Building a better mousetrap

[Mikerb]

I understand your point; I agree that prevention is better than a cure. The problem is with the prevention, and how would I know it was working without laying traps. As long as I am catching one every couple of nights, I reckon I'm on top of it.

I have two 8' wide up and over garage doors that fail to seal at the bottom or sides. The mice can walk right in, probably without even noticing that there is supposed to be a barrier to them. The man-access door seals well, but might as well not do so. I now keep the available food source well secured, but the attraction is that the garage is warm and dry with loads of nesting material. The inside is like Steptoe's Yard so the contents provide concealment and a jungle gym for entertainment. I would never be able to keep them out or find them if I went looking. I believe that keeping on top of the problem by disposing of them as soon as they arrive is a sensible policy. I can go long spells in the Summer without catching anything, so that supports my belief that they come in for shelter not food. I live in the country so there is an abundance of food outside normally. If I start catching two mice every night, I will buy more traps and use them until the kill rate declines indicating to me that the problem is back under control.

I have no problem with mice per se; I leave alone the ones that live in the garden wall and feed from the bird table and or eat the plants now and again. They run about underneath the patio, sticking their heads up from time to time to nick some fallen morsel. The local cats tend to keep the numbers down anyway, them and the Sparrowhawk.

fix your garage doors!!

 

[steve_sordy]

fix your garage doors!!

I would never get them open again.
They are 36 years old and if they ever fail, they will get replaced with powered, insulated, roller shutter doors that are also sealed. The sealing is to keep the heat in and cold draughts out, but it might keep mice out too.

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

If you can fit a pencil into a hole a mouse will fit through, even at high speed! I've seen it many times, little fuckers

 

[Mattzzzzzz]

Proofing is better to eliminate them gaining entry, as a fisherman who kept dry baits ( fishmeal
Pellets) in the garage I had a real
Problem about 10 years ago with them also gaining entry to the house via the garage(Integral)
The bottom of the garage door was the culprit and a stiff piece of rubber that deflects on the ground as the door shuts provides a really strong barrier and as such I haven’t had a problem since.
I only found out I had an issue in the house when I sat on the downstairs bog one early morning and could hear them in the wall between the plasterboard and brickwork which is a tiny gap but one the were using to get all over the house
I caught 13 in between the floor joists upstairs once proofed and that has been the end of it.

 

[johnc]

I keep my bike and kit in the garage. Last year I started to get mice in there. They can make a proper nuisance of themselves. For example: chewing on spare towels, making nests in my safety boots, eating the footbeds out my hiking boots. I feed the birds every day and I buy bird food in 25kg sacks. I had to start keeping that in a plastic bin instead. The sack contents didn't all fit in and I put the overflow in an old Tupperware container. The little bastards ate through the Tupperware! I had to take action before they started eating something important. I already knew that mice are doubly incontinent and were probably pissing on my towels as a minimum, and in my boots!

I bought a pack of two standard design mousetraps. Technology has moved on and the foot bed is now made of plastic with odd shaped holes in it, I suppose to trap the bait in there. The old design had a wooden footplate which had a spike upon which to impale the bait, I guess that spike had to go to make a better mousetrap (for better read cheaper, because it certainly wasn't "better"). Here are the traps either side of the bird seed bin.

View attachment 78103

I started with chocolate in both traps, but the bait kept getting stolen without the trap being sprung. The traps have a variable foot pressure adjustment, so I spent time and some risk to my fingers making it as sensitive as possible. The mice kept stealing the bait, both of them, for weeks! My wife was laughing at me! Different action was required. I was reluctant to give up the chocolate because they obviously loved it, but I had to try something different. I switched to raisins and they ate them just as rapidly and still without setting off the trap. Then I had a brainwave; I tied the raisin to the foot pedal using a needle and thread. Since then, the traps have never failed to catch a mouse. I was catching two per night for a nearly a week and then one per night for a few more days. Then nothing for weeks. I assumed that I had cleaned out the resident population. Then I started catching them at 1 or 2 every few weeks all through the Summer, I assume they were visitors. As the colder weather arrived, numbers picked up.

As I said I have two traps, one either side of the bird seed bin and yet the mice have a clear favourite (the one on the right). I have not changed the raisin bait for the whole of this year and the foot pedal and the wooden base is stained with blood, but still they come!

View attachment 78104

In the above pic, you can see the cotton holding the raisin in place. That lump of yellow plastic next to the spring contains a wedge-shaped slot in which the spring pin fits. The sensitivity of the trap depends upon which end of the slot the pin is positioned.

But the key to defeating the mice is to tie the raisin to the foot pedal. Simples!

Perhaps you can this poor bloke some handy tips.

Heartbreak over 'failed' bid to remove Gough Island's mice

A mouse has been spotted after attempts to eradicate the invasive rodents from a remote island.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[steve_sordy]

Perhaps you can this poor bloke some handy tips.

Heartbreak over 'failed' bid to remove Gough Island's mice

A mouse has been spotted after attempts to eradicate the invasive rodents from a remote island.

www.bbc.co.uk

The type of trap I used would be useless. It would risk injuring other wildlife. The roller trap on top of a bucket would do the job. Just put the poison bait in the bucket. I believe that a one-time solution would work on a whole island full of mice was naive.

 

[Quantock Explorer]

Hilarious all round
It’s clearly winter with less opportunity to be out riding.
I have a problem with slugs every Summer. I know where to come for solutions.

 

[steve_sordy]

I hang Moth balls where mice gather they absolutely can't stand the smell.. I haven't had any mice where they have been hung, I can tell because there is no shit or destruction.. I wasn't going to read through the 38 replies to see if somebody else had this suggestion as well... so before someone feels the need to have a crack

Someone ought to tell the Australians!

Watch this, any time after the first 30 seconds.


From May this year, but it has happened before.

 

[Pdoz]

Someone ought to tell the Australians!

Watch this, any time after the first 30 seconds.


From May this year, but it has happened before.

Call that a plague? Just wait a few weeks until the plague of snakes start feasting...

 

[Pdoz]

More mice, more water, lots of long grass.... new thread:

What rear hub is best for deterring snakes ?

 

[Pdoz]

Mice or no mice snakes are bad where I live.. Eastern brown snakes.. Google their potency... these two were in the yard where my dogs live... The snakes were found dead... the shovel is for reference only.. FYI they aren't the biggest ones we've had here.

Does your dog kill the snakes? A few years back my daughter was riding her horse across the paddock and the dog bolted ahead to a tiger snake on the trail - they exchanges lunges until the snake backed off. I was surprised how quick our dog was - both at evading snake bites but also striking back. Bloody hilarious watching a snake retreat at speed across the paddock with a proud dog pretending to chase!

 

[mdlampe]

Peanut butter, smooth or crunchy, been using it since 1997, works perfectly. Just ensure you get it under the treadle so they really have to work at it. My mice are quite big but living near a river doesn't help.

 

[Akiwi]

We have had problems with mice in the attic. I used live traps and released the mice about 5 km away so they could annoy other people.
Since out cat died last year it doesn't seem to be a problem any more.
She would catch them, bring them inside to play with them, and they would escape and make a nice home of our house!
So my suggestion is to kill the cat! ;-)

 

[Janc]

I've found these pretty effective. Although they still fail to trigger (using peanut butter) occasionally as the mice seem to be able to nibble without tripping the trap, but when they do the spring is super strong. I had no food in my garage with a fully sealed Hormann garage door and they ate the bottom corners of the fat rubber seal to gain access! Major issue in the house to due to thatch and all loft wiring is now in trunking! mouse and rat traps - other vendors are available!