So what do I do with baby mice?

[mazakaal]

I found mouse droppings on my towels this morning and asked dh to take care of getting all the towels shaken out and put in the washing machine. Dh discovered baby mice in the folds of the towels! These have got to be very young - no hair, not able to stand up (just sort of wrigling and squirming), can't open their eyes yet. So dh & my first thought is, "Toss them over the back hedge and let nature take it's course. Well, our dc are now desperate to try to keep them as pets. I don't think they have any chance of living without mom. Should we dump them before the dc bond with them too much or try to keep them alive? And if we should keep them, what do we do? Put some drops of milk into the plastic container they're in?

 

As you can tell, I'm not much of an animal person.

 

I can't believe that I'm even considering this!

[Prairie~Phlox]

I would get rid of them and set some traps.

 

Phlox

[Saille]

Um. This is horrible. Really bad.

 

We give them to our chickens.

 

I'm sorry. We just cannot have them in the house. Can't. This time of year, they all start trying to move in, and that's my line. I won't touch one outside, or in the garage, but house...fair game. FWIW, they die pretty much instantly.

[*anj*]

They have to die. Furthermore, you need to call an exterminator because you probably have a bigger problem than you realize if they are nesting inside the folds of your towels.

Where were they stored?

 

Ewwwww!!!!!

(Can you tell that I am not an animal person?)

[stephanie]

If you really want to keep them then I would call your local vet or pet store and ask them how to care for them. Where's the mom at? Poor little fellows! We have 2 mice as pets, Rosie and Pippa, and they are the cutest little things. However, they stay in their cage...I'm not liking little critters running around the house! (Can you tell I am an animal person?)

[mazakaal]

We've set a trap for mom mouse. We don't want to let these little guys live free in our house. The kids wanted to get a cage and make these our pets. The more I think of it, the more I think that it's not a good idea. We're not allowed to have inside pets, so these would have to be in a cage out the the coal shed, not really a pleasant prospect as winter approaches. Thanks for your input. I think dh is going to have to make these guys disappear when the dc aren't looking.

[mellifera]

Um. This is horrible. Really bad.

 

We give them to our chickens.

 

I'm sorry. We just cannot have them in the house. Can't. This time of year, they all start trying to move in, and that's my line. I won't touch one outside, or in the garage, but house...fair game. FWIW, they die pretty much instantly.

 

When we lived int the country we would throw them outside while the barn cats were watching. :eek: Since the barn cats were usually hungry, the mice never lasted very long.

[6packofun]

Call around at local pet stores because "pinkies" or even smaller babies with fur are sold as...um, snake (and other reptile) food. :001_huh: There isn't a bright future for those poor mice, I'm afraid, unless you want *them* as pets. lol

[homeschoolin'mygirls]

I think keeping the mice as pets could cause problems, not least of which is wild (undomesticated) animals carry diseases. What if your children --or you and dh--were bitten by them?

 

Call the exterminator

 

Then if you want mice (and those little pink ones are cute!) go buy some domesticated (as in raised in a controlled disease free environment) mice at a pet store. Your kids could even pick out the ones to come live at your house---as in live in a cage , of course.

 

Nandell