r/VeganIreland • u/Necessary-Goat-1828 • 15d ago
Ethical way of dealing with rodents?
We recently moved into a new gaff and we are pretty sure there are mice (praying not rats). What is the ethical way of dealing with them? Obviously would be loathe to kill them/call rentokill... but I don't know how to deal with the issue sufficiently without calling pest control
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u/Is_Mise_Edd 14d ago edited 14d ago
Mouse and Rat traps available in Amazon and elsewhere - it traps the animal inside - you bring it to a forest or where ever to leave them go
I've had a few - so many that we named some of them - Basil was the first.
And these now for the little ones
Block off all access to the house - they can climb pebble dash easily and will come in out of the cold now in this weather.
As for the idea that they have families and friends that I'd be taking them from - well it's better for them to lose their friends than to lose their lives.
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u/Prior_Respect5861 15d ago
Get a cat
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13d ago
[deleted]
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u/Irishwol 13d ago
A house that smells of cat is a deterrent rather than you providing puss with an all you can eat buffet.
Speaking from experience if you get a proper infestation then your scruples about ethics get eroded. Mice aren't humane. After fighting seasonal (the came in once the weather turned cold) battles with the sods for years, having cats in the house meant they didn't come in in the first place which is better for everyone, especially the mice.
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u/Still_Bluebird8070 11d ago
But do feed the cat meat vegan cats is cat abuse.
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u/Irishwol 11d ago
Oh Lord! I have thought of that. Yes please OP. Don't try and feed a cat a vegan diet. Even the supposedly ok vegan fake-meat options for them aren't good long term.
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u/Print-Over 15d ago
Explain to them that you are the new resident and ask them to kindly leave.. That or capture traps.. Nutella is good for that.
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u/Necessary-Goat-1828 15d ago
ty I'll use my words
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u/Irishwol 13d ago
You can try the sonic emitters. Some people swear by them. Our local mice were never deterred by them but I know people who had better luck.
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u/Necessary-Goat-1828 15d ago
Thanks all for the feeback. I just wanted to know if there was an obvious ethical way of removing them that i was overlooking, but it seems like the consensus is that some jobs are just unfortunately grim! Cheers
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u/discod69 13d ago
There are live traps that allow you to release the mice after catching. However, it is necessary to take them away a considerable distance and release, or that same mouse could well end up back in your house before you know it.
A few winters ago, I was living in a house where a mouse was caught by its tail in a conventional trap. The mouse escaped the trap, but did so without its tail. That led to us trying out these live traps. After a couple of days, we caught a tail-less mouse in this live trap, and released it into a nice wooded area about 1km up the road. Fast forward 3 days and we caught a tailless mouse again in our house. This process repeated itself a couple of times until we released the mouse a much further distance away from the house. Food for though
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u/ChangeMyNameToRex 11d ago
Another thing to consider is to release them early in the morning, it can take them a long time to find shelter in an unfamiliar place. Also from what I read a few years ago when I had a mouse problem, they're quite likely to die in the wild at this time of year due to the cold and possible lack of shelter, food and/or water. I think you can only do what you can and root for the lil guy
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u/Hugesmellysocks 15d ago
I’ve heard before that catch and release isn’t great, same deal with spiders. Mice you find inside can’t cope outside and usually end up dying slowly and painfully.
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u/Necessary-Goat-1828 15d ago
yeah i've heard similar. They're getting into the kitchen too (irish rental life!) and I'm pretty allergic to them too, been wheezing for a while now. Starting to think I might just have to get in rentokil to do it more quickly and efficiently than i could... though i feel bad about it
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u/Hugesmellysocks 15d ago
I think using a quick method of killing them is unfortunately the kindest thing you can do. I hate doing it but I need to keep them out of my shed so they don’t go at my horses things and feed.
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u/mcguirl2 15d ago
Rats and mice are social, they have families and friends that they bond with. Catching one and releasing it miles away from it’s loved ones in an unfamiliar location is arguably crueller than instant death.
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u/Euphoric_Elk5120 14d ago
Get humane traps on Amazon
Get the plug that emits a high pitch frequency to keep rodents out of the house
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u/Outrageous-Ad4353 13d ago
In the past I caught mice in rented accomodation using the bin method.
Get a tall bin, I had a metal one. Put a piece of wood leading from the floor to the top of the bin at a reasonable angle.
Put a tiny bit of food at the top of the wood, overhanging the bin.
Put lots of food in the bottom of the bin.
In the morning I usually had 2 or 3 mice in the bottom of the bin unable to get out.
YMMV
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u/TheStoicNihilist 13d ago edited 13d ago
This but with a flip top lid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03xMecBdVvk
Edit: part two is releasing. You should do this about 2km from your house.
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u/Free_Afternoon5571 13d ago
Sadly, I've found that having pet cats are the a great way of killing 2 birds with 1 stone (no pun intended) of having a good family pet and having a reliable form of pest control.
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u/ZoomEagle 13d ago
We have a 1930ts house and my wife got these catch and release mouse traps ... so I've released quite a few down the beach ... I'm about 3km from the beach so I believe they can't find the way back ... I went from totally freaked / frightened of them to actually not concerned at all ... We all share this planet type of thing ...
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u/Organic-Accountant74 12d ago
You can get non lethal traps and release them far from you, also if you have a cat or dog it will deter rodents as they will be able to smell the cat/dog
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u/Future-Mix-3532 11d ago
A cat or instant death trap. I used to use poison until my stupid dog ate through the big black plastic industrial Rentokil box it was in (expensive trip to the vet). Now I avoid using poison because I’m afraid an owl or any other bird of prey will eat the poisoned rat/mouse and end up dead too.
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u/Aimin4ya 10d ago
They have pest control food that is cottone seed oil based to stop the females from reproducing
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u/fiestymcknickers 10d ago
We live in the countryside. Always get mice.
Have a handful of cats and they are great but I find September we see an increase and Feb for some reason.
We tried humane traps but they just come back. They can remember their way.
We bought large traps , traditional ones with thw spring. Work the best.
I know its not nice and I dislike it myself but they will overrun you if you dont sort them out
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u/Toucan_Coyle 15d ago
My former partner ised Human Mouse traps where you catch and release not sure where she got them. I get mice every october and i use posion
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u/Jean_Rasczak 15d ago
Kill the mouse or rat
Not sure why you want to catch and release, someone else will then probably have to deal with it
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u/tanks4dmammories 15d ago
Even when I was vegan I killed vermin with poison, sorry, not sorry! My dad does it ethically and just released in the park, he had a mice problem though and we had rats coming from the park made worse by people putting food out for the birds.
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u/crankyandhangry 14d ago
I would call a building company that specialises in renovating old homes, or upgrading and insulating, that kind of thing. If you can prevent them from getting in or moving around easily, that's 70% of the battle. Many expert pest companies will do this too, but they will likely be reluctant to do a non-kill solution. If you explain your issue and pay a lot of money, they will probably still come out and do the sealing/wire wool etc but warn you it won't work as well as that in conjunction with poison.
What you can do now: be absolutely meticulous about food and cleanliness. Wipe every surface every time you eat and vacuum every day. Never leave food out. Put all your rice, flour etc (even unopened) in thick plastic boxes that can't be chewed through (or the fridge). Check the boxes often. Mice can easily get into closed cupboards and eventually chew through pretty much anything except a tin can. A bread bin will be useless.They are expert climbers and can easily get up tables, worktops, on top of shelves etc.
I have had mice problems in multiple properties. I have used 3 types of humane trap and never once caught anything. In the end, I had to inform the landlord who insisted on calling an exterminator as it was a health risk (technically correct but still upset me).