I Made a Bucket Trap

Maybe I missed something. We're talking about mice here, right? Along with their cousins, the other rodents, these are the scourge of mankind. We're talking Black Death, recurring pandemics** and so on.

I assure you, you'll pay the devil finding a place to re-home wild mice. Releasing them or relocating is equally useless.
I personally have nothing against mice, in general. They are what they are.

But why can we not cut through all the red tape and simply put water in the bucket to drown them?

** Most people have a vague notion of the disease called bubonic plague, or The Black Death of the Middle Ages. Some few know that it is spread through the bite of an infected flea, most often parasites on rats and mice. From them it can spread to both other animals and humans.
But beyond that, they are ignorant of it's effects and causes.

The original bubonic pandemic is thought to have begun in Central Asia or India and spread to Europe during the 1340s. It wiped out roughly half of the population of Europe (30% to 60%) in its initial appearance, not to mention the outbreaks in Aisa and the Near East. This great "die-off" is one of the most influential events in human history, with far reaching effects still felt to this day.

The total number of deaths worldwide is estimated at 75 million people; approximately 25-50 million of which occurred in Europe. It is estimated to have reduced the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million by 1400.

But it didn't stop there. Bubonic plague is thought to have returned to Europe every generation with varying virulence and mortalities well into the 1700s. During this period, more than 100 plague epidemics swept across Europe. On its return in 1603, the plague killed 38,000 Londoners. Other notable 17th and 18th century outbreaks were:

The Italian Plague of 1629-1631,
The Great Plague of Seville (1647-1652),
The Great Plague of London (1665–1666),
The Great Plague of Vienna (1679),
The Great Plague of Marseille in 1720–1722,
The Great Plague of 1738 (which hit eastern Europe), The 1771 plague in Moscow.

After that, it seems to have disappeared from Europe in the 19th century.
 
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Most mice aren't carrying anything. It's partially the fault of humans when they are. Unsanitary conditions contributed greatly to the plague. Mice and rats in the country with sanitary conditions around them (not a build up of human or animal waste and pests) aren't likely to be sick with anything. However the risk is still too great to use them as food for any expensive reptiles. I've kept wild field mice for pets on more than one occasion. They aren't the most tameable though.

Relocating does not work for the fact that mice can travel a mile or 2 to return to their home. Unless they find a more enticing building on the way and then your just shoving your problems off on someone else. Best to dispose of them completely. I used to throw them to my mom's dog. Eventually he learned where the mice were coming from and he made off with all my live traps and kept knocking the others over to get the mice. Plus there is a slight concern of parasites so now any mice the cats don't get are dead before they get tossed out in the field for the nocturnal wildlife to do away with.
 
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Ill go along with mice not harboring anything. I doubt there are many with The Plague running around our backyards. I only presented that whole bubonic scenario to illustrate they can (and because I thought it was interesting).
But the rest of your commentary goes str8 to my question about red tape - Holy Cow! was all that ever complicated for just a few mice.
Dispatch them and get on with things, I say.
 
well........so far I've only caught a carpenter bee!

The first night the stick to the bucket had gotten knocked over. Same thing the second night. I improved it a little and still nothing although yesterday I saw one mouse dropping on the plate. I was sure I had caught at least one, but no.

Tonight I'm going to put more peanut butter on the plate or try the soda can instead.

I've got the trap in a good place behind the screen door so Hansel and Gretel can't get to it, and there is easy access for the mice. Either I'm doing something wrong or it's going to take a few more days till the mice decide to try it.

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After looking at the pictures of this other bucket trap, I think I'll just revise mine tonight and replace the flipping plate with a soda can.

To be sure this will work!!!
 
OK - I modified my bucket trap and replaced the paper plate with a soda can slatered in peanut butter and still haven't caught anything besides two bugs
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The mouse population isn't as bad as it used to be b/c I cleaned out most of their hiding places, but there are still some in there.

What the heck am I doing wrong???

thanks for your help.
 
Oh no, not the plague!
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I haven't read this whole thread, and I'm not gonna complain about anyone killing mice -- BUT --

Dave ol' boy, you really should read up on the miracle of modern science called ANTIBIOTICS.

Yup, the plague was a horrible thing, back in the day. But THESE days, the plague bacterium -- Yersinia pestis -- is easily treated by any of several different types of common and cheap medications -- like tetracycline, doxycycline, streptomycin, ciprofloxacin, and so on.

PLEASE don't go around spreading unwarranted hysteria like this. It serves no useful purpose, and it doesn't reflect well on those doing the fear mongering. The folks of this forum will be much better served if we stick to FACTS and the MODERN ERA, doncha think?
 
It seems like a really good idea and design. Maybe the little critters know I mean business now
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Although there is one that keeps trying to make a nest right in the bottom of the door so I know there are still some in there. I must say though, that compared to what it was like in the barn before, it's much better.

This weekend I put two large pots of spearmint in there and put some welded wire around them so the birds wouldn't knock them over. I did it to make the barn look nicer but also hopefully, to deter the unwanted little beasts. Plus all the pretty coops on this site have inspired me to 'pretty' my barn up a little.
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I'll update this as soon as I catch a mouse in the trap. I'm sure I will eventually.
 

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