Not the usual kind. The cute furry kind that chews on cables and craps anywhere he feels like.
 
A little mouse has moved into my garage/office/studio. He probably walked in on one of the many warm days that I left the door open, and now refuses to leave.
 
He is fearless. I threatened him with a tambourine, shaking it furiously in his direction in hopes his sensitive ears would be offended and he'd head back out the door. But he just sat there looking at me.
 
I am conflicted. I don't even kill house spiders, preferring to gently relocate them to the outdoors. Even though I know I'm dooming them to a horrible death, either in a bird's beak or by slow starvation, but it helps my own conscience. But dammit, this mouse has got to go. This morning I came in and there was a distinct ammonia smell from mouse urine. And it's only a matter of time before Mrs. Mouse moves in and they start raising a family.
 
So two days ago I bought mouse traps. These are tubular devices that contain the carcass so I won't have to look my victim in the eye as I inter him in the trashcan. Unfortunately, they have not been effective. Wrong bait, perhaps, although mice don't seem to be picky eaters. My fear is that he's just too smart. 
 
Suggestions?

Peanut butter. They can't resist it. I caught 10 mice in 10 days in my kitchen cupboards a couple of weeks ago, had to get the local pest controller to set poison bait under all the cupboards.
 
They're early this year, we usually get field mice coming in during the winter.
 
Oh..just one female mouse can produce several hundred offspring in a year by the way...
 

+1 for peanut butter.

Yep, Peanut Butter.  My shop/detached garage had the nasty little bastards a few years ago.
 
They do prefer Jif over Peter Pan though.
 
The traditional neck-snapper traps are the most effective IMX.  I have had some jump into buckets after climbing ramps, but if you release them they will just make a few thousand more mice to deal with.
 
If this one is staring you down, use a shop-vac on him!

According to the literature on the subject, you should not give him a cookie. 

Go to the pound and get a cat.

Mooch someone's cat. Or get one.
The only mice you'll ever see are dead ones left out in open for you to dispose of.
 
As for trap bait, yes Skippy.

Not all cats are good hunters, bad idea (IMHO).
Dave you have to use the "killer" traps, baited with (as noted above) peanut butter.
The "sticky" rat traps work as well (baited with a few small dabs of peanut butter),
but again you'll have to "look 'em in the eyes".
Wish I was closer, I'd take care of it for ya.
My buddy Billy had a run of mice in the studio, moved into the console; shorted it out!
Be quick, be ruthless, treat them like the vermin they are.
Everything has a place in the cycle of life, but your studio is NOT the place for mice.
I try to be a "live and let live" guy, but I have my "limits"...
 
T

I had a mouse last year. It was coming and going through a hole in the radiator cover. One time I saw it disappear under my bed just as I was leaving for work. That pissed me off, so I took one of those clear plastic food boxes and rattled the bed until he was scared out of there. He ran out so I trapped him in a corner and he just stood there frozen, scared out of his mind. I put the box over him, slid a piece of card underneath and then took him to a grassy, tree covered area outside. 
 
I can't kill them. Some years ago a client offered me $20 per mouse to go into her larder and dispose of the mice on her glue traps. Sounded like easy money, so I went in there to find about 12 of the buggers writhing around, helplessly stuck. They were babies and squealing like there was no tomorrow. All I could do was pick the traps up and throw them into a trash bag, only when I lifted them some started peeling off and leaving their scalp behind and yelping in pain. It was like something out of a horror movie. Never again. 

sharke
I can't kill them. Some years ago a client offered me $20 per mouse to go into her larder and dispose of the mice on her glue traps. Sounded like easy money, so I went in there to find about 12 of the buggers writhing around, helplessly stuck. They were babies and squealing like there was no tomorrow. All I could do was pick the traps up and throw them into a trash bag, only when I lifted them some started peeling off and leaving their scalp behind and yelping in pain. It was like something out of a horror movie. Never again. 

I used glue traps once, and it was heartbreaking.  I put them in a bucket of water to put them out of their misery as quickly as possible, but it was really traumatizing.