Has anybody tried the Mice bucket trap?

[Ecalix]

So I’m seeing lots of mice/rat poop.
I started searching for a solution and saw an add for the bucket trap and wondering if anybody has used it. The rodents don’t die in this trap so what is the process for a bucket of mice after??

 

[Beer can]

Works great. Put some water in bottom of bucket and they will drown.
One I made, I put peanut butter on the can

 

[MTKitty]

I’ve never used it myself, but a friend used them in his barn when he had a bad infestation. He told me he was dumping the drowned mice twice a day sometimes.

That changed when I was able to give him a couple of bullsnakes that had been rescued from local irrigation ditches in the city. He was thrilled to have a natural predator for the mice.

 

[cmom]

I had a coop that was infested with rats. After I moved the birds and started to renovate the coop dozens of rats of all sizes poured out. I tried many different things first to get rid of the rats to no avail. I finally bought some rat bait stations with poison and put them in the barn which is right behind the coops because I had seen evidence of them being in there too. I'm not advocating using poison only that is what I finally did. I put the bait stations in pet carriers on shelves so nothing but the rats could get to them. Slowly I noticed that the baits were being eaten on less and less and I wasn't seeing the evidence of the rats. I still have the bait stations in the barn and check them once in awhile. If the baits are gone then I suspect more rats have tried to move in and bait the bait stations. I check the quite often and haven't had any activity in quite awhile. There is a partition in the middle of the bait station to keep the rats/mice from getting the bait out. Good luck...

 

[The Moonshiner]

I tried a rat version with a trash can. I put water in it so they would drown.
It only worked for a couple then they all wised up and wouldn't go near it.

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

I had about 6-8 of them last year caught 100+ between all the outbuildings on 2 properties. Better than any cat.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I tried that can with peanut butter trap. A raccoon or possum destroyed it the first night. I'm not sure which as I caught both raccoons and possums when I put the large live trap out. So I went with this version. It limits how many you can catch at a time but at least it didn't get destroyed.

I use water in the bottom. If they can reach the bottom they can jump pretty good, might be able to get out. And the water drowns them. I toss the dead mice to the chickens, they have a nice game of keep away before eating them. If I used antifreeze instead of water I couldn't feed them to the chickens.

I can never eradicate mice but between this, some snap traps, and a few rat snakes they kind of stay under control.

 

[MTKitty]

What is holding the wood shims to the 2x4?

I’m guessing nothing. The idea is the mouse crawls to the end for the bait and overbalances the shim into the water.

Pretty crafty, if you think about it. The wretched little beasts run along walls, so this trap placement is right in their path.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Careful balance until weight is put on it?

@Ridgerunner, I did wonder if you find the shim outside the bucket and no mouse trapped. If so, how often is it a miss?

Yep, just gravity. It takes a bit of practice but like everything else you get the hang of it. You don't want enough of an overhang that it falls too easily. Using a very thin shim helps.

How often does it miss? I've had three shims lined up and got three at a time. I'd say once I got the hang of it maybe 75% success. I couldn't always tell if a raccoon or possum got to it, they like chicken feed too. I never caught a rat so they might have been able to get out of the trap, not sure.

 

[-Flash-]

It is great! Just put water in the bottom!