Building a better mouse trap

[TheJenners]

OK I’m normally a live and let live sort of person, I mean put cheerios* out for the brown rats that live in the clematis covering my front porch. But the mice. They gotta go, they are chewing holes in feed bags and peeing in the hay, they moved into my feed room when we moved a bunch of fence posts stacked outside the barn and took away their little home. Also, they have gotten into my garage, which I discovered yesterday because they ate a hole in a bag of chicken feed. This is way not good because my Dad’s classic car lives in my garage.

We have tried regular snap traps in the past in the feed room and not gotten a single one, when there is poop showing they are around the traps. We used, IIRC, peanut butter? Also, there were these videos on FB for neat “no kill” traps where you set up a tall bucket like a HD bucket, put a cola can on a coat hanger and smear pnut butter on the can, then set it up so when they reach to lick the pnut butter and put their wee paws on the can, it rolls and they fall in, to be dealt with later. Got one, and it must have informed the others. I know they weren’t jumping out because the can never moved and the pnut butter just sorta dried there into something only my gutter rat Aussie thought was delish.

Maybe it’s the bait? Who knew I had snobby mice? I mean of course I of all people would have snobby mice. What about that aerosol can cheese stuff? Easy Cheese? Thoughts??

*only once, and only to see if they would eat them on camera - they did not, but they do like apples and bird seed.

[LilRanger]

I’ve used those bucket water traps, mine have been pretty successful. If there’s no food, they will go to them. I used nutzo and pb, both worked, but sunbutter from sunflower seeds, worked best. Suet and meat grease were popular too.
Make sure the ramps to the traps are along the wall, that’s where mice like to go.

Ok, totally by accident I killed a few when I left lye water from soap making out. (I make soap out in the shed that has our well.) That must have been a horrible death, but it did the job.

[TheJenners]

Eeep

I definitely should have said, anything toxic is definitely out. I have the aforementioned gutter rat so I can’t have poison or poisoned bodies around, plus wildlife here is aplenty. The only thing I really hold any real animosity toward is the one coyote that keeps coming around, and that is only because of the doggo because otherwise it will keep the rodent and rabbit population down - but my doggo has the dumbs and has chased a coyote juvenile a mile away once before.

Back to rodents, I never thought about filling them with the water

[LilRanger]

Yes they can jump about 18 inches high, so water keeps that from happening. Also they fight and kill each other if two are in the trap. I put in enough water that they drown pretty quick.

[Bluey]

Are you sure you used the bucket method correctly?
Everyone uses that here and there are zero failures noted.

The plastic buckets used are rather large, the sticks are long.
The water level in the bucket is very low, a few inches suffices.
We use the cheapest peanut butter you can buy.
We clear mice and rat invasions by the bucket full, gross, has yet to fail.

There may be a new strain of super smart rodents in your area, beware!

[LilRanger]

Super smart rodent!? Do tell!

[Bluey]

@LilRanger

Super smart rodent!? Do tell!

Not here, they march up those sticks like little soldiers, not a care in the world.

Sorry for the confusion, it was a few typos, now corrected for context.

[TheJenners]

No I just think it’s the bait and I was insisting on a ramp and my Dad wasn’t. We did have it standing up against a bale of hay though. We will try again.

[Leather]

Definitely need a ramp for the bucket trap. We typically use some scrap lumber/trim. We don’t even bother with the whole wire across the top with a spinny thing - literally just smear some PB on the inside wall of the bucket just out of reach and they jump/fall in.

We don’t have to put water in them anymore because our barn cats usually take care of any mice that fall in - the cats think it’s a great mouse dispenser!

If the PB isn’t working you can also try some attractant gel - this is what we use in our snap traps and “rat zappers” as it’s not quite as messy.

https://www.tomcatbrand.com/en-us/products/mice/tomcat-attractant-gel

[SuzieQNutter]

You dont have the trap so they reach and lick the bait. You have the trap so they have to go onto the can and the can spins and drops them.

As someone else said you put water in that is not deep enough to drown a cat. They drown.

Without the water they will fight and eat each other and what are you going to do with live ones? Let them go and they will work their way back or worse they will go to someone else and they will not thank you for that.

Ooh just read about smearing the inside of the top of the barrel. That sounds so much easier and effective.

[Simkie]

Bucket traps never worked for me because the rodents here aren’t hungry–they have plenty of food not under my control, and they’re in my barn for housing instead.

Any food based trap needs to be the ONLY source of food if your rodents are at all challenging. If you still have other stuff that they can eat, there’s no incentive to try the scary new thing. Remove everything else, pre bait your traps (bait without setting), wait until they are no longer afraid of the traps (bait is disappearing), and then set everything. You should have a lot of traps out, plan on catching everyone.

[anon81364900]

What you really want is deterrent. Killing mice just makes room for more to move in, so setting traps is a sisyphean task. It’s not as if you’re ever going to run out of mice to kill. Patrolling barn cats are your best option because while they kill a lot of mice, they also scare them away.

For the car, deprive mice of the dark nesting areas that they’re attracted to by leaving an LED trouble-light on a timer, clipped to the underside of the car. And use scent repellents.

[TheJenners]

Barn cats are not an option, that’s why I’m asking about traps. Or borrow someone’s terrier…

[Bluey]

Here are different kinds of bucket traps:

https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=bucket+mouse+trap&client=safari&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj0sP6V5bTvAhUQHc0KHdTaDJgQjJkEegQIIRAB&biw=1418&bih=721

A few years ago we had an invasion of rats and mice when it rained way more than normal and flooded them out of holes wholesale.

We put one bucket on each side of the 80’ long hay barn and first few nights were catching over two dozen daily, mice and rats, right out of a terror movie.
Then it tapered off to just a few a night.
It works if set up right.

I have right now a big owl staying in there, why poison is not a good idea for us.

[SuzieQNutter]

We are unable to buy wax poison at the moment because 2 months ago I heard on the radio that a mouse swarm is heading our way from NSW. Hearing the news I ordered an 8 kg bucket immediately and picked it up last week. I was told to order it now will be May before getting it.

The worst one I have seen was on TV. A river of mice moving past 2 x 44 gallon drums with a cat lying on both drums contently watching them go past.

A mouse swarm like that eats everything and water traps can catch hundred per night.

[Garythesquirrel]

All of the feed needs to be stored in metal cans or something rodent proof. As long as there is an endless supply of food for them they have no reason to go near a trap.

I really love the plastic snap traps, they’re so much easier than the traditional wood traps.

[Training_Cupid]

Regarding snap traps - unfortunately I’ve had birds get into both the wood and plastic ones and felt so horrible about it.

[TheJenners]

Opened bags are but how on earth can I store extra bags that way?

[Simkie]

@TheJenners

Opened bags are but how on earth can I store extra bags that way?

Until the rodent problem is under control, you’re going to want to keep extra grain out of the barn, or in rodent proof storage.

[lenapesadie]

Old chest freezers work well for storing unopened grain bags