There are mice living in my basement. I don’t want them there, but all I can find at the store are glue traps, poison, and mousetraps. Do I have any other options?

Minus a neighborhood Pied Piper, what’s a squeamish homeowner to do? First of all, don’t even think about using mousetraps, poison, or glue traps. Studies have shown that some animals caught in glue traps break or even bite off their own legs in an effort to escape, and the glue badly irritates and scars their eyes. Animals whose faces become stuck in the glue slowly suffocate, and all trapped animals are subject to starvation and dehydration. Glue traps are also dangerous to dogs and cats. For more information, please read PETA’s “Glue Traps: Pans of Pain” factsheet.

If you see glue traps at a store, complain to the manager! Ask them to only carry humane traps (available at PETACatalog.org).

Nonlethal traps are widely available, inexpensive, and easy to use. Sold in hardware stores, as well as in PETA’s catalog, they consist of a boxlike plastic or metal trap with a springrelease door that closes behind the animal once he or she enters the trap. Check the trap every hour, and if you find an animal, simply release him or her in a suitable location outside.

You also must make your home less attractive to mice. Start by doing a thorough sweep of your house. Make sure there is no food left in open places or in cardboard containers, which mice can eat right through. Keep garbage in tightly covered containers. Remove mice shelters by keeping storage spaces orderly and keeping stored items off the floor.

Next, deny mice a way to enter your home by sealing holes around the bottom of walls—even small ones, since a mouse can wriggle through a hole no larger than a quarter. Seal holes in exterior walls, as well.

With a little bit of effort, you can live mousefree without cruelty!