# Best mouse kill trap or method?



## SkyHook (Jan 23, 2001)

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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

Try Peanut Butter instead. Got all the mice that have ever that invaded my house during the winter months.


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

I had one mouse living under the back porch that somehow got into the house one evening; the cats chased it around then I lost track of where it was. The next day I noticed it outside again on the back patio, rummaging around.

I went out and bought some live traps and set some inside the house, and some outside. They were baited with a piece of cracker smothered in peanut butter, which I heard is a reliable bait that's irresistable to rodents. None of the indoor traps were touched, but the outside ones were regularly sprung - the door was closed and the bait was gone, but no mouse was trapped. Clever little devil.

This went on for a few days. Being worried about the mouse getting back in and setting up shop permanently, I bought a Victor Quick Kill mouse trap. As much as I hated the very idea of killing an animal, the trap worked - I set the trap one evening, and the next morning found that it had done its job. It still bothers me a bit sometimes but I'd rather deal with that, than with a mouse in the house.

Try getting a Victor Quick Kill trap and use peanut butter in it. The configuration of the bait holder & kill bar is quite effective, believe me.


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## SkyHook (Jan 23, 2001)

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## LGBaker (Apr 15, 2002)

How complicated can it be to catch a mouse? This site illustrates the amount of ingenuity that has been expended on the problem. I doubt that all Humankind's efforts have reduced the mouse population significantly.

We use the "rolling can" trap. It is easy to make from common materials and is the most effective trap we have ever used. To build one you will need a two to five gallon plastic bucket (the lid is not needed), a normal steel (tin) can, some wire or doweling, a thin board about 30" long, some peanut butter and some water. You carve a couple of opposing, small notches or holes on or near the top of the bucket and drill (punch) one small hole on each end of the can (these must be the same size as the wire or stick or whatever you will use as an axle for the can to spin on). Insert the can onto the axle, insert the axle ends into the notches or holes, smear a layer of peanut butter over the surface of the can, add 6 inches of water to the bucket, place the ramp from the floor to the edge of the bucket (extending to about two inches from the can). The fated mouse runs up the ramp in response to the irresistible fragrance of the peanut butter, overbalances while reaching across the gap to the can which spins in response to the mouse's touch, sending the mouse to the water in the bucket for a brief and futile exercise in survival.

Who said a mouse trap had to be high-tech? Apparently, adding anti-freeze to the water will shorten the time the mouse survives.

A caution: ensure there is no hole in your bucket or you will have a wet floor and a sodden, outraged mouse.


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## kps (May 4, 2003)

Forget traps...

I used to work with a guy who was an exterminator by day and worked for us in the warehouse in the evening. He summed it up like this: "for every one mouse you catch...there are dozens more". 

What you have is an infestation. The best way is to use anticoagulant bait. A mouse can squeeze through a hole the size of a dime and if it ingests the bait, the anticoagulant will cause internal bleeding in the mouse as it squeezes through small crevices. The interesting bit he told me, is that the mouse will actually go outside the house to die.

Have your landlord call a reputable exterminator to deal with this. 

As for the ants, I had a similar problem with ants in my basement. This guy asked me to bring a small spray bottle to work and he mixed up something for me that's not available to the public. Apparently you have to be licensed to obtain this mixture. He told me where to spray this stuff and then leave the house for a few hours to evade the fumes. I tried all the consumer ant products to no avail, but after spraying this stuff along the perimeter of my basement, the ants just disappeared.


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## SkyHook (Jan 23, 2001)

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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

In every house I have ever lived in there has been at least one cat. 

In every house that I have ever lived in there has never been a mouse problem.

Well, there was one time, between cats.

They may introduce logistical problems, but they are also nice to have around. Cuddly and all that. Remember also, that when they are eating mice they don't eat (as much) food, normally.


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## SkyHook (Jan 23, 2001)

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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

I still recommend the Victor Quick Kill mouse trap. Try them - you'll see.


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## MaxPower (Jan 30, 2003)

I've tried the peanut butter thing. Didn't work. The varmints just licked it clean. In my experience raisins worked the best.

What you need is something that they can tug on and set the trap off.

I noticed the other day in my cold cellar two dead mice floating in the sump. Yuck. Now I have to scoop them out. Gross. Strangely, the trap is in the sump as well. Don't ask me how it got there.


