we had a mouse a couple of years ago...my cat didn't notice the rodent was visiting. he didn't even notice there was a rodent in a tank to be released until about 5 minutes before i picked it up and took it out with me.

We live in the country and have mice in our laundry room almost every winter (except for the years we have a lot of black snakes!). Havahart traps usually work:

http://woodstream.thepipeline.us/advice/animal-trapping/trap-guide

Ironic to be looking for a humane way of trapping a mouse because the cat won't take care of it...um, can you say slow and painful death! Nature is so cruel... That said, thankfully, my cats are killers:-)

I tried many permutations of #5 but none of them worked. I also tried two different types of humane traps, but those didn't work either, even though they'd worked before in my old apartment. Seriously, the mice in my house seemed almost arrogant...one of them acted like it owned the place. It would saunter out from under my baseboards, stroll casually past my oblivious dog who was napping 3 feet away, and mosey on over to my pantry. This would cause me to jump up and scamper around wildly, trying to get it out of my food. When this didn't succeed, I would sit back down, only to see the mouse emerge calmly from my pantry and cruise on over to one of my cabinets. It was totally ridiculous. Let's just say that there's nothing like a good, old-fashioned snap trap. I even caught two in the same trap once, because they were fighting over the peanut butter!

I have 3 cats. It's like mouse suicide to come into our house. And, our one cat is like 27 lbs. Yes, 27lbs. Not a typo. Yet he can still haul his fat ass off the couch to chase a mouse if need be! He's sneaky fast. LOL. We lived in an old farmhouse for a few years and had some mice. After about 4 months, we didn't see anymore. Though, our cats also caught moles. In my living room. And tore them apart. On my cowhide rug. Ype, pleasant sight at 5 am. (groan!)
I think deterring them from being in your house is the best way anyways. Though the bucket trick above sounds like it would become an instant YouTube hit.

We used peppermint oil when we had a problem (just one mouse), and it's really hard to say if it actually worked. We eventually caught the mouse in a spring trap.

But the one thing we learned is to CLEAN YOUR OVEN.

Especially if you live in a rental with one of those generic rental ovens, there are holes in the back that the mice can get into. Especially in colder months, the oven is always a tad warm even when not turned on, and there's always little burned crumbs of food and whatnot in there.

We also cleaned out under our burners and laid down tin foil under the actual burners on the stove. Not sure if this helps, but I'd imagine walking on it as a mouse makes a lot of noise and they don't want that.

We had a mice problem about 2 months ago. My neighbor downstairs saw one scamper across her floor, set traps that night and woke the next morning to find 3 dead mice. About a week later I came home to find my cat laying on the floor with a mouse in her mouth with the tail sticking out wiggling. She just looked at me like she had no idea what the problem was or that she had something in mouth she shouldnt! That night I scrubbed down every little cranny of my apartment and bleached all the floors in hopes that any food smells or traces would be gone. We haven't seen anymore mice...however I get the feeling maybe they learned to stay away...atleast when I'm home!

Humane rodent control?! What could it be? Lethal injection? Firing squad? Rats and mice are vermin which pose serious threat to people both physically and mentally. They have no right on the earth. "Cats: in some cases this will not be a humane way of dealing with mice..." Please. It's not humane for the cats who have to deal with mice.

I think an important point is being missed here. MICE ARE A HEALTH HAZARD! Mice carry innumerable diseases and spread these diseases just by touching items and leaving their droppings everywhere they walk. "Humane" relocation and release, especially in a park, only dumps that health hazard on some other unsuspecting person, child, or animal.

Whether or not you have a cat capable of catching a mouse, the minute one is detected every effort should be made to thwart reentry. Mice can squeeze through the tiniest hole or gap their head can pass. An effective deterrent is to stuff holes and gaps with boric acid covered steel wool, then cover with caulking, wood or other material.

I'm sorry to offend, but my vote is for the good old mousetrap. Letting a mouse go somewhere out in the woods is not a humane option (they will end up in some other mouse's habitat, leading to death anyways). We had some mice last fall and the mousetrap actually seemed like an ok way to go. Quickly taken from the world JUST as they were about to reach the motherlode of peanut butter... I swear some had little smiles of anticipation on their faces.

