Mouse traps, whats best?

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We have been in our new home for just over a month now. I just heard noises in the attic two nights ago, for the first time. I heard the little foot steps again tonight. I grabbed the ladder and peeked into the attic, and I seen traces of mice or rats droppings.

I have never dealt with rodents in any other home I've had, so I am not sure of the best way to get rid of them. I checked online to see what Walmart carries, and the Home Depot, too. There are glue pads, and the old spring activated traps, and some battery powered types. I am not worried about being humane, as these varmints are intruding, and carrying diseases. I just want them dead and gone.

Whats the best method I can buy at the store to rid the rodents for good?
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Go to the SPCA and buy a kitty cat.


Can't put kitty in the attic!

Any idea how they're entering? Seal up holes, cut trees away from the house, remove any food/water sources around the property.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude


Can't put kitty in the attic!

Any idea how they're entering? Seal up holes, cut trees away from the house, remove any food/water sources around the property.


I am not sure how they are entering. I did look around the exterior perimeter of the house, and in the garage, too. I guess there could be a number of ways those little critters can squeeze into tiny openings and crawl their way into my attic. I probably missed the point of entry, but I would like to kill the current ones and also put traps around the outside to get new ones that come around.

I don't want a cat. Just the best trap or method I can buy at a store.
 
Originally Posted By: oilmutt
We live in the wood,have used the Tom Cat kill & contain mouse trap for over 4 years with success. Purchase Home Depot for $4 each.


I will check it out tomorrow, thanks.
 
How big are the droppings? That will tell you if you're dealing with mice or rats. You don't want to poison them, they will die inside some place you can't locate them and stink as they decay.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
How big are the droppings? That will tell you if you're dealing with mice or rats. You don't want to poison them, they will die inside some place you can't locate them and stink as they decay.


The droppings look like the size off pellets used in a pellet riffle.

Great advice on staying away from poisons and having decaying rodent stench. My stomach turns just thinking about it.
 
I've used this trap with great success. Removed around 6 mice from my house in a one-week span.

http://www.victorpest.com/victor-catch-and-hold-mice-trap-bm333-4

I can't say if it works better than the snap traps or poisons. My wife insisted on a live trap. The only hassle about it is releasing them far away... I managed to get two at once one time, as well, though they say it holds up to 4. Again I know you're looking for a definite solution so a live trap may not be your thing.

If you're going with a kill trap at least don't get the glue traps, disease carrying rodent or not they should at least die rather quickly.

EDIT: I just did a Google search about glue traps... I have to take it back somewhat. I would use a glue trap in a split second if I had a snake infestation. Though they're living things too, I cannot stand snakes at all.
 
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Use the Victor type spring and bar traps, but take a good look at them before you set them out. I don't know if the terminology I'm using here is correct, but if you have the trap in your hand while you read this you should be able to figure it out.

You will notice the trigger & bait bar ... this is where you place the bait, and which holds the single wire that keeps the spring-loaded trap bar in place when the trap is set for action.

The biggest problem with these traps is they are not that sensitive, and it's common for mice to be able to eat the bait without triggering the trap. You don't want this.

There is an area on the trigger & bait bar that holds the single wire when the trap is set. You need to tweak this with a pair of needle nose pliers, so that what you end up with is a "hair trigger" that will allow you to set the trap, but no more.

You should find that you can barely put the trap down in the area you want to set it, without having the trap go off. If that's the case, you've got it modded correctly.

To release the trap (to put on more bait, for example), simply pick it up and drop it a few inches. It will go off.

You want to bait the trap with Peanut Butter. It's aroma travels well, mice can't resist. I usually apply it with a toothpick. Don't be afraid to pack it in there, mice will keep trying to eat it until it's all gone, insuring they do in fact trigger the trap.

Place traps in areas where the mice travel ... they will create scent trails that other mice will follow, which is convenient for us. Typically along walls.

There are a few other aspects of "mouse or rat life" that is important to someone trying to trap them. They *need* water. These rodents will die if they cannot access water in about three days (or less). They can go without food for a week, but not without water. So see if you can eliminate water sources ... dripping pipes, for example.

If they can get outside in warm months, they will probably be able to find water, but they much prefer to find it indoors, and in winter, that's the only place they normally find it. So eliminate the sources of water. They don't need much ... a few drops per mouse is fine ... but they do need it.

Continue to set and bait your traps for two weeks after you think you have killed them all. Their litters might survive after all support is gone (you've killed momma) and won't venture out to where you notice them for a while.

They can have litters in a fairly short time after being born ... so if you let things get out of hand, you will be facing numbers that will make an exterminator mandatory. So don't delay in getting after them.

