily and captures dispatched quickly).
I do have a much better mouse catcher now though in the form of a new, younger cat - who's a lot more agile and quick than my 11 year old cat. It's their duty to patrol the basement in the evening and so far they've caught three mice since Spring arrived. I think the new cat has inspired the older one to up his game; otherwise his life of comfort may be in jeopardy...

Anyway, this thread has really entertained me with the 'Raccoon stories'... and I thought I'd add my own; although my literary skills may not impart the visual humor as what I witnessed shortly after my marriage some 20 years ago.
My new wife was heading out the door of our previous home with a bag to put in the trash can in late Fall, it was cold but no snow at that point. She's a country girl but was totally unexpecting the 30 lb. raccoon busily trying to pry the lid off the first can - when she finally looked up and their countenances met eye-to-eye, she bolted for the storm door only to trip over the first step (which was higher than building code now allows...) I rush into the room having heard the commotion to see her laying on her side with her feet running a million miles an hour through the air! Man, those feet were going so fast they reminded me of the Road Runner cartoon character and if someone had placed her right side up at that time; she'd been in the next county in nothing flat and that's 15 miles away as the crow flies <;-)

After she recovered and she explained everything, I don't think either of us have ever laughed so hard since. On the other hand, I've had to take over all trash disposal tasks ever since...

 

I could only imagine the look on her face and yours.

 

Good that she could see the humor in it. When I first married my wife she noticed that a mouse had been in the upper cabinets so she emptied them and set a snap trap. We got up in the morning and I saw her open the cabinet door, shriek, slam the door shut and repeat I disposed of the dead mouse [she said it was looking at her] For the next 3 days she made me check the trap which was always empty. On the 4th day she looked and it was a repeat of the first day. 19 yrs later I still find that story amusing but she still doesn't

 

If your new cat has caught but 3 mice since spring, I guarantee that they are reproducing at a much faster replacement rate.

 

This is the dilemma of the sticky trap.

Mice are very small and have a very insubstantial (easily crushed) skeletal structure. Smashing it with a heavy object, being sure to crush the head with authority, will kill it instantly and painlessly.

If that's too gruesome for you, pick up the trap (with a pair of pliers, if necessary), drop it into a sack, make sure the sack can't come open, and place it in the freezer for half an hour. Then throw out the sack, unopened.


Whatever you do, DO NOT try to pull them free (to conserve the trap or to dispatch the mouse without ruining the trap). The mouse might pull free but its feet WILL NOT. Do not ask how I came into this knowledge.