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## Mrs. Furley (Sep 1, 2004)

Some friends of mine had a mouse problem in their apartment and they bought some sort of contraption that gave off a high-pitched sound (not audible to humans) that would supposedly keep all the mice away. They were pretty skeptical but they wanted to try that before they were forced to kill them. They never saw another mouse again. I have no idea what this device was called or where they got it but they were very pleased.

Good luck!


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## LGBaker (Apr 15, 2002)

kps raises a good thing to remember - whatever you choose to do, don't delay. The reproductive rate of these creatures is remarkable!


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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

Forget traps. Get a cat. Better yet, get two.  

My two little furry hunter-killer machines murdered every mouse in this house, long ago. Now they go out hunting in the surrounding forest for their prey. Hardly a day goes by that one or the other of them isn't munching on the remains of some tiny rodent out on the deck. They frequently announce their successs at the hunt with a loud mournful yowling when they return with the tiny critter clutched in their bloodthirsty jaws. 

Showoffs. 









Failing that...I'd say get some of those little green mouse pellets that kps was talking about. The mice just love em and then, when the deadly chemistry begins to take effect, they will bolt outside looking for water to quench their burning thirst. They usually expire while they are outside, so this is a great method of eliminating the vermin without any mess or stink ("dead mouse in wall" is a whole new range of scent. It might be enough to set off your smoke alarm, even. PHHEEEWW!)
















Or...get a cat. Better yet, get two.


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## Carl (Jun 7, 2003)

When I bought this house, we had a mouse problem. After quite a bit of research, and figuring out there path to the basement, I ended up putting peanut butter on regular old wooden snap traps. Caught one a day for almost two weeks. There was one more, and he kept getting the peanut butter without snapping the trap. A real genius! I bought a plastic, snap trap at Home Depot, and I guess he didn't realize. That was the last one.
Since then, I have one of those electronic devices that plugs into an outlet and sends an electronic burst through the house wires every 20 seconds. In three years, I have never had a mouse in the house.
BTW. This is not the ultrasound thingy. This produces some kind of annoying frequency through the house wires and essentially protects the whole house. It gets rid of spiders and other small bugs in the basement.
Got it at those "as seen on TV" stores. Sounds flaky, but for $50, I thought it was worth the gamble. It was.


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## ErnstNL (Apr 12, 2003)

Have you considered glue traps?
traps 

You can sell them as pets if you pry them off real careful.


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## Griller (Jan 17, 2002)

Dude, do *NOT* try the glue traps.

It's disgusting, I did it once and I will make sure not to use them again. In a recent mouse situation I had I tried that type of trap. I just wanted the mice gone, I didn't want to torture them, and glue traps do just that. I'll skip the details but take my word for it's brutal I hated it. 

'Snap' traps or whatever they're called, those standard/popular ones are good. A pet cat is probably the best mouse trap I've ever had. I wish I still had a cat


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## SkyHook (Jan 23, 2001)

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## BigDL (Apr 16, 2003)

On CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks program a feature on the hypothesis that humans are really cliffs/cave dwellers and that we have created artificial cave/cliffs with the development of houses/cities. 

When we built shelters we have also created a habitat for the other cliff dwelling critters.  find out how.  

The item mentions some of the critters talked about in this thread. Cats are one of these other cliff dwelling species as well. According to the author it’s seems to be a very good idea to have cats in our domiciles.

If you can’t hear this feature then the book “Urban Cliff Revolution” is available to explain the hypothesis.


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## SkyHook (Jan 23, 2001)

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## SkyHook (Jan 23, 2001)

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## gordguide (Jan 13, 2001)

"... I've tried the peanut butter thing. Didn't work. The varmints just licked it clean. In my experience raisins worked the best.

What you need is something that they can tug on and set the trap off. ..."

Tie a piece of string to the trigger (yarn works great) and coat that in PB. You will notice a hole on the trigger made exactly for such enhancements.

Be sure to trim the string/yarn once it's securely tied to the trigger to about 1 or 1.5 inches (no more) to insure the mouse will be in the right location when the trap springs.


