For Rodents - Has Anybody tried the Bucket trap with the Cheap Plastic Yellow Top ?

[LBL]

I'm thinking about buying one of these

https://www.amazon.com/Bucket-Lid，Mouse-Lid，Auto-Outdoor-Compatible/dp/B0CKY3DSZY/ref=asc_df_B0CKY3DSZY

They get very mixed reviews.

The basic mechanism seems sound, they're just really flimsy, and sometimes the rats somehow chew through the top.

Since I had 2, now 1 bird in an indoor bathroom, when I open the door there is a flurry of mice and rats.

I am careful about only giving the birds "enough food for today", but the rodents are still coming.

Not surprising, since our house is on the edge of a very dry forest, between that forest and a creek.

I have been trying to use a Cat as a deterrent but he seems to have given up on eating them, though he does make a good scarecrow. On nights when he is indoors, the rats are much more quiet.

BUT they messed up some papers in my office. Therefore they have crossed a Rubicon.

One thing I did was to drill holes about 5 feet off the ground in the wall board, between the wood studs, and drop in Mothballs.

That works very good, although it only causes them to vacate those wall sections.

 

[azygous]

Haven't seen that version. This is what I've been using for at least ten years with satisfactory success, and it's half the price. https://www.amazon.com/PAWMATE-Roll...efix=bucket+roller+trap,lawngarden,166&sr=1-4

 

[LBL]

Haven't seen that version. This is what I've been using for at least ten years with satisfactory success, and it's half the price. https://www.amazon.com/PAWMATE-Rolling-Mouse-Catching-Device/dp/B078GC624P/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3O4E4UEHSQQP5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.oASnNgOAnbVV-HaZlVQ1ugaz6pC1utlAOedfNL1dIg2I3yJqrKz818bJwxlYDQ6dujMriA4RKV2tw5Meg1SeAHjmYEVlkmf9WwLvD3ZZRafqr0FG4qRr4LG3vbK8ACpkV7-hn9X1CbM1d_bnBzUcZurkcIep2PbkptHdKVwFAQM932alMVK9YGYCoJKNI3eLAkPbVNeXn1IE0xgMnN6XHRZU0ddD197k3xowkYTNJ5ChEckO9iQYdWMRdvvJ8wz9lj1Y6wHkopDiG66x0gZbLs3KcX1PbeYCFTzxa25I13w.iouHMi8ga89YLiVRbcltgMDW_7iwAJOqYOoM56m377A&dib_tag=se&keywords=bucket+roller&qid=1718381212&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=bucket+roller+trap,lawngarden,166&sr=1-4

Do the rats trying to jump out of the bucket,
instead of grabbing onto the rim of the bucket,
they grab onto the rolling thing ?

 

[azygous]

With the roller, you put a few inches of water in the bucket. They can't jump out and they drown.

 

[LBL]

With the roller, you put a few inches of water in the bucket. They can't jump out and they drown.

how is that different from just a bucket of water ?

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is a version of an Adirondack mouse trap. It is an old idea. You put something on top of a bucket so the mouse falls in. You put enough water in it that the mouse cannot reach the bottom and get leverage to jump out so it drowns. You put bait to attract the mouse, peanut butter is really popular. I did not see a mention of bait in that top one which worries me about its effectiveness.

Those are popular in seasonal cabins or vacation cabins. You set them up and use antifreeze instead of water. That way, when the mouse falls in it does not rot and stink up the cabin over the winter. But antifreeze is poisonous so do not use around chickens.

I made my own version and set it up where the chickens could not get to it. I could see them trying to perch on it and getting into trouble. Sometimes a raccoon or possum would be attracted to the peanut butter and mess up the trap but I caught a lot of mice with it. I fed the drowned mice to the chickens as extra protein since I did not use poison to try to control the mice. They'd play keepaway with the dead mouse and eventually one would swallow it whole.

I was never able to totally wipe the mice out, not out in the country. But I did knock the numbers back.

 

[azygous]

Do you mean a bucket without a roller? Rodents sometimes end up in a bucket of water searching for water to drink. But the roller at the top baited with a dab of peanut butter lures them onto the roller that then spins and causes them to lose their balance and end up in the bucket. It's incredibly efficient.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Instead of a roller I used a thin flat piece of wood balanced so that the wood fell into the bucket when the mouse walked out too far to get the peanut butter. Think of a flat surface that the mice could get to, a 2x4 on the inside of the shed wall they were using as a path. Set the bucket next to that an inch or two away. Put a dab of peanut butter on the tip of a thin flat piece of wood and balance it so that it tipped when the mouse walked out on it. I had to reset it after each use but I'd have had to spend money to get something with a roller. It was more fun to rig up something with stuff I had laying around. The bucket was free, the wood was scrap, the only cost was a dab of peanut butter.

 

[LBL]

This is a version of an Adirondack mouse trap. It is an old idea. You put something on top of a bucket so the mouse falls in. You put enough water in it that the mouse cannot reach the bottom and get leverage to jump out so it drowns. You put bait to attract the mouse, peanut butter is really popular. I did not see a mention of bait in that top one which worries me about its effectiveness.

Those are popular in seasonal cabins or vacation cabins. You set them up and use antifreeze instead of water. That way, when the mouse falls in it does not rot and stink up the cabin over the winter. But antifreeze is poisonous so do not use around chickens.

I made my own version and set it up where the chickens could not get to it. I could see them trying to perch on it and getting into trouble. Sometimes a raccoon or possum would be attracted to the peanut butter and mess up the trap but I caught a lot of mice with it. I fed the drowned mice to the chickens as extra protein since I did not use poison to try to control the mice. They'd play keepaway with the dead mouse and eventually one would swallow it whole.

I was never able to totally wipe the mice out, not out in the country. But I did knock the numbers back.

I would never use a bucket that the chickens have access to.

I had a 5 gallon bucket without water in the indoor coop.

Once Gertie fell into it and tried to fly out of it. Hard to do because it's a bucket.

Anyway thanks for all the suggestions !

The rats are gray footed woodrats. Definitely don't want to kill them !

They are SMART. These guys built an Igloo shaped structure out of blackberry stalks - WITH an outbuilding, a smaller structure the same shape.

It was next to my wood fence, and I was clearing everything flammable next to the fence.

I left it in place the first time. More recently it was obviously deserted so I raked it up.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The rats are gray footed woodrats. Definitely don't want to kill them !

In common terminology, a packrat. Sounds like you want to live trap them so you can relocate them.

I don't know how far you would have to relocate them to stop them from coming back. With squirrels is can be about 7 miles. Can you contact a wildlife relocation near you and see about getting help or suggestions?