Caught a mouse in the house a day before it had babies

Question
A couple of days ago I set a couple homemade live mouse traps, because we noticed a mouse running around in the basement.  I didn't have the heart to kill the lil bugger, but I didn't want to let it go for fear of it returning.  So, I got a little cage for it, some bedding and food and put her in there as a temporary means while figuring out what to do with her.  Just the other day she was jumping and chewing on just about everything in the cage, then about 2 hours after all of that she gave birth to at least 3 little mice.  I try to keep as much light out of the cage as I can and keep the sound to a minimum since I don't want to stress her out and possibly eat the little ones.  She'll spend time nursing the babies, leave her little nest that she made to eat and drink and continue to gnaw on the plastic topped cage.  I'm just worried that she'll abandon the little ones if she does manage to chew a hole though the cage and escape back into the house.  Is that common behavior for a wild mouse?  As far as species goes, she looks like a field mouse, brown top with a white underside.

Answer
Dear Andy,

You are lucky you caught her before she filled the basement with growing babies! I understand your concern. But mother mice do have a pretty strong instinct to return to their babies.

I do think that if you keep her cage in the basement and only disturb her to give her food and water, if she escapes she will come back. However, then you have at least 4 mice in your basement. Do you mind waiting 3 weeks and then catching them all? Maybe they would even keep their nest in the tank and you could just pick it up in 3 weeks and solve your mouse problem. Mice can return up to a mile, so find a place farther away than that.

I am also wondering if there is a nice outdoor place in the shade where you could set up her cage gently and then open the top-- maybe partway-- then leave her alone. If you do this a mile from home she will not come back. You can check on the cage from time to time to see if it is still occupied. Of course this assumes you live in the right conditions, where you can leave a tank in a place where it will not be too hot, and where people won't disturb it.

The third option that I can think of is to get her a cage she can't chew her way out of. Of course, disturbing her now with her babies won't be easy, if even possible to do without losing her. If you do actually touch the babies, rub your fingers in her soiled bedding/litter first. I have heard of using a spoon, but that seems rather awkward.

I hope I have helped and I hope that you come upon a solution that works out well for the mouse and for you.

Squeaks,

Natasha