5AM capture causes lost tailfeathers

[Buteo]

I finally caught the mouse!!!!! (Hopefully there was only the one).

Last night I cleaned up Grace's cage just before her bedtime - I removed her food dishes all together & set down a new layer of newspaper in the tray.
Since it frequented the bottom of Gracie's cage so much, I set up 2 traps there under the bottom grate:

1) A Victor Electronic Mouse Trap (Model M250). This is a kill type trap that incorporates an opening in housing that leads to 2 small metal plates at an internal "bait station". Using the power of 4 "AA" batteries, the electronics employed step up the charge to a level lethal to the mouse. When the pest steps on both metal plates, it completes the circuit, electrocuting the mouse and triggering a green LED & an audible alarm. The bait I used was some of Grace's pellets.

2) The second trap was a large glue pad trap that I had baited in the middle with a small pile of Gracie's food.

At 5 AM, I was just getting ready to head upstairs when I heard some bangin & squeeks coming from the cage. The mouse had caught both of it's back feet & one front foot on the very edge of the glue pad and was struggling to free itself.

The commotion woke Gracie and startled her into an attempt at flight. When I opened the cover to comfort her, there she was at the bottom- wheezing like crazy with only 2 tail feathers left. The rest were scattered across the bottom grate where they'd fallen during her panicked movements. I took her out, calmed her down with soft talk, kisses and gentle touches.

I took the glue pad out, put it in a bucket, grabbed a pair of leather gloves, a flashlight and a small screwdriver and walked down the street a couple of blocks to the open field by the park. As gently as I possibly could, I removed the mouse from the trap. It lost a pretty good patch of fur from it's right side, but other than that it seemed to be fine. It only tried to bite me once while I freed it's front leg, then I think it realized I was trying to free it. The mouse stopped struggling & allowed me to get the full length of it's tail and it's back feet unstuck. As soon as the last foot was free, it took off into the grass before I could pick up the flashlight to check it over.

I'm very glad it got caught in the glue trap as opposed to the other one as I'd hoped to be able to free it rather than kill it.
I can only hope it's able to clean what was left stuck to it's feet & tail without too much trouble and find another place to live.

[Lisa B]

Well, I'm glad he is out where he belongs, and hopefully, he wont remember his path back to the kind person who fed and took care of him!

[fluffy_stitch]

you can get mouse traps that are like a cage that shuts when the mouse goes in,that way you dont have to worry about harming the mouse or haveing it running up your arm or leg when you unstick it!!!!i hope Gracies feathers grow back quickly!! :)

[birdguy]

i found a baby mouse on our driveway a few weeks ago. he looked horrible so we kept him. he is now doing great, almost tripled in size, and has his very own 15 gallon tank with lots of hiding spots and free food.

[Shun Azhriaz]

I'm amazed you got him safely off the glue trap--I've heard horror stories about mice pretty much ripping themselves apart trying to get loose from them. You must be very patient!

[Buteo]

In order to release a mouse from a glue trap you MUST get to the mouse in the first few minutes after it gets stuck.

If you don't, the mouse will either:

1) Die from stress, exhaustion and shock.

2) Attempt to chew the glue away from whatever part of it is stuck. This usually results in the mouse getting it's face stuck and ultimately suffocating the animal....

or

3) if caught by the feet or tail, many animals will chew their own limbs off in desperation ...
A friend had that happen - the mouse caught in a glue trap she set down had chewed all four of it's feet off, only to crawl away into a hole in the bottom liner of the sofa where it had finally sucombe to blood loss & died. (PHEW!!)

[Buteo]

I've kept the other traps out just incase there's more than one....

While I haven't caught or seen any others, I just found fresh droppings...

Unfortunately I'm now pretty convinced there are more...
((Galdangit! I was hopin it was over!!))

[Shun Azhriaz]

Originally Posted by Buteo

While I haven't caught or seen any others, I just found fresh droppings...

Unfortunately I'm now pretty convinced there are more...
((Galdangit! I was hopin it was over!!))

I don't know why we even have a singular noun for mice--there's never just one!

[hands2talk2u]

Mice are like chips...you don't have just one...lol... good luck!