Definition: A mousetrap is a specialized type of animal trap designed primarily to catch mice; however, it may also trap other small animals. Mousetraps are usually set in an indoor location where there is a suspected infestation of rodents. There are various types of mousetrap, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Larger traps are designed to catch other species of animals; such as rats, squirrels, other small rodents, or other animals.

Spring-loaded bar mousetrap

A baited and primed spring-loaded bar mousetrap

Mousetrap, mouse, bait (chocolate)

The first spring-loaded mouse trap was invented by William C. Hooker of Abingdon Illinois, who received US patent 528671 for his design in 1894. James Henry Atkinson, a British inventor who in 1897 invented a prototype called the “Little Nipper”, probably had seen the Hooker trap in the shops or in advertisements and used it as the basis of his model.

It is a simple device with a heavily spring-loaded bar and a trip to release it. Stereotypically, cheese is placed on the trip as bait. Other food such as oats, chocolate, bread, meat, butter and peanut butter are also effective. The spring-loaded bar swings down rapidly and with great force when anything, usually a mouse, touches the trip. The design is such that the mouse’s neck or spinal cord will be broken, or its ribs or skull crushed, by the force of the bar. The trap can be held over a toilet or bin and the dead mouse released into it by pulling the bar. Rats are much larger than mice; a much larger version of the same type of trap is used to kill them. Some spring mouse traps have a plastic extended trigger made to look like a piece of cheese, although this is a marketing ploy to entice purchasers, not mice.

In 1899, John Mast of Lititz, Pennsylvania, filed a U.S. patent for a modification of Hooker’s design that can be “readily set or adjusted with absolute safety to the person attending thereto, avoiding the liability of having his fingers caught or injured by the striker when it is prematurely or accidentally freed or released.”  He obtained the patent at Nov. 17, 1903.

Some modern plastic designs can be set by the pressure of a single finger on a tab.

Mouth mousetrap

A mouth-type mousetrap.
This lightweight mousetrap consists of a set of plastic jaws operated by a coiled spring and triggering mechanism inside the jaws, where the bait is held. The trigger snaps the jaws shut, killing the rodent.

Electric mousetrap

This more recent type of mousetrap delivers a lethal dose of electricity when the rodent completes the circuit by contacting two electrodes located either at the entrance or between the entrance and the bait. The electrodes are housed in an insulated or plastic box to prevent accidental injury to humans and pets. They can be designed for single-catch domestic use or large multiple-catch commercial use. See U.S. Patent 4,250,655 and U.S. Patent 4,780,985

Live catch mousetrap

A live-catch mousetrap. Uninjured mice can be released such as the humane mouse trap that you can build out of a cola bottle by purchasing our ebook!

Other trap designs catch mice alive so that they can be released into the wild. It is important to release the mouse promptly – as mice can die from stress or dehydration – and at some distance, as mice have a strong homing instinct. Survival after release is not guaranteed, since house mice will tend to seek out human buildings, where they might encounter lethal mousetraps or may be eaten by predators. In the wild, house mice are very poor competitors, and cannot survive away from human settlements in areas where other small mammals, such as wood mice, are present.

Glue Mousetraps

A mouse stuck in a glue trap. A mouse can be removed from a glue trap by pouring vegetable oil over it.

Glue mousetraps are made using natural or synthetic adhesive applied to cardboard, plastic trays or similar material. Bait can be placed in the center or a scent may be added to the adhesive by the manufacturer. Glue traps are used primarily for rodent control indoors. Glue traps are not effective outdoors due to environmental conditions (moisture, dust) which quickly render the adhesive ineffective. Glue strip or glue tray devices trap the mouse in the sticky glue; mice can be freed from the glue by applying vegetable oil. These types of trap are effective and non-toxic to humans.

Death is much slower than with the traditional type trap, which has prompted animal activists and welfare organisations such as PETA and the RSPCA to oppose the use of glue traps. Trapped mice eventually die from exposure, dehydration, starvation, suffocation, or predation, or are killed by people when the trap is checked. In some jurisdictions the use of glue traps is regulated: Victoria, Australia use of glue traps is restricted to commercial pest control operators and they must be used in accordance with conditions set by the Minister for Agriculture. Other jurisdictions have banned their use entirely; in Ireland it is illegal to import, possess, sell or offer for sale unauthorized traps, including glue traps. This law, the Wildlife (Amendment) Act was passed in 2000.

