What do I do about what I suspect is a mouse in my pantry?

Give it a cookie.

Why don’t you buy some of the mouse “Traps” where the mouse goes inside and you never have to TOUCH the “Critter” .....

If you don’t do something SOON; you will have MORE ‘n More…

@HighShaman Do these devices come in different sizes?

Many local animal shelters have programs encouraging to bring a pet home for the holidays. I believe that some may be on a trial basis.

A cat would be the perfect solution and you may even fall in love with the cutie and make it permanent thing.

Or if there aren’t any shelters in your area with that type of program, see if there is a friend or family mamber willing to loan you one for a few weeks.

Word gets around in the mouse community.

Another source of inquiry to pursue is to find a shelter looking for folks to foster care for a cat on a temporary basis to prevent euthanization and open up some space at the shelter.

Every shelter that I’ve personally been aware of would love to have more volunteers willing to be temporary foster homes. They frequently advertise this need.

They would love to get a call from you and you would be saving a life. (Not a rodent’s life, but that’s the whole idea, isn’t it?). More cats, less mice. The circle of life :)

@Kayak8 I’m not certain . The best thing is to check at Wal mart , Target, K-Mart Lowes etc ..wherever you shop…. and check them out .

Also; note that some pest companies actually have Stores where you can come in and buy products . Look in your phone book…

However; I’d try the “Traps” first… Good Luck .

@Buttonstc I am ashamed to report that I am the proud owner of a feline who could not be less interested in my problem. My two large canines are far more interested in getting to the bottom of the mystery (their food is in the pantry too).

They make no touch traps. Just set it and pick it up and throw it away when its got a dead critter inside. :) The one I linked is only one of many out there.

Don’t kill it. :( Trap it and release it elsewhere.

@tinyfaery So it can climb into someone else’s house?

Walmart has a few traps, I used the one that looks like a little plastic box (think toothpaste box), made out of plastic and it has a little door – the mouse can go in, but can’t get out.
I put a cracker with peanut butter inside and it worked great – once the mouse was in there, I just threw the entire thing away (not in the trash, my husband put it in a bag and took it to the dump as soon as we saw the mouse was in there).
The best part was that it only costed $1.00
Hope you catch your little intruder soon!

Use peppermint extract. put it in a pepper shaker and place it when you think there coming in..

Get a mouse trap, or apply mouse glue which can capture a mouse when it steps on the glue. Like it or not, you have to deal with it one way or another. Or get somebody else to do it.

Yeah…the problem is, where there’s one, there’s a few…if you’re concerned with being humane, you need to not only trap them, but prevent future break-ins, by really getting into the pantry and sealing it. Problem is, they’re persistent, so eradication is often the solution.

If you want to go ballistic, the no-mess traps are the way to go, or the poison baits that dry them out. But be warned, if you go that route there’s a good chance they’ll perish inside your walls or out of reach and the stench will be putrid.

@kayak

Oh, that’s just too funny.

Seems like you need to have a little talk with kitty cat and explain her responsibilities to her~

Actually that’s not all that strange. If a cat is totally domesticated and well-fed they don’t have much incentive.

But far more likely is that the Mama cat didn’t teach her kittens how to hunt and kill prey. But I’ve also had cats who obviously didn’t know how to hunt and kill their prey, buy they found enough pleasure in stalk and chase that they exhausted the mouse to death :)

I’m not kidding. I honestly think the mouse had a heart attack.

There were some scattered blood drops here and there so she obviously got a paw on it a few times. But there was so little of it and the mouse was totally intact-just dead. Hence my conclusion that she scared it to death :)

Well, unless you want to import another cat who can at least stalk and chase, if not kill, you’ll just have to deal with it yourself.

Good luck with that :D

I just use the standard old wood spring-type traps. They’re cheap; if it grosses you out too much you can just throw the whole thing away. I have never used poison because of having dogs & cats, & the glue-type ones seem too cruel to me.

A trap with a raisin for bait.

Remain calm and try to live with it for now….beats having bats in your belfry.

De-con. I swear by it. If that doesn’t work call the super (I will never not rent.)

@SirGoofy shit, that was going to be my NEXT question . . .

@SarasWhimsy Umm, I own the building, so I guess that makes me the super. It is MY house.

Have caught two little suckers and am armed to locate the rest of the tribe . . . . mwahhhhhh

What did you finally decide to use, pray tell?

And caught two more! I used these traps made by Ortho mousetrap I am not sure the first ones were killed as quickly as I might have preferred (for their sake) but the second batch went down very quickly. I am going to go get a few more and set them to see if I catch anymore (it is so dang cold outside, I would come in my house if I was a mouse too).

Glad that you are taking care of the problem, but feeling bad for the poor, little mice. :(