[Jeffery]

Mice some how get into my attic almost every fall. So I keep a couple of snap traps up there and bait them with just a dab of peanut butter. But five days in a row now, the peanut butter has disappeared though the traps have not snapped. Yesterday I added a couple of glue traps right next to the snap traps but they still got the peanut butter without getting trapped. I have never had such difficulty catching a mouse!
.

 

[7thswan]

I take a piece of carmel ,some kind of candy that gets stuck in Your teeth, warm it a bit in your hand and mold it arround the place where the bait goes. The mouse will have to try harder to get the candy off-snap.

 

[poppy]

Mice some how get into my attic almost every fall. So I keep a couple of snap traps up there and bait them with just a dab of peanut butter. But five days in a row now, the peanut butter has disappeared though the traps have not snapped. Yesterday I added a couple of glue traps right next to the snap traps but they still got the peanut butter without getting trapped. I have never had such difficulty catching a mouse!
.

Some of them are pretty sly. Put some cheese on them and tie it on with some sewing thread. He'll have to tug at the trigger and you'll get him.

 

[Txsteader]

DH has had some luck wrapping cheese in a bit of thin fabric (or smearing PB on fabric then rolling into a ball), not so easy to get the bait.

He's also had pretty good luck by covering an area w/ several traps but only baiting the center one. Even if mousie manages to make it to the baited one, he usually gets caught in one of the others, in his effort to flee when the baited one snaps.

 

[Nimrod]

I had some generic mouse traps that worked well the first 4 of so mice. After that the mice could lick off the peanut butter without setting off the trap. Got Victor brand from the hardware and so far they are working just fine.

 

[doingitmyself]

I very nearly have a mouse trap line in the back room of my home, its unheated, closed off from the rest of the home and needs to be totally rebuilt. Never the less i have excellent results putting the peanut butter in a piece of women's stocking and plastic tying though the homes in the trigger pan, only have to bait it one or twice all winter to catch dozens of mice. I bait with Tomcat wax baits outside the home and that helps a lot.

 

[Cornhusker]

Must be the year for mice.
Normally we don't have them, but this year has been bad since it got cold

 

[7thswan]

Must be the year for mice.
Normally we don't have them, but this year has been bad since it got cold

Oh goodie. I plan on leaving to go up to the cabin. I layed out 8 stickie traps last time I was there. I plan on putting out some blue pellets. I have to go on the roof and cover the chimney with wire. Last winter something got in there with thousands of black walnuts. I'm even considering leaving the electricty on and pluging in those noise makers that repel critters.

 

[Harry Chickpea]

Traps can have the latch mechanism become too resistive. It might take adjusting the ledge a little in with a pair of pliers, twisting the wire latch, or lubricating the ledge a little.

 

[mrs whodunit]

I think the mechanism for the snap trap needs to be cleaned. The bait part is probably dirty enough that the rod wont slip off easily.

 

[interceptor]

Try Tomcat Press-n-set traps, two for $6 at Wal-Mart. Snap traps reinvented. They have a hair trigger that will go off if you breath on it too hard. No way a mouse is going to steal bait from one.

 

[SJSFarm]

Bucket with water and can works- just use a metal bucket. I used a plastic one and the dang things ate a hole in the bottom!!
Oddly, I've been finding one or two dead mice daily in a bucket I fill for the goats in the barn. Its not my intent, but those dummies are jumpin in!!

 

[Harry Chickpea]

Bucket with water and can works- just use a metal bucket. I used a plastic one and the dang things ate a hole in the bottom!!
Oddly, I've been finding one or two dead mice daily in a bucket I fill for the goats in the barn. Its not my intent, but those dummies are jumpin in!!

One of the better mouse catchers (one that I would rather not use) is a 3' length of 3" plastic electric conduit stood on end, with some way of accessing the top from the outside. Once one mouse jumps down into it and can't get out, others get attracted to it and jump in as well. It is a slow death though.

 

[poppy]

Mice are interesting critters. They have no concept of death and a trap used to catch one mouse will usually attract others better than a new one. Where we see a dead mouse in a trap, other mice see dinner. They will often chew through the back of the dead mouse's head and eat his brains. They do learn some things. If one gets barely stuck on a glue board and escapes, it is very difficult to get him on glue boards after that. Some research suggests that that knowledge is somehow passed on to his offspring genetically.

 

[BlackFeather]

We seldom ever have mice in the house, but we have plenty of cats. The only way we get mice is if the cats bring them in to give to us and they aren't dead yet and they run away from the cats. Usually they are easily cornered and I can catch them with my hands. I have only been bit once and that was by a vole. It never bothered me, although I had a desire to eat grain and scurry along the base board of the wall for a while.

 

[unregistered358967]

Kind of an out-there idea, but do you have a friend or neighbor who has a JRT? They will get the mouse, guaranteed and be happy to do so.

 

[DJ in WA]

Back when I trapped, I would stuff pieces of cotton balls in the metal part of the victor mouse traps, then put peanut butter in the cotton. They would have to tug on the cotton which helps trip it. Also as mentioned above, adjust the mechanism so rod slips off easily.

Having said this, as a former professional in pest control in the military, trapping should be the last resort. You should first be eliminating entrances for mice (their skulls are their limit, which can fit through dime size hole). Also eliminate habitat for them outside, such as weeds, grass, piles, or anything they can hide in. Also eliminate food sources, as their reproduction increases with more food available.

Years ago we bought this place and I soon noticed armies of mice coming in the garage. I trapped a dozen in one night. Discovered they had eaten out the inside of the insulated walls, so had to tear apart and redo that plus the wiring. Anyway, I went outside and noticed a gap above the foundation through which they were entering. Filled it with foam from a can, and that was the end of mice inside. Also noticed a large pile of pine needles near the house in which they lived, and had a freeway over to the house, so I eliminated that. And the prior owners had a dog living inside the garage with endless supply of dog food for the mice, stashes of which we found inside the walls. I don't feed more than my dogs will immediately clean up.

I also had a lot of mice stealing chicken feed, and was trapping all the time until I built pens up off the ground. End of problem.

Also keep all my grain in metal garbage cans and am careful to avoid spilling.

In the military on a training base I was called to some dorms where airmen were getting mice in their rooms clear up on the 4th floor. Couldn't figure where coming from until I got down and looked under the heaters on the wall fed by hot water pipes coming out the concrete block walls. Sure enough, big 6 inch holes in the wall around the pipes. So mice had free travel up through the walls to the whole place. Told them to seal around the pipes.

So I realize trapping is fun, and results in some kind of satisfaction, but the first thing I would be doing is hunting around the house for any kids of opening, and remember to get down and look up, around the foundation, and pipes, and start sealing things up. And clean up any messes or piles or weeds or other habitat withing 100 feet of the house.

 

[Terri]

I use chunky peanut butter so I can jam a piece of peanut where the mouse cannot get it loose without yanking. Otherwise they just gently lick it off.