Bucket Mousetrap

Bucket mousetraps may be lethal or non-lethal. Both types have a ramp which leads to the rim of a deep-walled container, such as a bucket.

The bucket may contain a liquid to drown the trapped mouse. The mouse is baited to the top of the container where it falls into the bucket and drowns. Sometimes soap or caustic or poison chemicals are used in the bucket as killing agents.

In the non-lethal version, the bucket is empty, allowing the mouse to live, but keeping it trapped. The unharmed mouse can be released outdoors.

The variations are many with some being single catch and some multi-catch.

Inert Gas Mousetrap

The RADAR mousetrap, invented by Rentokil Pest Control, kills trapped mice or other rodents with carbon dioxide, then notifies the user by e-mail so that the trap can be quickly emptied and reset. Rentokil claims that the trap is painless and also reduces future mouse deaths by pinpointing the exact location of the trap and how many animals are caught so that their access can be controlled by sealing access holes. PETA has recognized this product as an “animal friendly achievement”.

Disposable Mousetraps

The are several types of one-time use, disposable mousetraps, generally made of inexpensive materials which are designed to be disposed of after catching a mouse. These mousetraps have similar trapping mechanisms as other traps, however, they generally conceal the dead mouse so it can be disposed of without being seen.

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Finding The Best Mouse Traps For Your Infestation

Businesses and homes alike can use sticky mouse traps for their mice problems. These problems are especially prevalent in restaurants, homes near cities and homes in the country.

I recently moved into a home a few months ago, and there was a hillside behind the house. We didn’t think anything of it since the house was still in a nice neighborhood, but lo and behold we had tons of field mice coming around our deck and doors. This really was a pain because we didn’t have a screen door on our backdoor, so we would just leave the doors open sometimes to keep cool. This allowed a couple of mice to find their way inside. And let me tell you, I think field mice are the worst! These guys are much smaller than regular mice, very fast, and very hard to get rid of.

Finally, we decided to buy some mouse traps. We bought both mouse glue traps and humane mouse traps. It was hard to determine the best mouse traps, as they both worked very well. For sticky mouse traps, you can quite literally place these anywhere and the mice simply step on them and are caught. These are very non-technical and just about anyone can set them up!

The humane mouse traps, we found, were just as effective as the sticky mouse traps plus, they were obviously gentler on the little guys. Once the mice have been caught inside the humane mouse traps, you still need to make sure you release them in a location far away from your home and other people’s homes. If you really want to be humane, take the trap to a park or the woods and let the mice go there!

Because we didn’t have screens, we also had some problems on our deck and house regarding flies. Of course, flies can be just as annoying as mice. They get on your food and they buzz around like they own the place! So, we also got disposable fly traps as well. These simply hang from the door frame and as the flies come in, they get stuck to the disposable fly traps. Once you catch enough you can throw them away and use new ones.

These traps contain a different ahesive product than the sticky mouse traps. The mice traps have an almost palpable glue substance on them, whereas the disposable fly traps are more like a sticky paper. That’s understandable since mice are heavier than flies.

There are also rat traps available as well, which might come in handy if you live in New York or another big city like that! I lived in New York awhile back and though we didn’t have rat problems in our home, some people we talked to had some real horror stories. For these pests, large sticky mouse traps are usually able get the job done.

Poor little fella. No, I did NOT do this to the mouse. I forgot where I found this video, but it is not originally mine.
Video Rating: 3 / 5

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1. Share A Mouse Story
2. Mouse Holes
3. Mouse in my truck

A recent comment got me thinking about a new mouse trap design- a trap made specifically for kitchen drawers and cabinets:

“Since you were so clever with making this bottle trap- can you give me an idea for catching my mouse. He only goes to a few kitchen drawers and doesn?t come out to the counter or floor. If I leave the drawers open, he doesn?t show up either- only if they are closed. The bottle idea is great but won?t work in the drawer- and the drawers aren?t big enough to even set a bottle on it?s side.

The ?Have A Heart? traps are poorly constructed and the mice need only bounce around or pick at the air holes on the door to get it open and escape- which was the case with my caught mouse last night.

Just hoped since you were clever enough to come up with one ?better? mousetrap, you might have another. Look forward to your response.

thanks,
Jamie”

Thanks Jamie. I am going to work on this- it could be fun.

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1. Mouse Holes
2. Mouse in my truck

I received this email from Julie, who successfully used the cola bottle mouse trap design to capture a mouse that was living in her truck!