But yes, yes, prevention and keeping them out of your house should be the first line of attack.

I'm amused the the most horrifying thing that someone could have in their house is a mouse. While I'm perfectly aware that yes, mice can carry disease... they aren't SPIDERS! At least mice are cute :)

Just as a tip for the soft-hearted - if you do use a have a heart trap, make sure there's food and water in there and you check the traps often. Death by starvation is a lot worse than death by snap, and mice starve much faster than a human would.

Also agreeing that getting rid of food sources and the easiest ways in to the house are better than any kind of trap, humane or not. Don't forget mice like weird things like soap sometimes too.

For god's sake, anyone reading this, I beg you do NOT use sticky traps. They are the most foul things I could imagine, and a terrible way to die. Insta-kill traditional snappers are far more humane than that.

We live on the ground floor of a building opposite a park so we get mice with some regularity and humane options are just not going to cut it. Snap traps it is for us, though I've found that nearly every mousetrap manufacturer has redesigned their traps so they now have an idiotic plastic bait platform shaped like a piece of cheese. Every time we tried using this the mice just licked the peanut butter off the trap without setting it off. Licked clean! Apparently the manufacturers say you should tie the bait to the trap so they have to set it off. Why try and design a "better" mousetrap if what you had before worked great?!?

I had to specially order the older ones with the metal tabs because I just couldn't take it anymore. It was like the mice were taunting me every morning when I saw the traps were licked clean.

Once we I was growing up we had some mice in our house. We bought a little trap that was simply a clear plastic box with a one-way door. Put a little food inside, and soon all of the mice were caught! I was the sort of kid who loved animals of all kinds, so of course I wanted to keep them, especially the cutie baby mice...but we let them all go in a field.

Snap traps with some peanut butter. I refuse to use anything else. Mice and rats are disgusting and carry disease. Period.

Sharpette's right about the releasing them not being humane thing. They aren't wild, so their survival isn't likely out there.

I like the electrocution chamber myself for the smarter ones - my experience is that once the mouse/rat has made it in, it knows ALL about the snap traps through some kind of inter-vermin training program.

KILL 'EM ALL!!!!!

Wait...mice are the most horrifying things to have in your house?

Have you ever SEEN a cockroach nest?

I feel like I need a diagram or a video or something to really understand how that trap works

Cats need to be taught how to kill a mouse? Because mine leaves them for me in the basement without even trying - she plays with them until they won't play anymore.
Not very "humane," obviously - I take them away from her if I catch her before they expire. But she's quite effective.

I'm with batfish: cockroaches. Mice and spiders are a blessing compared to them...

Those little mice are cute, so I made sure mine had a fast, painless death :)

My parents had mice in the house when I was growing up. They got one of those "ultrasonic pest control" gadgets that you plug into an outlet. They work great! No mice for 10 years and counting. I think each one only works for a certain distance, but my parents have a big house, and just one of those things in the kitchen has kept them mouse free. I don't know what brand they have, but it's similar to this: http://www.amazon.com/Pest-Control-Ultrasonic-3-Pack/dp/B000AMYU8G

It's really the most humane way of all, because the mice dislike the sound and so they don't even come in to the area in the first place---so no traps or cats!

Gawd...how I HATE rodents...and birds...and BATS too '(cause they're basically rodents with wings)...bbbllleeeccchh.

I've had mice in my house(s) before and the old snap trap was the way to go. Only problem is...I can't empty them (or even touch them), so I'd have to have an (ex)husband or a neighbour come and get rid of them for me!

They all told me I was wasting money, because I threw the trap out with the mouse (good thing they come in big, discount bags! hehehe). I think its better that way, as the next mouse doesn't smell "death" on the trap and honestly, I think they can.

Thank God (and knock on wood) I don't have them here!

Good luck to all you rodent hunters! I feel for you...

According to this guide here: http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/rodents-c-21.html

A combination of peppermint soaked balls and steel wool to plug the holes can be an effective barrier to deter rodents from encroaching into your household.