Find out if Hanta Virus is active in your area (I might be spelling it wrong, but it is pronounced as I've written it; Google if you need more info, as Google will correct spelling errors).

If so, you should seriously consider calling in a professional, as humans who breathe the dust (dried fecal matter) from mouse habitat can experience fatal reactions within 24 hours.

Glue Traps certainly are effective at trapping mice, but you are left with a living mouse. You want a dead mouse. So, that means either you kill it yourself (drowning works fine) or get someone to kill it for you. DO NOT release live mice outside ... they will just move back into your or someone else's house. So, I don't recommend glue traps.

There are also live release traps ... same as previous paragraph. You want them dead, not becoming a nuisance to someone once again.

Finally there is always poison, but even though I want the mice whom infest my home dead, I'm not into killing them cruelly; a mousetrap should dispatch the rodent reasonably quickly. Poisoned mice crawl off and die inside your walls, and it can take up to about two years for the mummified mouse to turn into a mouse skeleton.

Worse, though, in my opinion, is the method of death ... it is extremely painful and prolonged for the mouse. There is no need for that when we can avoid it, and we can, so we should. Also, it presents a danger to pets ... yours or someone else's.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad

...you should seriously consider calling in a professional, as humans who breathe the dust (dried fecal matter) from mouse habitat can experience fatal reactions within 24 hours.


I am completely freaked out about this mouse/rat situation. I have heard so many horror stories about them. They multiply, spread germs, eat through wires, walls, food pantries...I'm really freaking out now.
 
Originally Posted By: 3for3
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad

...you should seriously consider calling in a professional, as humans who breathe the dust (dried fecal matter) from mouse habitat can experience fatal reactions within 24 hours.


I am completely freaked out about this mouse/rat situation. I have heard so many horror stories about them. They multiply, spread germs, eat through wires, walls, food pantries...I'm really freaking out now.


Just set out your traps and deal with them. There is no reason to get worked up over it; humans and mice have been co-existing for thousands of years.

Get on it and don't worry about the stuff like eating wires or getting into your food ... they won't have enough time to eat any wires and you are going to inspect and clean up your dry food storage after you've dispatched them to their maker.

Really as far as food goes, if it's not in a paper or plastic bag, they probably can't get at it. Usually they are eating the same seeds they would eat in the wild.

Rats are a bit more serious and I would not hesitate to call in a pro for them, but mice are easy to deal with if you just get on it and deal with them.

HantaVirus generally only affects farmers who work in areas where mice live and will always live ... you can't kill every mouse with traps if you have a barn and hay; that's what Barn Cats are for. I would consider it negligent if I didn't mention it, though.
 
just get the old fashioned victor spring traps.

As far as what Johnny said it's true, but to counter the mice, just trap in bulk. So even if you think you only have 2 mice, get like a dozen traps.
They may steal the bait from a few traps, but eventually one of your traps will hit em.

Even if they sneak all the bait the first night, that's fine, it just means they'll drop their guard and get walloped the 2nd night after you rebait.
 
Johnny2Bad's got it covered. Like he said: peanut butter and placing the trap along a wall. In the basement, I've placed the snap-traps along ledges at the top of the foundation.

The only thing I'd add is for disposal put your hand in a plastic bag, grab the deceased mouse, invert the bag, tie it off and toss in the outside trash can. Clean, hygienic disposal.
 
Victor traps rock. Use Peanut Butter as suggested.

Get a shallow cardboard box, the type used as a "flat" for 24 soda/ beer cans. Put all the baited traps in this box. A mouse/rat avoiding the first trap will walk backwards into the 2nd trap. The shallow sides will keep a freaking out mouse from taking off and dying in your attic insulation somewhere.
 
I've had great success with Victor Electronic Mouse Traps. Once we spotted that we had some mouse droppings in our basement I set up one of these traps and it killed 8 within a week. Nowadays I get one or two every week or so that come in from the fields for the winter. They are not messy and have a nice indicator light on top that tells you when it has caught something.
 
You're in the process of learning which traps work for your setting. All the advice here sounds good.
I've used snap traps and glue traps with success.

Here's a method which worked for me.
I had a 5 gallon jerry can which had developed a pin hole in its side. I put a mere 6 oz. of water inside it and laid it on its side.

You can easily hear a mouse go inside for a drink (toenails on hard plastic). Pick up the jerry can and you gotta mouse.

I did this in a house I was working on which was heated by 2 fires. I slept downstairs and kept the jerry can close by so I could be awakened by the toenail scratching.
 
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