Best kind of mouse trap?

cooljammer00 · February 2013

So there is a mouse or most likely mice in my apartment. I don't know where they are coming from or where they are hiding (probably somewhere near the oven). I've been living here since August and only just now have they decided to pop out and just chill.

I'm going to Safeway later today to see if they sell mouse traps. These mice need to die, so what should I get? The glue ones or the snappy metal ones from the cartoons? The glue probably means I don't have to deal with squished mouse guts. Have they invented anything new or changed something about mouse trap technology in recent years? What's the best bait? Peanut butter? Cheese?

sys64738 · February 2013

Basic, cheap-ass snap traps. Yeah, may have to deal with a squashed mouse, but a glue board means you have to deal with a live mouse (ie, kill it yourself). Get more than one trap - I'd go with 6 or so. They are cheap. Odds are high that the nest is close (20' or so) to wherever you've been seeing them (or their droppings) so trap the crap out of that area.

Can bait with food if you want, but you can also use stuff like cotton balls as mice like that sort of thing to make nests out of.

PS Odds are decent that more will come along eventually so it would be prudent to find out how they got in and seal that off. Exclusion is the key for rodent control.

PPS Just noticed - apartment. That 20' I mentioned? Could be up or down as well so the nest may be in another unit. No big, just trap the crap out of the kitchen (or wherever). Clean the place up as best you can to make any food bait more attractive.

Enc · February 2013

The only thing better than throwing down a dozen basic board-and-spring traps is:

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRBkAJl84Fz2um-njbBXvv7dMLzHGDPbENg0tGQT6rh0sDsQbVDMQ

knitdan · February 2013

The classic snappy traps don't even have to be baited, I've had good results just putting them against the wall, trigger side in, because mice like to scurry along the edges of rooms if they can.

They do make snap traps that are easier for humans to use, they are plastic and you can dispose of remains without touching them. Hard to describe, but they are fairly common.

Don't use glue traps unless you want a mess and a bother.

Phoenix Wright · February 2013

Having lived in the country for 18 years, and with my house as the only refuge for critters in a 1 mile radius, I think I can qualify myself as an expert on the subject.

Yes, the plain metal snap traps are the best. Style doesn't matter too much, as long as it's a metal wire held by another small wire, and powered by a spring. They tend to snap mousy neck with a very high success rate, but there is the occasion of it merely trapping them, and leaving them alive, so if you hear the trap spring, leave it for a half hour or so, to let it finish the job of suffocating them, as I assume you don't want to empty the trap, just to have one of them go Lazarus on you after tossing it. Mice are very durable, considering their size. That is the biggest problem with the plastic ones mentioned above. The ones I've tried didn't kill the critter, leaving me to finish the job, or were easily circumvented, with the bait gone and the trap unsprung.

As for bait, peanut butter is the best, if you're going to use anything, and always lay it against the wall, snap side towards the wall. Mice always run against the edge of where two things meet, as long as they have a choice to do so. Geniuses of the animal world they aren't.

Bendit · February 2013

You can also google "bucket of water mouse trap". Free to try. Friend of mine caught DOZENS with this simple, homemade device!

Not very compact though. Perhaps better for garages?

mts · February 2013

They do sell bug zapper style ones but they are expensive. As stated peanut butter baited snap traps work best, you really don't need much, just a smear on the trigger.

Nosf · February 2013

Ages ago I worked in lumber yard and we sold mouse traps that oddly enough, looked like a set of white plastic teeth - they had a little thing of bait inside them and they worked great. Never had a problem with maiming the poor little bastards, always a clean kill. They were super easy to use too. I've used the bucket of water method, but it kind of sucks because the poor little critters drown which i'm told is a horrible way to go. I don't bear them any real malice, but pooping around my house and eating my crackers ain't happening.

EWom · February 2013

We moved into a new place a couple years ago that had some mice living in it. We found that there were two things that worked best.
1) A vicious cat - but the clean up was gross
2) Original style snap traps (wood base - metal snaps.. the plastic ones are shit)

Poisoned bait, kills them, but after that its a "Smell and Seek Adventure" to find where in the hell that god awful stench (dead mouse) is coming from. I do not suggest this.

The glue traps are also effective, but then you need to kill the mice after they are caught. I'm sure there is a way to get the mice out of the glue alive, but, that stuff is pretty intense. I caught one mouse in a glue trap, couldn't figure out what to do with it, so crushed it with a big ass rock, and decided that was enough of that.