“Darn! I didn’t get a picture of the mouse I caught with this trap! Anyhow, I had a mouse inside my pickup of all places. I noticed it just yesterday when I turned my A/C on and a bunch of foam pieces blew out. I was on my way to work and had to hold off on taking care of the mouse for the time being. When I got off from work at 11pm guess who was sitting in my driver’s door window looking right at me. Of course it scampered away into some hiding place in my truck. When I got home I hit the inet for ideas and found your site. I built the trap the very next day using a cracker & a gob of peanut butter on it for bait. I checked later (after dark) and the mouse had been in, ate the peanut butter, and left the trap. So then I cut the middle out of another two liter bottle and used it as an extension by duct taping it to the first one and reattaching the inverted lid to the extension. I checked an hour later and there was the mouse! It was a field mouse I probably picked up last week on a camping trip. At any rate I set him free. I am so happy this worked. I don’t have to worry about my wiring in the truck, my conscious is clean because I didn’t have to use a horrible method like poison or a trap, and the mouse can happily move on with its purposeful life. Thanks very much for your help! Let me know if you want a picture of the trap. I do still have that.

Take care.
Julie”

Thanks for sharing Julie

Related posts:

1. House Mice FAQ

I recently had a comment from Belinda about what she believed could be the best mouse bait to use in a mouse trap:

“I have a suggestion on bait. My boyfriend baited regular traps with pieces of pistachios mounted with bits of chewing gum. I have never been so successful in catching mice. Therefore, I?m looking for a humane way to do it in bulk! Your idea sounds great. I?ll let you know after I try it.”

Sounds interesting. My only concern would be the salt? I am not sure if salt could hurt the mice because they get their water from the food they eat. I would try to find unsalted pistachios I think, just in case salt would dehydrate the mice.

Thanks Belinda!

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Mouse holes come in many shapes and sizes. Mice can get through holes just over 1/4″ in diameter. I call any opening or space a mouse hole, simply because mice can come into or move around in your home because of the hole (or holes).

Entry Holes

These are holes that mice can use to get into the house in the first place. Mice do not normally make these holes, they just use them to access your home. The first thing to do if you find you have a mouse problem is to locate every single entry hole, and plug it up.

Entry holes can be cracks or spaces in the siding or floor boards, holes where pipes or utilities come through, attic vents with torn screens, or even just open windows or doors. In order to find mouse holes, You may have to crawl under the house or through the attic, move appliances and furniture, or crawl under the sink. Follow the path the mouse or mice made, and fill every hole thoroughly.

Pathway Holes

These are holes that the mice use to move around once inside your home. These holes can be existing, or mouse-made.

Pipes that lead between the walls are often hidden (such as pipes under a sink), and any space between the pipe and the wall is easy access for mice. Mice will often chew holes through baseboards, cabinets, any where it needs to make a path to move stealthily through the house.

Before you fill in the pathway holes, you will want to trap the mice and remove them. This process could take a while, but if you simply fill in these holes the mice will likely die inside your walls, because their entry holes are filled and they cannot get out of the house for food or water.

Related posts:

1. Humane Mouse Repellent
2. PETA Protests Home Depot

PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals) set up “Human Glue Traps” in protest of Home Depot’s selling of the horribly inhumane glue traps.

Here is the link

Next time I am at Home Depot, I am going to see if I can find any glue traps. Hopefully they got the message and removed them.

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This unfortunate cat is covered in glue from a glue trap. You can read more about this poor animals situation here. This link also shows you how to remove glue from an animal that gets caught up in one of these stupid things.

There was a second cat the contributor mentions that did not make it- it was weak from being stuck in the trap for too long.

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1. House Mice FAQ

While browsing Amazon.com, I came across the “Ketch-All” live mouse trap by Kness Manufacturing.

Just looking at the device and reading the description was enough to throw up a red flag (it is mechanical, you wind it up). I noticed that it did not get real good reviews either. So I decided to see what people were saying about the Ketch-All.

What I found was shocking to say the least. This thing should be called the “mouse mangler” according to one review writer, because that is what it does about 50% of the time. Mice were reportedly getting trapped in the mechanism, being mangled, pinched and crushed. Next to the glue trap, this has to be the most inhumane trap you could possibly use. And this was only one the reviews- there were several others telling similar stories.

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1. Ralph’s DIY Mouse Trap
2. Mouse Trap Project Makes Headlines