Mice Escaped Trap

[dlfridie]

I put the trap in a shoe box w/ a hinged lid and cut a hole in the end.
Put this in the small run.
Peanut butter licked away clean and about 50 droppings in the box!
The little buggers ate the peanut butter off of the snap trap and got away.
The trap in the kennel run was never touched.

Tonight, I'll try cheese on another snap trap and the kill bucket.
I prefer the idea of just throwing away a shoe box w/ a mouse,
than scooping a dead mouse from a bucket. Yuck.
But, whatever works and doesn't cost too much is what I'll try.
I followed the link someone posted recently and this trap looks interesting.

 

[fasbendera]

Your snap trap has sensitive settings. Look closely at where you place the wire under the toggle it will have two letters if it is a newer trap go to the F side. If it is just an older trap you have to adjust it manually. I don't remember all the trap part names from my youth. I have found that the Victor traps are the best. The Black Cats were horrible I threw them away. Happy trapping hope this helps.

Doors left open by the men & boys in the house leads to mice looking for a warm place. I have traps set up all the time. Another hint is to have your boxes against the wall or fence since mice tend to hug the walls.

 

[fordmommy]

 

[Penturner]

We used to control mice in our dog kennel by actually making a nest for them. we threw all our empty dog food bags under one of the cages. this made a place to nest as well as an continuous supply of food for the mice. this served to keep them where we wanted them. when the pile got big enough I would keep an eye out for when hawks where hunting in the area.
I would drag the entire pile as one piece out into open ground. I had about a 1 acre area of flat ground. and set the pile on fire. the mice that did manage to escape where easy pickings for the hawks. those that managed to avoid the hawks never found their way back to the kennel. I had to make sure they would not find the house either. I simply had to make sure there was an abundance of alternative places for them to live between the inferno and any place I did not want them. it was an almost 100% effective way to rid the kennel of mice until a new population moved in. Iwas wondering if a big box of straw provided with water and food would do the same thing. If the chicken coop is going to be the best pad in town. see if you can improve on it somewhere other than the coop.

 

[SteveH]

It does sound like you might have purchaed a cheap trap , understandable if you plan to throw them away every time you catch something . I always used a plastic knife to force peanut butter down into that little notch in the bait pan . You can also tape a bit from a plain cotton ball to the bait pan , pregnent mice go for it to line a nest . There have been instructions on building a PVC poison bait station on here that you might find if you do a search . I have used a tomatoe juice can with an opening just big enough to slide a poison bait chunk through . I put them next to my foundation in the flower beds in the fall where the flowers hide them from view and hold them in place with the opening level with the ground . Poisons them before they find their way inside my home and keeps the squirrels and neighbor's dog [ who SHOULDN'T be there anyway LOL ] from getting poisoned .

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

I have this problem as well with field mice after all I do live in the country so I have found the one sure fire thing that catches them everytime is putting a small enough to cover the bait plate piece of white bread (no crusts) then press it on very firmly to the point it is not going to come off that easy.
It catchs them because they have to tug at it setting the trap off.

I have a 100% catch rate and if this still doen't work buy glue traps and place them next to a wall in different places.

I Know this will work for you if you use it good luck and happy catching.

 

[das fisch]

if you can get them, purchase the "pro" model victor mouse traps. These are the model with the large yellow pan instead of the smaller metal one. These have the two settings mentioned earlier, also try putting just a bit on the bottom of the pan so that some is forced up thru the small openings in the pan. Makes them work harder to get it. More time on pan increases chance of catch.
I own/operate a nuisance wildlife damage control service, and these are all that I use. Occassional we'll use tin cats (live traps) if the customer insists on live removal, but that is rare.

 

[fasbendera]

Quote:
I didn't know they sold a cheaper model I only get the one with the large plastic (looks like swiss chees) bait pan. They work great. I bougth the black cats or whatever they were called by mistake they look similar and they were horrible. Rember you want to be the VICTOR in your quest to rid your coop of mice.

 

[dlfridie]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I didn't find the traps w/ the plastic yellow piece.
The Victor traps I bought were cheap, 4/$2.00, but didn't catch any mice.
There don't appear to be any letters on them to adjust the settings.

Yesterday, I went to Home Depot and got some plastic traps 2/$4.00
You put a little peanut butter in a tiny well & just push the lever down.
This morning 3 DEAD MICE IN 1 TRAP! Amazing, they all hit the trap at the same time.
One dead mouse in the other trap.

I was thinking about the sticky traps, since it kills more than 1 mouse.
But, I don't want to shovel up traps w/ wriggling mice on them.
This is all so G R O S S I can hardly stand it!

Alas, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

 

[jjthink]

I find that when I lock up food sources very tightly at night I don't have mice. For the occasional passer-by I use Mouse Magic by Bonide for that added insurance. It's packets of peppermint and spearmint leaves - deters mice harmlessly, my personal preference. As a result I have no problems with mice, maybe one or two here or there but not to the point of a problem (and they're not in the food because I use metal cans with weights on top).

I was thinking about the sticky traps.....Alas, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

I know this is the P&P section and almost anything goes but if killing is desired, snap traps are more humane when they work 'efficiently'. Sticky traps are slow panicked torture and in my opinion should be outlawed. I managed to get them removed from a state capital building where I worked. I am being careful here to refrain from saying not to kill, but rather just saying that if the goal is simply to kill and not to torture in the process, sticky traps are not the answer. It's possible that some readers don't know how grizzly sticky traps are and that they may want to be aware as they are considering their options and hence, why I am taking the time to comment. Each person has to determine their goals.

JJ​