But between the cat, and snap traps, we took care of the problem. The cat was far superior to the traps, it just happened to leave mouse guts all over the house. But I'd rather clean up mouse guts, than pick mouse shit out of my cereal.

mts · February 2013

the ones where you can easliy set and discard are worth it. while i work with mice everyday, i wouldnt want to handle wild mice , they carry some nasty shit

Pel · March 2013

If you haven't dealt with it already, my country experience tells me that the snap traps that have a big yellow plastic triggerboard that's shaped like cheese can be set to have a much more sensitive trigger than the ones with the metal clip for a trigger. If you have a mouse or mice that are craftier than normal, that could be important.

mts · March 2013

I have had the same experience with crafty ghetto mice. Fake cheese triggers will go off way easier

Siska · March 2013

Smear peanut butter on the underside of the trigger on the snap trap. And spread it nice and thin. No easy to snatch big blobs. You want the mouse to have to go in there and really chomp down in order to get to the smelly treat.

Nocren · March 2013

I've always been rather fond of this one, though admittedly it's a little difficult to get set up and work properly.

Akilae · March 2013

The ol wooden board spring loaded snap kill is the best. Better to deal with dead mice than live, squealing mice. If you're squeamish, also buy a pair of long tongs, gloves, bleach, and heavy duty trash bags.
Best bait I've found is peanut butter.

mts · March 2013

its not squeamish if you dont get the hanta virus

Casually Hardcore · March 2013

Honestly, the best way I dealt with mice in the apartment is by not leaving anything for mice to eat. When I'm done eating, I clean all my dirty pots and pans and put my dirty dishes in the dishwasher. I keep dry foods in high cabinets, and don't store food in the floor cabinets, and I generally just became OCD on cleaning.

Outside of that, you can try peppermint oil and cottonballs, ultrasonic sound deterrents, and the good ol' board and spring traps.

Mr Ray · March 2013

It sounds like you're dead-set on having dead mice, but if you suddenly develop a conscience and/or soul (you monster) your basic humane mouse trap looks like this:

I've used one with some success myself (there were two of them and the second mouse was much smarter and eventually had to be dealt with "manually" via quick reflexes and a shoebox). Food goes at the end, mouse goes in, weight sets off the trap sealing the mouse inside. You can then set him free to go on his mousey way far far away from your house. You can then just rinse the food and mouse poop out and use it again; beats the hell out of cleaning mouse guts off a non-humane trap.

Myiagros · March 2013

I picked up these: http://www.amazon.com/Tomcat-33545-Spin-Trap-Mice/dp/B001H1LSKM

Since we have cats which prefer to play with the mice I got those traps since they would probably get their feet caught in the snap ones. I loaded the bottom with PB and set them in the corner where the hole was. Checked them yesterday morning and one was loaded. Emptying it is done just by resetting the trap, you will feel and hear some crunches as the mouse is ground back around to the hole but there is no mess and it's easy to take care of.

cooljammer00 · March 2013

Ugh.

knitdan · March 2013

cooljammer00 wrote: »

Ugh.

Was any of this helpful? Or have you tried any yet?

Xaquin · March 2013

Siska wrote: »

Smear peanut butter on the underside of the trigger on the snap trap. And spread it nice and thin. No easy to snatch big blobs. You want the mouse to have to go in there and really chomp down in order to get to the smelly treat.

this person knows how to get rid of a mouse.

cooljammer00 · March 2013

Oh yeah, I went to my local Safeway and got whatever they had. A lot of that Tomcat brand. I got a few of the disposable bait traps that are these little plastic boxes with green bait on the side. I also got two of those metal clampy snap traps that you bait with peanut butter.

Oddly enough, no dead mice. And I haven't seen the mice around since I put them out. And they were really ballsy when they were here: running around the living room, jumping over plugs and sniffing stuff. I like to think maybe they went back to wherever they were before and a neighbor called the exterminator.

edit: @myiagros, those spin traps are "supposed" to be thrown out. You're not supposed to grind the mouse guts and reuse the traps.

mts · March 2013

well those bait traps are meant to bring back to their nests, so give it a day or so to see if things smell

Myiagros · March 2013

I saw that they were to be tossed only from the amazon review. It emptied and reset just fine so I'm going to use it again, otherwise it's a waste of $5 for only 2 mice caught.

cooljammer00 · March 2013

mts wrote: »

well those bait traps are meant to bring back to their nests, so give it a day or so to see if things smell

Hmm, then they really shouldn't have the bait be so hard to get to. I thought the plastic box was a trap of some sort.

cooljammer00 · March 2013

Well shit, was just sweeping the floor, went to check the snap traps and the bait's all gone.

mts · March 2013

the bait ont he trap or the posion bait?

cooljammer00 · March 2013

The bait I put on the snap traps. It was peanut butter. I need to take a better look but either it was eaten or it dried up and rolled into the hinge part.

