how do they do it? Mice!

[runwoolf]

We live in the country, so I guess mice will always be with us, no big deal. I catch one or two about every two weeks. I keep several traps in the basement and bait them with soft cheese or peanut butter. This AM four of the traps were clean and no mice, the others were still baited.

How can the mice clean the trap and not get caught?

Maybe, they are stealing those 10mm sockets and springing the trap!! haha

 

[grizz02]

use the sticky pads and find where there getting in

 

[Loren in Iowa]

I'd noticed that in our shed, and found crickets, swarming on the trap, eating the peanut butter off.

 

[old]

If there small or come in by way of the spring area they can be missed by the bar when it trips.

 

[JF in MI]

I think the best traps are those "tip up" ones where it dumps the mouse into a bucket of water or antifreeze then resets.

 

[rustyfarmall]

I gave up trying to catch the little critters. I just feed them instead. They seemed to really like the food at first, but now the food is just laying there, untouched for several months.

 

[47fivewindow]

I agree. Use a sticky pad. You will catch hoppy crickets. l'm not sure what the things are really called, but that's what Ms. Window calls them. They are black and have legs like a grasshopper. They sure can eat a lot of peanut butter.

 

[MJMJ]

Peanut butter has been the worst trap bait I've used. Unless it's the super chunky, they just eat it right off the trap trigger. I've actually seen them do it. No crickets around here in the winter. I like pieces of a soft granola breakfast bar or brownie.

 

[jeffcat]

One problem with mouse traps is the human stink all over them. Wear disposable gloves when you handle your new traps. Antiperspirant and Cologne too. Another thing is the stink of dead mouse. If you dump out the mouse right quick you should be OK. Over night you might as well tause the mouse and trap in the trash. Follow the practice of fur trappers. Hang the traps out side and all of that stuff. Mice have some pretty go instincts. Found foods with lots of smell work best. Peanut butter is the top one. Then some types of strong cheese, salami, lightly cooked bacon, even canned dog food. Something I found a couple of years ago. That pet dog and cat supliment you hear about on the radio. DYNO-VITE. It is a real magnet! They chewed through the brand new bag the first night.

 

[Jeff NWOH]

I posted a while back about using an acorn wired to my trap as bait. To date, I've caught at least a dozen with it. I had to replace it once, as it was eaten with a dead mouse in the trap. I'm guessing another one came along and ate it after his buddy tripped the trap.

The second pic is what i found in my old plow truck a couple weeks ago. Its been sitting since spring. The rocker panel fell off so the floor sags down below the door now.

I hate mice.

 

[PaGlenn]

Crickets were devouring the peanut butter in my traps in the polebarn. I put out the sticky pads and now catch the crickets and those weird looking long leg hopping bugs. No mice. Barn is newer and seems to be pretty tight still.

 

[Moohindra]

Since I have started putting the peanut butter UNDER the catch I have never had one clean me out. Because eventually when they try to get that last little bit, they push it up. Try it.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

Used to have a '97 Grand Cherokee. When the wife left for work she would see one run up under the dash and disappear. Could never figure out where it would get in. One winter morning she saw it run then it came out from the hood in front of the windshield. I took off the plastic grill and found a nest under the wiper linkage. The screen on the heater intake was out of place enough for them to get in. Luckily no nesting in the heat/AC ducts. What a smell that would be.

 

[DPittman]

I'm catching em with peanut butter. What's bothering me is how many l'm catching. We've already caught more this fall than we've caught in the 6 years we been here combined. I got other people telling me their getting overrun too. Apparently central Illinois had a good crop of mice this year.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I buy mice bait by the pound, Just one BITE brand. Then I give mice something to drink too, Antifreeze. I make sure there is no way a pet can get a drink. I see where mice eat a little Just one bite. Before I put out antifreeze the mice would eat a lot more.

I find putting mouse bait in my outbuildings and sheds keep mice don't make it in the house.

 

[504]

I buy the green blocks from the Farm Store by the pail and spread them around or nail them to a board. Just keep them above dog height.

 

[Phil9N3667]

If you glue a peanut onto the trap, that works too!!

 

[2x4]

Cave Crickets maybe?

 

[Stephen Newell]

Traps are easy, explain how a mouse can eat every bit of insulation on a 8' length of romex wire without getting fried or none of the three strands of copper touching each other.

 

[showcrop]

Standard old mouse traps will work for only so long in a damp basement. Condensation on the trigger makes the metal just rough enough that the resistance gets greater so it won't trip. Get the ones with the yellow plastic trigger.

 

[Jon Erickson]

Sticky pad glue traps work very well. Use spice for bait and sprinkle in center area of glue. Mouse gets stuck in glue and starts to squeek. HERE is the advantage, guys. When he squeeks, it is only a matter of time until other mice come to see what is going on. Almost guaranteed to get additional catch. Glue traps best used in warm areas, as glue not good sticky when cool or cold.

 

[DoubleO7]

(quoted from post at 10:20:05 12/21/18)
Standard old mouse traps will work for only so long in a damp basement. Condensation on the trigger makes the metal just rough enough that the resistance gets greater so it won't trip. Get the ones with the yellow plastic trigger.

I will use the metal trigger ones until I can no longer get them.
Those damn plastic triggers are too touchy/slippery to set.
And then they break when in frustration, they get thrown up against the wall.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 18:16:41 12/21/18)

(quoted from post at 10:20:05 12/21/18)
Standard old mouse traps will work for only so long in a damp basement. Condensation on the trigger makes the metal just rough enough that the resistance gets greater so it won't trip. Get the ones with the yellow plastic trigger.

I will use the metal trigger ones until I can no longer get them.
Those damn plastic triggers are too touchy/slippery to set.
And then they break when in frustration, they get thrown up against the wall.

I have been using them for two years. I caught 40 mice using them last year. The most before with the old metal ones was 15. With a little practice you can get them set.

 

[johnlobb]

I've got a trapline going out in the garage, got 2 of them in 2 days...On peanut butter...

 

[JD Farmer]

Ya we had to wage war on them critters this fall. So went out and bought 2 sticky traps and 8 victor traps. Tied heavy thread around the trigger, put the knot on top and coated it with peanut butter. I also fixed the traps with a hair trigger according to a video on you tube. First morning I had 3 on one sticky trap and 1 in the victor traps, caught the little devil that was terrorizing our living room while we watched tv. Also caught a ground mole and another 2 mice in that same sticky trap.... You don't want to know how I got them off the sticky traps, lol.
And BTW the sticky trap is in my old garage.

 

[Hlmillus]

I bait with chocolate chips

 

[DoubleO7]

I wish they still made the old four hole "wire snare" style four holer bakelite mouse trap.
Those could catch four at a time with only one little piece of cheese in the middle.