Has anybody tried the Mice bucket trap?

[allenw]

I have never had any luck with a bucket trap. Tin cats work good and the wind up traps work good. A bull snake is very effective they either catch them or cause them to disperse.

 

[mowin]

Bucket traps are the best. I use antifreeze in mine.

 

[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.

 

[jher77]

What is holding the wood shims to the 2x4?

 

[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.

 

[jher77]

Yea I thought of that but it looks like it would fall off from having 2/3rd of it overhanging like that. Must me missing the lead sinkers in the back.

 

[jher77]

Oh. I was looking at it wrong. Some is sitting on the edge of the bucket. Makes sense now.

I actually tried the pvc pipe roller on the bucket before. I couldn't catch anything in mine.

 

[mowin]

The shim are resting on the board and the edge of the pail.

You beat me to it jher77

 

[MTKitty]

Yea I thought of that but it looks like it would fall off from having 2/3rd of it overhanging like that. Must me missing the lead sinkers in the back.

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?

My spring-loaded traps sometimes miss because whatever clears the bait obviously didn’t hit the plate hard enough to set it off. Annoying.

 

[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.