Can mice find their way back to your home from 1+ miles away?

Question

I've read on many pest control websites that if you catch a mouse in your home that they must be taken 1+ miles away, otherwise they will easily make their way back to their old home (ie. your house).

I live in a suburban street in an urban part of London. How could a mouse realistically find its way back to my house if I dumped it in the local park, 0.2 miles away?

Sources:

• http://www.mousetraps.org.uk/mouse-traps/Single-Catch-Live-Mouse-Trap _{(dead link)}

  The unharmed mouse should then be taken 2 miles away from the house and released.

• http://pestkill.org/mice/home/

  Mind that you should reveal mice at least 1 mile from your house because they can come back to the house easily.

• http://conversation.which.co.uk/energy-home/humane-pest-control-for-mice-infestations-at-home/

  Humane, live-catch traps are something of a pain (mice have a homing instinct, so you have to release them miles away).

Answer 1

In the "Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal" issued by the CDC, there is a report of a trial that involved one pinyon mouse (P. truei) and 19 deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus).

The trial apparently demonstrated that when removed from the location of the infestation and dislocated at to different distances ranging between 50m and 1200m (0.03 miles to 0.75 miles), adult deer mice made their way back almost every time.

Other age groups of deer mice took a longer time to return (up to two weeks) but many of them were found near the original location within 24 hours of release[[2]].

Quotes:

Some rodents have been documented to move similar distances (e.g., 1,200 m), but they took more than 2 weeks to complete the trek [3].

Homing ability, site fidelity, and navigational proficiency of rodents are well documented [4,5]

References:

• 2 Ostfeld RS, Manson RH. Long-distance homing in meadow voles, (Microtus pennsylvanicus). J Mammal. 1996;77:870–3.
• 3 Teferi T, Millar JS. Long distance homing by the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus. Can Field Nat. 1993;107:109–11
• 4 Robinson WL, Falls JB. A study of homing of meadow mice. Am Midl Nat. 1965;73:188–224.

All credits to the editors of EID Journal.