Simple 'No-Kill' Mouse Trap

Catch those furry critters with this simple mousetrap.

Step 1 The tube...

Take a toilet paper tube and tape a weight (ie: 2 quarters) to one side. Partially flatten the other side so it does not easily roll (see picture).

Comments

[Anianna]

I think this instructable is intelligent and simple in design. I admire the interest in catch and release, but there are some things you should know about rodents and the risks to you and your family before you choose how to deal with them in your home.

Many of the diseases rodents carry do not require direct contact with the animal for you to contract the disease. Hantavirus, for example, can be inhaled from airborne particles containing rodent urine. A rodent is likely to urinate and defecate in that container, increasing your risk with each evacuation.

Poisons increase your risk of exposure, also. The animal lingers and often finds a place to hide as it dies from poison. It has time to urinate and defecate prior to death and is likely to die in a place you can’t reach well, exposing you to anything released by its body as it decomposes and exposing you to any fleas the rodent carried which can expose you to illnesses like pneumonic plague, which people do still fall ill from even in modern times. There is also the risk of damage to the ecosystem and pets by a poisoned rodent.

Some other things you should be aware of include that some rodents can jump quite high and can potentially escape from a container that is not deep enough, making your efforts futile. In addition, there is some debate as to whether a rodent will return if you release it. They know where there is a warm, dry, comfortable place to live. It seems logical they would at least try, but that is far from definitive.

Snap traps are designed to kill quickly without suffering. However, you still have to handle the rodent to dispose of it and the traps do not always function as intended. There are also traps with a replaceable band that is designed to quickly crush the rodent’s neck, but these also require you to handle rodents that manage to fall out of the trap before succumbing and you have to handle the used trap to reset it.

My preference is a shock trap. It is designed to kill the rodent instantly inside the trap. Simply tip it to dump it. This humanely reduces rodent overpopulation created by the unnatural comfort of your home where they are able to avoid predators, and, therefore, their fate at nature’s hands. This seems more humane to me than dropping these guys off in an unfamiliar location where they are suddenly vulnerable to predation, which can result in a slower, more violent death (though I’m sure the predator will be grateful for the easy snack).

Please visit the CDC website to learn more about diseases you can contract from rodents and how you can better protect yourself from them.

http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/index.html

[djenkins10]

I'm an animal lover, in fact. I've owned pet rats most of my life. HOWEVER, the "catch and release" idea is just BAD. Unless of course you're going to take the mouse you catch to be tested for disease, which I doubt any of you animal lovers would do. Mice can carry diseases in their feces which can be deadly to humans. By relocating the animal, you are actually not only relocating that animal but potentially relocating the disease as well. I hate that mice, rats, etc are hurt, however, if it comes down to a mouse or any other animal harming myself or my puppies, I'd take the animal out in a second.

If this was a human with AIDS and it was sleeping around with people knowing he/she had AIDS, I'm pretty sure you'd want it stopped. Well, these animals have the potential to create A LOT of harm. As a society we need to think with our brains a bit more and a little less with our hearts. I can say that with no malice, as I'm also the person who took in 7 stray dogs to the detriment of myself and my sick father because the animal shelter said they would put them down otherwise, due to a lack of space. At some point we have to take care of the human race otherwise we'll all be gone and have a world full of mice, etc. *shrugs*

[gueras]

"If this was a human with AIDS and it was sleeping around with people knowing he/she had AIDS, I'm pretty sure you'd want it stopped." So are you implying that we should kill people with AIDS?

We're doing such a great job of *not* "[taking] care of the human race" that we now have 7 billion people on this planet (~7x the world population in the 1920s). The human race is in no danger of being exterminated by mice. I appreciate your point but there's no reason to be an alarmist about it. It's not the human race vs. everyone else.

[skater7832]

I just use the old rat poison cuz i have no pets or children that will get down there. so they can die quick n easy!

