To be honest, a mouse in the house, was probably the last thing we needed after the last couple of months of storms and leaking roofs and the onset of a big repaint job throughout the house. But I suppose mice don’t take into account the fact that you’d like a little bit of respite, especially when they discover a very cosy pile of sheepskin (faux!) in which to snuggle down. Thankfully, after rodent adventures of the larger kind in Istria, we knew this one was a mouse and nothing more. Truth be told, when we did spot it, it was actually kind of cute – tiny and chocolate brown, but we didn’t really fancy homing a Andalucian mouse, so it had to be dealt with.

It put in its first appearance when we had friends staying – perfect timing. They had just gone to bed and we were winding down for the night, when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a flash of brown, and knew immediately what it was. Keeping to the corners of the living room, it ran along the walls – and vanished. As they do. So, a bit of a restless night, being alert to every noise and wondering if it was a solo mouse or if it had brought its family and friends along. The next morning a trap was purchased – one of the old fashioned kind, as it was all we could get, and it was loaded up with pieces of a Snickers bar. Two days later, the trap was still intact, but the little minx had eaten all of the chocolate pieces, including the peanuts! We definitely weren’t dealing with a dimwit with this one, and so we had to have another plan.

Poison wasn’t an answer. I’m not a fan of rodents, however cute they may look, but we definitely didn’t want to use poison. We were also loathe to load up the spring loaded trap again, as I had visions of a bloodbath up the white walls. So, the only answer was a humane trap and I found these on Amazon. (Yes, I know we should try and avoid Amazon, for a variety of reasons, but sometimes it’s quicker for us, being where we are currently).

These traps are made of eco-friendly ABS material, chemical free, non-toxic and odorless, reusable and durable. They are also very easy to clean. They are designed with multiple air holes to enable free airflow on the top and on the left and right sides of the mouse trap, so any caught rodents won’t suffocate.

The traps are extremely easy to use, and with no dangerous metal spring loaded parts, are harmless to people and pets. You simply slide out the food compartment, insert the bait and slide the compartment back in. At the opposite end of the box, you just press the “door” down – the rodent(s) will smell the bait, and enter through the door, and once inside, their weight will trigger the door to spring up and close. The bait is entirely enclosed inside the plastic compartment and so almost impossible, I’d say, for household pets – or small children – to get to.

The pack of four traps arrived at 5pm, and we immediately loaded them with small pieces of kit-kat, knowing the mouse had a taste for chocolate and placed then around the ground floor of the house. At 8pm, we heard the VERY satisfying click of the door of the trap, and there it was – our chocolate brown mouse, inside. The mouse was initially a bit shocked – obviously – but very quickly it calmed down, and after about five minutes was curled up, very chilled, inside the box. All we needed to then do was take the box as far away from the house as possible, away from other houses, and release the mouse. And, off it went scampering into the fields, to join its mates. As far as we know, it’s very happy as it hasn’t returned – the boxes have been left out just in case, but nothing. And no further sightings, either. Once the mouse has been released, the box does need to be washed thoroughly in very hot water, to get rid of any smells, which may attract more mice.

So, a real result. No mess. No drama. No traumatised mouse. And four very cool looking traps – the transparent amber is actually a very beautiful colour, and you could actually forget that these boxes were mousetraps! So, very highly recommended, if you have a mouse (or two) in the house, especially as this is a multi pack, for just €19.99.

This is not a sponsored post. We just wanted to recommend a product that we rate highly, and which has worked 100% for us.