Elin · March 2013

I just want to say, be very careful if you do come across any live mice that are trapped. Common house mice can be carrying the hanta virus, and that shit ain't nothin' to fuck with. I'd wear leather work gloves when throwing out filled traps just to be on the safe side.

http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/

Akilae · March 2013

Sounds like you need extra sensitive snap traps.

Just don't end up like MouseHunt...

cooljammer00 · March 2013

I'm going to try the thing suggested earlier of smearing the peanut butter rather than putting a dollop onto the center of the trigger.

cooljammer00 · March 2013

Yeah, just checked both traps. They're spotless, so I figure the dollop was the opposite of what I should have done. This time, I spread a thin layer of the PB on the trap triggers so they'd have to really go for it.

Thing is, I haven't seen the mice for days. Was I just assuaging them by leaving tasty PB treats for them to eat?

Edit: I don't have cats anymore, and we do have a bit of a roach problem. Do roach like PB? It's gotta be the mice, right? Eating the potentially dried up PB dollops?

Jam Warrior · March 2013

The answer to 'will a roach eat it?' is yes. Always yes.

And the first page of google result is people suggesting peanut butter as a roach bait.

mts · March 2013

yea you dont wnat a dollop, you really only need the lightest of smears o get the scent on it.

TheKoolEagle · March 2013

yeah you want to smear the pb on the trigger, so they have to go for it, if its dolloped on it, there is a chance they can get it without setting off the trap. As for roaches you might want to throw a few roach motels down as well.

I watched that bucket of water video and man, that looked awful. I mean I know they are pests, but I wouldn't wish drowning on anyone or anything

I like to think the classic mouse trap does a quick job of it, unless you catch a leg or something that is not their neck, then that can get messy and wrong

zagdrob · March 2013

I've always been a fan of the standard wood and wire snap trap. Put some PB on the trigger (just a bit so they spend time licking it off) and wait. Sometimes you'll catch one within a few minutes of setting the trap. Those traps are dirt cheap, so just bag it up like a pile of dog crap and throw it in the garbage. I've had less luck with the all-plastic kind...when we've used that kind it's been less clean...the traditional kind works well.

They make the new ones with a plastic trigger that is supposedly scented / flavored. I still put PB on it, but if you are setting the traps up right you'll usually get one without even baiting it.

Glue is effective but pretty cruel. Plus it's a bitch if you get it stuck on you.

Poison supposedly works by raising their body temperature so they will go outside to cool down and die there, but more often than not it's just a good way to go hunting through your house playing 'find the stink'. I always worried about something eating the carcass too...it PROBABLY wouldn't matter, but just never felt good about poison.

LadyM · March 2013

Don't use poison. First, it's a horrible, drawn-out way to die. Second, you may cause the death of something that eats the mouse while it's staggering around with poison it its system.

Several red-tailed hawks in NYC have died due to eating poisoned rats. Or what if the mouse goes outside and a neighbor's cat or dog snaps it up?

Third, you may end up with rotting mouse corpses in hard to find places in your house.

I'd go with the basic snap trap.

The Ender · March 2013

Do you know what was attracting the mice? Unless they just migrated to your place from a nearby apartment or something, you'll probably continue to have mouse (or other pest) problems if the source isn't dealt with.

The most effective automatic mouse traps I've known (can be lethal or non-lethal, your choice) are either a bucket or vase with food at the bottom, set near a low shelf, chair, sofa, etc. Mouse jumps in, eats the food, cannot get out. Deal with the mouse/mice as you like afterward (unlike a simple plank/spring trap, the mouse can't take the bait with springing the trap, and people can't accidentally break fingers or toes by setting it off).

The drawback is space taken-up.

If you want a really effective trap though, in my opinion, it has to be one you trigger yourself.

asdfgh · April 2016

okay, this may help:

I have the wood and metal spring traps (Victor) with both the plastic trigger plate (looks like cartoon cheese) and metal trigger plates (older traps).

Both types were robbed blind of peanut butter a few times, especially the metal trigger plate kind. (yes, I did the dollop of PB)

SO..... I learned from all of the above posts to use only a bit of PB - spread very thin. (THANKS!)

Also put in a single peanut bit (using crunchy PB) right at the point where the trigger plate meets the retaining arm. No sneaking anything good off the end! Mousey will have to get right into the guts to get the bonus prize...

And I looped some yarn through the holes in the trigger plate and tied it on (and put some PB on that as well). Nesting mouse trying to take the yarn would have to tug, bringing some inevitable consequences...

Result: one dead mouse in less than 12 hours. :biggrin:

I love the sound of traps springing in the evening... Sounds like...victory!!!

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