Catching Mice

[joseywales]

We have a couple mice in the wall. Fortunately, when I set the dollar store traps outside my house, at the corner of siding where I believe they are entering, I am catching mice and I believe they are from my house and not the yard. I believe they enter through the corner of siding, so I'll close that up. However, prior to that, I'd like to draw out as many as I can. I've whacked two babies and two adults thus far. That could be all of them, but unless I sit in my office and listen for them, I can't tell.

We have heard them in this soffit area inside the office and that soffit runs into another room and have heard them there. Again,m in the soffit.

I thought about an exterminator, but what would they do?

I'm using traditional traps, but it's messy, because they draw ants as well.

Do the black boxes that restaurants use work well?

Open to any ideas.

 

[Super Mech]

Victor Tin Cat. Caught 7 mice in one night at my shop. All in one trap. Caught several more through the years when they would show up. I swear by them. Put glue boards in them then dunk them into a bucket of water to kill them.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Be humane = snap trap them.

 

[joseywales]

Be humane = snap trap them.

Yeah. I've hunted and fished. Today, a mouse got caught sideways, so he was alive when I found him. I put him in a 30 ounce plastic throw away cup and it took longer than I prefer. I'd rather be humane, but it is a mess, because it's outside, draws ants, plus mice from other yards. My hope is I'm getting mostly local mice, but...

I was hoping their might be a fast poison trap that doesn't allow them out again and is humane.

 

[bushmechanic]

I use the tipping live traps in my warehouse. They're cheap and reusable, and can be lad at hardware stores. A little peanut butter gets them in there, and then I just pick it up and haul it out to a field for release.

 

[NeubCont]

Meow!
And don’t feed them.
Let them earn there rent
They will show you ther worth

 

[kshome]

Meow!
And don’t feed them.
Let them earn there rent
They will show you ther worth

I have a outdoors cat it does a pretty good job roaming around house. But still a few just lately have made it.

I have tried glue trap's and got one. I'm currently looking for better solution.

 

[tmx]

+1 on the Victor Tin Cat (available under other brand names as well).

 

[clintoaster]

Be humane = snap trap them.

I caught maybe a dozen mice over the course of 5 years at my house in North Carolina and not a single one died from the snap, I had to do it afterwards.

 

[hunter41162]

Snap traps from the dollar store and peanut butter. Keep refilling until you go 2 weeks without catching 1. Seal it up and done!

 

[Sportsman762]

Snap traps from the dollar store and peanut butter. Keep refilling until you go 2 weeks without catching 1. Seal it up and done!

This and set schedule to check them so the mice do not get stinky.

 

[Coloshaver]

All you need. Antifreeze keeps the smell down.

 

[JRC3]

^
You beat me to it as I was looking for gifs.
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If I had a mouse problem I would try the "rolling log" style trap. I'm considering a larger version for squirrels.

 

[clintoaster]

^
You beat me to it as I was looking for gifs.
----------------------------------------------------

If I had a mouse problem I would try the "rolling log" style trap. I'm considering a larger version for squirrels.

That's pretty cool, and most people probably have those things around the house to make it.

 

[snyder]

Peanut butter doesn't seem to work for me anymore, any suggestions for good bait.

 

[hunter41162]

How do you know it isnt working anymore? Or is it that the mice are gone? Also make sure to set up traps perpendicular to the wall, not parallel so they can be caught from either direction when running along the wall.

 

[cantupshift]

I've got a rat zapper. It electrocutes the mice instantly. Walk over to the garbage can and turn the unit over and pour out. Only one at a time, but good stuff.

 

[joseywales]

I've got a rat zapper. It electrocutes the mice instantly. Walk over to the garbage can and turn the unit over and pour out. Only one at a time, but good stuff.

I saw the Victor, or whatever at Lowes. Is the rat zapper the one on Amazon?

 

[Rorin67]

Tried the Rat Zapper - didn't work - at all... Snap traps working great! But I'm digging that rolling log setup above!

 

[hunter41162]

rolling log thing isn't exactly a quick death. fight for your life until your muscles give out and you drown. Even more repulsive if you use anti freeze....

 

[crecre]

I prefer the plastic snap traps from a grocery store like Publix. They seem reliable and I've had more success than with the wire bait area traps.

 

[HOTFR8]

I use one of these with great results.

Bait I use is dried cat food.

 

[dingdongding]

whats the best bait? peanut butter?

 

[58Yeoman]

I use the black snap traps in the house; the sticky pads are too messy. In the shop and sheds, I use the bucket trap. Don't care if the little shits suffer when they drown, because they don't care where they **** and eat wiring or dig into food boxes. I caught three this past week in the potting shed. They're vermin, people...they carry germs and disease.

 

[Sleepy1]

Meow!
And don’t feed them.
Let them earn there rent
They will show you ther worth

I agree. Nothing like em.