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## bopeep (Jun 7, 2004)

here's what I know to work consistently. Regardless of the bait you use, and assuming that the cat solution isn't an option--- you ahve to train the mice. I know it sounds silly, but bait the traps for a few days without setting them. Teach the mice that nothing bad happens when they grab the bait. Then set the trap for a day or 2. Repeat. 

This method takes a bit longer, but you will be more successful. 

Cheers
Bo


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## K_OS (Dec 13, 2002)

I had a mouse problem, got a cat, all the mice are gone even tough the cat didn`t catch a single one, I suspect the mice moved to the neighbours









Sometimes fear is a great motivator, I guess in my mouse problem it worked.


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

This may not be the best idea for inside your home but may be the ticket in a garage or shed.

A friend of mine had a mouse problem in their new house that they had just built. The mice were entering the house via the attached garage.

1 steel bucket filled 1/2 way with water
Spread oats or grass seed on the surface of the water.
A piece of wood or something leading to the edge of the bucket.

The mouse wanting to snack on oats, jumps off of the piece of wood and into the bucket thinking the oats floating on the top is actually the bottom of the bucket. They drown.

If I recall, I have also heard of people using anti-freeze instead of water so the mice basically "pickle" themselves.

My friend's claim it solved their problem.


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## Jordan (Jul 20, 2002)

I had a major mouse problem in a Mobile home on a farm.

I picked up four of those Plastic clam looking traps, they have a grooves that you put peanut butter that's on a platform. When the mouse goes for the food they step on the platform and WHACK!!!! Unlike the metal and wood traps that have a tendency to mush mouse brains all over, the plastic must suffocate them, or something.

It took three years, but no more mice.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

Our neighbours adopted a cat which has discovered many many
mice in their house, In fact the cat keeps them awake at night
with his annoying crunching noises that he makes while he is
snacking on the mice...head...body...tail.  

I realize that you stated that you don't want a cat...But...They
sure do seem to be good mouse catchers, Not sure about the
noisy eating of the mice though.

Our cat never ate them...
Just played with them. (With her razor sharp claws)









Dave


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## SkyHook (Jan 23, 2001)

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## Carex (Mar 1, 2004)

Best bait of all time for mouse traps is peanut butter and bacon. 

The cat idea has merit. Rented a place that ended up having mice. Went to the SPCA and bought a cat for $50. That kitten at about 3 1/2 months old came out of the pantry with a mouse in her jaws. She rocks!

Moved to a place with no mice. My wife is not a cat person (at all). That cat will likely live to be 25 just to spite her.


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## SkyHook (Jan 23, 2001)

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## SkyHook (Jan 23, 2001)

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## gastonbuffet (Sep 23, 2004)

merge!!!!!


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## MasterBlaster (Jan 12, 2003)

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## da_jonesy (Jun 26, 2003)

personally I like this approach...

<img src="http://lifesizemousetrap.com/playamousetrap.jpg">


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## modsuperstar (Nov 23, 2004)

I used to work at a garden centre that sold bird seed which was stored in burlap bags in the warehouse. This of course was ample food for any number of mice. So once we knew about the problem we set about trying to deminish the population. We had 16 traps that we would setup each night after close, loaded with PB. If you hung around for a few minutes once the foot traffic of everyone leaving work died down you would start to hear all these intermittent snaps as the mice ventured out and got killed by the traps. It was kinda creepy. For 2 weeks we did this, with the first few nights netting a full slate of mice. Then as time went on less and less traps started being set off as the mice got wise to the killing fields we set out for them.


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## martman (May 5, 2005)

I too recomend cats are the by far the best mouse trap.
As for bait what really works (forget peanut butter) is bacon from pizza. They just can't resist the salty fatty goodness of the bacon from cheap delivery pizza. Before I got my cat that is what I used and it worked WAY better than peanut butter. I can't remember who told me about this as it was 15 years ago...


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## modsuperstar (Nov 23, 2004)

PB is the best mainly because it's readily available and often abundant. The bacon idea sounds interesting, but I'm sure there are lots of foods mice would gobble up given the chance.


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## gastonbuffet (Sep 23, 2004)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFIH930iSHc


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## FeXL (Jan 2, 2004)

gb, that is hilarious. Thx!

Pretty sorry looking mouse, tho, even before the finale.


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