Mice... and how to stop them

Yeah, I stopped using the spring traps back in college, after watching a mouse who caught its tail in the trap chew its tail off, while screaming, to get away. I used common household mice poison for some years, until I got tired of coming home and finding drunk-looking mice walking in circles in my kitchen, that I had to put a weighted coffee can over for a few days until they suffocated. I also stopped using poison because I was tired of smelling the decaying ones for weeks when they managed crawl into a wall to die.

When I had mice in homes years later, I bought a rat zapper – at least it kills them instantly, so that seemed more humane. And it makes disposing of dead mice easier – you just turn it over above the garbage bin. But catching a few mice does not rid you of them – it just catches some. Sealing is important, though I’ve found they can chew through almost anything – even bonding-type material you use to hold steel wool in place. I am, unfortunately, too allergic to cats to use that method.