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

Related posts:

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

I received this email this morning-

“You are a legend for designing the humane mousetrap!

After many failed attempts with conventional traps, I tried your design, and it actually worked!

Thanks heaps!”

Thanks Symon!

Related posts:

1. Ralph’s DIY Mouse Trap
2. Mouse in my truck
3. Lisa’s Mouse Story

This contribution from Jody- who has a great web site Jody’s Jungle where she posts animal cruelty issues.

“I have had a mouse/rat/rodent in my kitchen for 8 months. I placed 11 traps in the kitchen, none of them were glue traps. As of now, my rodent is strong and healthy, I cannot catch him, I tried starving him to death, that lasted all of two days, I couldn’t stand it. I have named my rodent ‘Boo’…he loves tomato’s and all fruits and vegetables, he never poops on the kitchen floor, only under the stove.”

Thanks Jody!

Related posts:

1. Lisa’s Mouse Story

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.

Related posts:

1. Mouse in my truck
2. Mouse Holes

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!

No related posts.

I get a lot of interesting email from my mouse trap site. I received this email a couple of days ago. A bit strange (even for me), but hey! Whatever floats your boat, I always say.

“I had been given two baby mice as small as your finger nail last year when my aunt disturbed a nest.

I did manage to save one of them by feeding him through an eye dropper which was as big as his head, but i did do it and I trained him to stay under my shirt all the time.

Some think im crazey, but I love him so and he loves me. He never goes to the bathroom on me, as he goes in his tank, ( nite time house), and is my best buddy. I kiss him and he kisses me with his little tongue. He is hardly away from me during the day.

They are the most gentle and loving creatures God has made. Why so many peoole hate and are afraid of them is beyond me. this is my 3rd mouse which has been my buddy.

I have saved lots of other mice from many locations and I am the official mouse saver and rescue person in our large family.

In all I must of been in contact with over 150 mice over the past 10 years.. Never did I get sick, Nor have I ever heard of a pesson who did.

As all animals can pick up bacteria and such, but they are clean animals if left in the wild and to do there natural cleaning and such..its the humans who create the filth which causes these problems.

No one can ever convince me otherwise that these little creatures who are so meak and so humble and which can share such devotion and love with humans. Are a gift to us. We just dont see the gift enough.

Me and my pet mouse Gooby

Lisa”

Thanks for sharing!

Related posts:

1. Share A Mouse Story
2. Ralph’s DIY Mouse Trap

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.

Related posts:

1. House Mice FAQ