Let young wild mouse go?

Question
At work, we recently discovered that we have a mouse problem. Employees keep seeing the critters running around everywhere.

The other day, I had my own adventure. I went to my office, turned on the light, and was about to sit down, when I happened to look at my chair. On it was a baby mouse!

We looked at each other for a few seconds, and then I grabbed a towel and caught him pretty easily, so I figured he was half dead. I took him outside, but it's cold and he was so sad and shivery that I had my boyfriend get him and put him in a tank at home to die somewhere warm.

When I got home, though, the mouse was perky and hiding seeds in the glove that I provided as a house.

Meanwhile, an exterminator began a killing spree at work.

So what do I do with this baby mouse? It's too cold to let him outside, and I obviously can't release him anywhere inside. Is it safe to keep him for a couple weeks until it gets warm out? He seems happy enough--he's running on my old pet mouse's wheel right now...

Answer
Hi,

This little mouse is very lucky it was YOU who found him!  No matter what, you have given him a far better chance at life than he would have had, and so whatever you end up needing to do with him, don't feel guilty if it doesn't seem like enough.  It's a tough situation.  

Purely looking at what is best for the mouse, at least keeping him for a few weeks or months until it is warm enough to let him go outdoors (and he is older), would help him out a lot.  

At that point, you may actually be tempted to keep him, and although some see this as a moral issue and think you should never keep a wild mouse, I feel that if you get a mouse as a baby and it seems happy, it's ok to keep it as a pet.

I hope I have helped out.

squeaks & giggles,

Natasha