[bears0]

i put paint stripper on a piece of bread. :-| Mauhahahaha

[thumpergirl]

I dont know why I am astounded at the level of cruelty and selfishness society has in general. Instead of trapping a mouse in a safe and loving way,most people want to kill or torture it with those glue traps.It really doesnt take much and they need a place to live too.We have taken every conceivable space and encroached on all animals territory.Its just not right.Take a few muinutes,buy or make a live,safe trap and release the little guys into a field or forest.Somewhere where they can live. We should not place ourselves so much higher than any animal...because we do things that are so horrible to one another for fame,money,things and ego..animals only do to survive. Thats my two cents..thanks for the helpful traps..

[dblackwell]

I agree 100%, and don't think for a minute that rat poison is a fast, die quick and easy thing. Rat poison causes internal bleeding that results in a slow agonizing 6 to 8 hour death and probably the most inhumane way to kill anything. Live traps and relocation is the only way to go.

[hippyland2]

ok i dont agree with the animal rights protester bellow you (thats puting it very, very, very, very, very kindly) one rats a vermin a pest that don't as fr as i know help at all the world. maybe im thinging of rats. and yes owls and other birds eat them. but back on track. oh a animal that is disease ridden dies of thirst. yea the bird eating poisoned mice will make that happen but one poisened mouse isn't gonna do all that. all of those reasons don't mean squat to me.

[dblackwell]

Rats are different than mice and can be a different story entirely. Some rats need snap trapping and some need to be live trapped and let go. The shy ones should be live trapped and let go by a river or field and the aggressive ones snap trapped. I have only had one rat that I had to snap trap. Poison is never an option.

[beehard44]

well, to stop bait shyness, this can be used as a tool. just put your poison in the bucket then when the rat goes in, they eat the bait with poison and guess what happens....

[beehard44]

lol, they die without the other rats knowing!

[torned00]

they mutate and become a dancing banana

[pocholox8]

lolo mo dancing banana haha lorenzo yea boiii

[hippyland2]

they teleport out and breed with magical unicorns riding on rainbows?

[hippyland2]

however i do care that rats/mice/insects and other animal can quickly adapt to poison and we have to use stronger poisons and eventualy nothing will stop them. my advice kill them maualy or kepp them untill they die in a container sure i think it's inhumane but like the guy blow me said set it free

[beehard44]

they remember your bait....

[hippyland2]

sorry to annyone i offended . please disregard any message that you thought to be ofeesive im sorry if you were offended

[clairebo6]

 you know your name doesn't really suit you. hippies loved earth and everything that lived on it. no offence but your a hypocrite. i hope to god that a poor mouse doesn't venture into your house because it will be tortured to death by being starved or poisoned. it is just as easy to catch a mouse in a bucket and set it free whenever it is convenient for you, rather than wait days for it to slowly starve. have a heart.

[hippyland2]

its only a name. like if your user name was shorty582 you don't have to be short

[beehard44]

pwned XD

[whiteoakart]

Rat poison is a bad idea. And here is why: The poison causes the rats to die of thirst. Some of the poisoned mice will die indoors. Others, as they start to suffer, often go outside looking for water. Do you know what predators do? They look for the weakest animals to catch and eat. A hawk, owl, or other predator swoops down and eats your mouse. You have now given a small dose of poison to a beautiful animal. Now, these poisons do not disappear from the bird, they accumulate. Even if the toxin levels of one mouse are not high enough to kill the bird, it can kill their offspring, whether through the egg production process, or in the event the bird feeds its young with the toxic mouse. But, it doesn't stop at one mouse. A hawk needs to eat a lot of mice. There is a term for this, Biological Magnification. As you go higher up the food chain, the toxin is concentrated in the tissues. I suggest you take the time to use non-toxic pest management solutions. The paper tube method here is excellent, easy, and cheap. You could also keep a pet mouse for a couple of days before releasing it. A field mouse is way cuter than those homely white mice you get at the pet store. At our house, we catch shrews, voles, and 3 species of mice.

[kristinakristina]

This is so great to know!!!

