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"Build a better mouse trap..."
Well you don't need to build a new mouse trap. The old standard works great with a slight modification and the proper use use bait.
Once you have your trap modified and baited properly, there are three things that are very important to catching mice: location, location, location.
Well you don't need to build a new mouse trap. The old standard works great with a slight modification and the proper use use bait.
Once you have your trap modified and baited properly, there are three things that are very important to catching mice: location, location, location.
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Signing UpStep 1The trap
There are many different types of traps you can purchase to catch mice. Some are kill traps and some are live traps. If you chose to use a live trap, ask yourself why? If it is to be nice to the mouse or you can't deal with a dead mouse keep this in mind.
If you release the mice back into your yard, they will come back in! They don't want to be out in the cold when they know your house is nice and warm and stocked with yummy food. There are also live traps that may keep the mouse alive but to what end!
There is that sticky paper type where the mouse sticks to the trap. I have not used them but I have seen the results of their use. The mouse will not like being stuck to this and they will get themselves free. I have seen what they leave behind, stuck to the paper. I won't go into that here.
As un-PC as this may sound, just kill the mice. Get a good old spring trap, bait it, set it, kill the mice. Normally, where it one, there are several.
There are some fancy kill traps that are easy to set, easy to clean, etc... But they do not work as well as the good old fashioned spring trap. If you want catching mice to be easy, hire an exterminator to come in and take care of the problem. If you want to catch mice, you will have to do a little work and get your hand dirty.
If you don't like getting your hands dirty, wear gloves!
If you release the mice back into your yard, they will come back in! They don't want to be out in the cold when they know your house is nice and warm and stocked with yummy food. There are also live traps that may keep the mouse alive but to what end!
There is that sticky paper type where the mouse sticks to the trap. I have not used them but I have seen the results of their use. The mouse will not like being stuck to this and they will get themselves free. I have seen what they leave behind, stuck to the paper. I won't go into that here.
As un-PC as this may sound, just kill the mice. Get a good old spring trap, bait it, set it, kill the mice. Normally, where it one, there are several.
There are some fancy kill traps that are easy to set, easy to clean, etc... But they do not work as well as the good old fashioned spring trap. If you want catching mice to be easy, hire an exterminator to come in and take care of the problem. If you want to catch mice, you will have to do a little work and get your hand dirty.
If you don't like getting your hands dirty, wear gloves!
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You are so right about the cheese thing so many people that came into the hardware store I worked thought cheese was the best bait, we always advised peanut butter.
Cheese on traps is a cartoon myth and is planted in our subconscious by Tom and Jerry cartoons.
I prefer the new plastic false teeth type traps as they are more sensitive to small mice, I have had several cases where a small fast mouse was quick enough to dodge the trap, the retaining bar flicking up give a fast mouse enough of a warning to flee. Ive even had tiny mice that where to small to trip the plastic traps and had to resort to glue traps as a last resort.
PS if you have a cat let it eat the dead mouse, it will give it a taste for mice and it will maybe do its job properly next time a mouse comes around.
AAAAA! My tongue!
Next morning I went to check it out: Bucket thrown away, empty trap, blood and a lot of fur stuck to the spring wire but no rat. Haven't seen the rat or its feces since then. Hair trigger and the claw is a terrific idea. If I were to use it, I am sure I'd have a rat head-trophy hanging by the chimney by now.
I thought about adding some upward spikes in the strike zone to basically impale the rodent, but then and accidental snap on my finger (it happens) would be costly. Great Idea, AT!!!
I break off a small piece of chocolate, then carve a small notch on opposing sides, then tie it to the trap with a shortened wire twisty. It works quite well, especially when your local pests have developed tood bait-snatching skills.
I've had pretty good luck with letting a slice of cheese dry until it's hard, then tying it on the trap, though lately, (it is indeed mouse season) I've been using chocolate and/or peanut butter. I had a mouse within half an hour of setting the trap. After I returned the "humane" trap, which barely got sniffed at for over a week.
Using this method, the mouse will try and take the food/nesting material and be killed 100% of the time.
On another note, a co-worker recently flattened a mouse in or break room using a dead fall trap and an old aluminum vacuum form tool. The tool was about 2 foot by 10 inches and 2.5 inches thick. He made a figure 4 trigger and used some peanut butter. Very effective, flat mouse. I let him clean it up.
We used to have mice at our cabin. We figured out they were coming in through the corner posts. Took them off, put in lots of chicken wire, put them back on and it seems to have solved our mouse problem. But then we got big black ants after that............
I am not sure how these two got in but after trapping them, we have not seen any more signs. I am hoping it was just two. I may have to take another look around to see if I can find any way they could have gotten in.
I never saw a mouse or a rat at home, and I have two sides neighbor of my land uninhabited and overgrown. My (she) cat is responsible to keep the mice away.