A (much) Better Mouse Trap

Have you ever had a mouse problem, but wanted to get rid of it in a humane way? Well now you can do it in style!
My goal here was to make a mouse trap that was effective, humaine, GREEN, and less than $0.50, ( the price of the traditional wood mouse trap).
Well this baby does all of the above, and is a cool conversation piece!

SO now that your all hyped up about making a better mouse trap, Ill get right into it.

Materials:

Assorted rubberbands (3 wide, medium length, 2 small bands, and 1 long thin band)

a two liter soda bottle

a 1/4" dia dowel rod, ( no more than a foot long needed)

3 cd's ( use some old cd's or games you dont like, they will be ruined here)

electrical tape

super glue

a large paper clip

Tools:

A dremel tool is all you need, with a small sander and a drill bit.

OR
a drill with a 5/16" bit AND a rat-tail file

razor blade or scissors

diagnol cutters, (something to cut dowel rod)

needle nose pliers

Step 1 1. CD preparation

Now keep in mind when chosing your CD's, they will be ruined here. (But you know its worth it!)
I used 3 old CD's i burned bad music on to a long time ago.

First you use the electrical tape to cover the hole on one CD. Tape on both sides and make it strong!

Now, because the tape makes the surface uneven, use more tape around the CD face on both sides to make it as level as you can.

Use the superglue (or whatever kind you have) to glue the other two CDs to the first one. Put one CD on each side so that you cannot see the tape.

let the glue dry

Now use your dremel sander or just a rattail file and put groves/slots into the side of the CD. This is to keep the rubberbands from moving around. Put a total of 4 grooves into the CD stack at 90 degree intervals, (4 grooves evenly spaced around the CDs)

Comments

[beehard44]

i burn my caught mice with a little help from alcohol...

[disitinerant]

You mean you have to be drunk?

[Plo Koon]

The wooden mouse trap IS humane. It insures a quick and almost painless death (as long as the mouse dies instantly).

[machu]

This works if you have mice on an elevated surface like a counter, costs you nothing, and is humane. 1) Cover one end of a toilet paper tube with tape. 2) Place bait in tube on the side with the tape. 3) Balance the tube on the edge of a counter. 4) Place tall box or trashcan below tube on ground 5) Catch mice!

[sarawelder]

this I have to try! I accidentally caught some irritating chipmunk this way when a few seeds fell onto a piece of wood over a bucket of water. Thanks

[MechEngineerMike]

yea i saw this as an instructable already. It made me laugh because it is so effective and sinple. I dont really however want to encourage mice to get on top of my countertop.

[machu]

haha yeah you definitely don't want to entice mice on to your counters. I myself had mice on my counters and this method worked wonderfully. I didn't realize someone had done an instructable on it I'll have to check it out

[MechEngineerMike]

yea i particularly like the Tipping acivated traps. I designed mine specifically for the Klutz rubberband contest. I have yet to put it into my shed to field test it, but i have no doubt it works fine. Only problem with designs like this, its not easy to mass produce, i would cry if someone said, "cool, ill buy 10"

[beehard44]

no, make that a thousand......

[Danielro10]

Naaa! I prefer shooting them with a mini cannon. POP! and its over. (the cannon uses paper to kill the mice.) sorry its just after wasting time transporting mice far away from the house you really dont care if they die. too many to be nice to

[beehard44]

what about a 1 inch O.D. PVC pipe as the barrel of a marshmallow musket (the pressurized kind) then shooting it away? i know it sounds horrible but after a few infestations you know they're irritating
It's just at first when you think of the poor rat but after a while your thinking changes to rambo mode

[MechEngineerMike]

mini cannon ehh? That would be one heck of a shot! id like to hear more about that. If you like that sort of stuff you should check out my instructable on "the evolution of the spitball cannon"

[georion]

i dont get how this is so inexpensive---you get everything -materials and tools from a dumpster????

[MechEngineerMike]

the idea is that you CAN find everything, with relative ease, from the garbage.

[beehard44]

... INCLUDING the rat....

[masonrulz]

could you please give a format that can be used by pces for the vid?

[misterwelder]

Very cool little trap and I like the fact that it's so inexpensive.

[Arbitror]

Good Job! *****

[explosivemaker]

they do make some really neat mousetraps that don't hurt them ....we have had success with these ones...look for them at local hardware place/etc.....

http://www.amazon.com/Mice-Cube-Humane-Mouse-Trap/dp/B000WB11ZK/ref=pd_bbs_10?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1238302805&sr=8-10

[lemonie]

Caught anything yet? L