 

[johnnyradiant]

A24 Rat & Mouse Trap Kit from AutomaticTrap.com looks kinda interesting and way more than I'd ever spend of my own money.

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

whats the best bait? peanut butter?

Yes it is one of the best


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bugnut]

Be aware you do need to rebait with peanut butter as ants will arrive and eat it clean.

 

[cantupshift]

I saw the Victor, or whatever at Lowes. Is the rat zapper the one on Amazon?

I did the one on amazon with the blinking red led on it. Never caught a rat.l though. Lots of mice.

Lately the slugs have been getting into though.

 

[bushmechanic]

whats the best bait? peanut butter?

Typically, yes. If you end up with a very tricky mouse, though, they make this bait you squeeze out of a bottle. Hardware stores have it. It just attracts them.

Put that in a live trap, and you're going to catch a mouse.

I watched one walk right by two baited live traps, but I was all the way across the room and couldn't get him with a towel. When I added that attractant to the traps, he was locked in one within an hour.

I don't know what's in that stuff, but it works as advertised. I got two more with it later. There's a field behind my building, and every late winter I end up with a few mice wandering in.

 

[Bretny]

Meow!
And don’t feed them.
Let them earn there rent
They will show you ther worth

Thats a terrible idea. There are cats that dont do well outside vs wild animals and there are cats that dont catch mice. Also i never saw a cat that could get in the sophet, up the back of the siding or in the attic.

Snap traps are cheap, work well, have little to no maintenance and when your done with them you can throw them away. All things you cant do with a cat.

 

[JRC3]

Thats a terrible idea. There are cats that dont do well outside vs wild animals and there are cats that dont catch mice. Also i never saw a cat that could get in the sophet, up the back of the siding or in the attic.

It's gotta been done correctly. Pet cats shouldn't be outside. Feral cats aren't pets. A buddy of mine took his time and trapped a feral litter in his neighborhood and took them all in to be altered. I then took them to a customer's 60 acre horse farm to patrol the barns. Some of them disappeared. Could've been to stake new territory. Could've been coyotes, but that's the life of a wild animal. At least they didn't get hit by a car to die a slow death after running off or poisoned at the hands of someone sick of them digging in the flower beds.

And I think the idea is to get the mice before they enter the soffit or attic. I find mice cache all the time in attics consisting of nothing but bird seed. That means the mice are frequently crawling down to the ground to forage.

 

[joseywales]

I use one of these with great results.

Bait I use is dried cat food.

How big are your mice?!?! I've tried the smallest have-a-heart trap and mice can do the Irish jig on that, lick all the food, and go on with their day

 

[Daubs]

Wife lost her chit when she found mouse turds in the pantry of our newly acquired acreage. I set up Snap-e traps, and had two mice caught over night.

Bait them with peanut butter.

My family now refers to me as "The Mouse Reaper" : )

 

[joseywales]

Wife lost her chit when she found mouse turds in the pantry of our newly acquired acreage. I set up Snap-e traps, and had two mice caught over night.

Bait them with peanut butter.

My family now refers to me as "The Mouse Reaper" : )

Wait until you remove some drywall and find a family of 5 entombed. That's a fun day!

 

[JRC3]

Wait until you remove some drywall and find a family of 5 entombed. That's a fun day!

Or go in the attic and see all the tunnels in the insulation.

 

[joseywales]

I swear. The best thing we did, before we moved in, was rent and activate two commercial ionizers. We did it because of nicotine smell. It was a Thursday, before a holiday. So they charged me one night rental, but I didn't have to return the units until Monday. These were commercial units, for restaurants/bars. The house must be empty and I returned every 12 hours, moving the units throughout the house.

In the following 10 years, we never saw anything walk or crawl inside our house, I kid you not. Coincidence? perhaps, but I doubt it. Now we have silver fish, mice, spiders, ants, etc. Not being over run or anything like that, but I'm convinced those units just killed every living organism inside the home. Why others didn't enter for nearly 10 years, I can't say.

We don't board our dogs, when we go on vacation. But if we ever do, we'll be renting ionizers and have someone move them throughout the house during that week.

 

[kszach]

+1 for the Bucket of Death.

 

[HOTFR8]

How big are your mice?!?! I've tried the smallest have-a-heart trap and mice can do the Irish jig on that, lick all the food, and go on with their day

The Mice I get are very small. I have had the odd Rat hence the size of the caged trap. With the weather getting colder here I am trapping a few.

 

[redmondjp]

Or go in the attic and see all the tunnels in the insulation.

Better yet, when you're digging around in said insulation and come across a mummified rat! It's happened to me several times in my own house, which had a horrible rat infestation before I bought it (which I knew about).

Now, I mentally tell myself when working in the attic that I WILL find a rat, just so I'm not so frightened when I actually do (which seems to be about 50% of the time). That's one of the downsides of "professional" exterminators placing a dozen bait stations all over the place, charging you $300, and then coming back every 6 months to charge you another $150 to refill the bait.