I am a huge animal lover and I always love learning more about how we can be nicer to everyone and everything. I would never want an birds especially to be harmed.

LOVE THE TRAP IDEA TOO!

[dragonreaper]

Sure they may look cute, but i don't think you'd want to catch wild mice as pets >_> They could be contaminated with diseases that show no symptoms in mice, but could prove fatal for humans. Aside from the fact that they can be ridden with disease, taming them is also another problem. If they're born in the wild, they should stay in the wild. The sudden change of environment could kill the mouse, or we do not have the means of raising these mice. It's better just to release them farther away from your home, or to just kill it if its causing a problem.

[whiteoakart]

@ dragonreaper: understood.  We don't actually keep them as pets, per se, although we have kept them around for a day or so.  Never had one die on us and we certainly don't handle them.  But we do take them a loooonngg way form home before releasing them. Usually under the porch of one of our annoying neighbors.

[dragonreaper]

;) Good idea rofl. Just dont let them see you :P Or you could be in for quite the surprise XD

[Silence]

Actually it causes internal bleeding. The unsanitary and inhumane part is it will take them a while to die and then you have a dead mouse where you cant find it.

Have you ever tried to keep a wild mouse as a pet ? they are houdinis at the worst of times and can jump like they were fitted with springs, ordinary hampster cages will not do. The only thing that would hold the mouse i had was an 85 gallon fish tank covered with a window screen. And i got rid of it after a few days cause it stunk something fierce.

[simfire687]

or you can slap mother nature across the face and put rat poison in peoples bird feeders. hawks and owls wont be complaining for long

[mr.break_it]

or "Bioamplification"

[chuckr44]

Whiteoakart, I think they phased out that particular poison. They now use a blood thinner which will not hurt larger animals like predators.

[beehard44]

it's murderous to rats in .01g doses ut good idea to go to the hospital for some gastric lavage....

[countable]

Plus it's not as dangerous if consumed by humans (treatment for ingestion of anticoagulant is high doses of vitamin K, however i would recommend in the first instance to go to hospital).

[kre84fun]

Glad to see so many people like this trap! Although raisins worked in my situation, I guess mice also find peanut butter irresistible so I added a note. Happy catching...

[kristinakristina]

THIS IS AWESOME! This makes me extremely happy to know for future use.

I'm going to share it with friends. A great way to teach kindness to children as well.

Best,
Kristina

[trista29]

This works great! Our house was unoccupied for a while and the little guys took over. We've caught 10 mice so far doing it this way. One night we got 4 of them, but we only set the trap 3 times. The fourth mouse must have just hurled himself into the trash can to be with his friends. Use peanut butter, though. Raisins didn't work for us.

[OneEarWillie]

Thank you for this Instuctable. Thanks to your idea I am a hero. I used a method very similar to yours to capture our family's escaped pet hamster. She escaped this weekend when my son left her cage door open. This morning I placed one of these traps near her cage with some of her favorite treats as bait. It worked like a charm. I found her waiting for me just a few moments ago. Her adventure is over and my family is relieved that she's safe and unharmed.

[torned00]

whats the best food that attracts mice?

[in06khattab]

 Peanut Butter

[beehard44]

and chocolate

[bLiTzJoN]

OMG! I was just going to type an Instructable on this very method and thought I would do a search just to see if someone else thought of the idea. It works great! I found a paper towel roll to be a lil more effective and wedged it between two tin cans [of veggies] to keep it from rolling either direction. I used some rodent attract gel with a cracker on the end. After catching it, I took it for a ride out in the country to drop him off [to give him a chance]. I personally could careless, but my kids convinced me to be merciful to the lil guy. Too many mouse movies/cartoons I guess. He was just infant and wouldn't set off any conventional mousetraps and I didn't want to use poison for fear our cat, kids or dogs would find it.

[mhall72]

This is an awesome idea. Even better when you look at what some of the traps are doing to mice today… :( -- > http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=14807