Best bait for mouse traps?

[crunkzilla]

Oh the sticky traps definitely work for catching them. But if you use them I think you should at least be willing to finish the job yourself.

I do slightly pity the mouse when I toss the trap into the dumpster as we stare each other down eye to eye. Its certainly a shitty way to die, exhausted and stuck onto that trap.

 

[NetWareHead]

did anyone say peanut butter yet?

Exterminator at my company uses peanut butter on the traps he sets.

 

[SagaLore]

Graham crackers. Seriously. Its rodent crack.

 

[vi edit]

I do slightly pity the mouse when I toss the trap into the dumpster as we stare each other down eye to eye. Its certainly a shitty way to die, exhausted and stuck onto that trap.

Not sure if I'm a savage or a samaritan...but I'd offer the service of my shoe to end the suffering.

 

[highland145]

Like Jeff said, victor. Always had success with pb.

Like my rat zapper too. Electrifying.

Stickey traps work great with pb. Did you know that a bb will pass through a mouses head with enough force left to bounce off the concrete underneath and bust a fluorescent bulb? Granted the ceilings in my shop are fairly low but still......

 

[BoomerD]

I've got a terrible mouse infestation in my garage. There isn't a shelf, cabinet or free standing object that hasn't been defiled by a mouse turd on it.

I grabbed a couple packs of old fashioned mouse traps with the trigger plate and spring. First round was with peanut butter. Most of the traps got licked clean with only 2/8 landing a hit.

Second time I put nutella on there. Got 3/8 hits. Oddly enough 2 of those 3 kills came on what I thought was a clean trigger plate. So they either walked across it or they were really curious about what yummy hazelnut smell was still lingering on there.

I'm trying to figure out something that's even harder to work at. I'm thinking maybe taking jelly beans with that really gooey middle and smearing some on there to see if it takes more of an effort and a greater pressure on the trigger to lick it clean.

I stole a piece of a fine mesh fabric from my wife...I tie it to the trigger on the trap...then smear peanut butter on that. Works pretty well. For rats in the garden, I use the same mesh fabric, pieces of apples threaded on a string so they can't just steal them...wrapped in the fabric. That always works...if there's a rat in the area....

I also keep D-Con out for them...but it's less desirable inside buildings because you never know where they might die...inside walls and you get a stench that never quite goes away.

 

[BillGates]

I had issues with mice licking off peanut butter without setting the trap off. Did some research and found that people had success with tortilla chips. So, I took a small sliver of a Tostitos chip, put it on the trigger piece of a tradtional trap, wrapped and tied a ton of thread around both to secure the chip to it, and smeared peanut butter on top of the chip, thread, remaining trigger piece. Bingo, 100% success every time. They never got thru the string to get to the chip, so I was able to reuse it over and over. Try it!

 

[SunnyD]

I'd also like to pose the question:

Why the fuck is it that the smaller the mouse, the more they fucking shit?

Twice now I've had the same problem as vi: A mouse has found its way into my garage. Within like a day or two, there's mouse turds literally EVERYWHERE. I finally catch the damn thing and it's tiny.

 

[vi edit]

I had issues with mice licking off peanut butter without setting the trap off. Did some research and found that people had success with tortilla chips. So, I took a small sliver of a Tostitos chip, put it on the trigger piece of a tradtional trap, wrapped and tied a ton of thread around both to secure the chip to it, and smeared peanut butter on top of the chip, thread, remaining trigger piece. Bingo, 100% success every time. They never got thru the string to get to the chip, so I was able to reuse it over and over. Try it!

My wife had somebody swear by Doritos as the best bait. That's basically an even tastier tortilla chip.

That's a hell of a lot of work though...chip...wrap it up...then slather it in peanut butter. It's the gift that keeps on giving!

 

[Charles Kozierok]

After many years of trying conventional traps, I've had my best success using a bucket trap with peanut butter. Basic idea -- 5-gallon bucket with some water in the bottom (or antifreeze if it won't be checked for a while). Get a medium-sized metal can of some liquid, drill holes top and bottom to drain it out, then straighten a coat hanger and put it through the holes. Rig the can over the middle of the bucket so it can spin freely. Cover the can with peanut butter.

Here's the general idea:

Use a stick or long ruler to make a ramp up to the edge of the bucket. The mice climb the ramp, then try to jump onto the can to get the peanut butter. It rolls, they drop into the bucket.

I've caught as many as a dozen at a time.

 

[highland145]

^^^
Excellent.

 

[BillGates]

My wife had somebody swear by Doritos as the best bait. That's basically an even tastier tortilla chip.

That's a hell of a lot of work though...chip...wrap it up...then slather it in peanut butter. It's the gift that keeps on giving!

As long as you wrap the chip securely and tie it up, it doesn't really get touched by the time the mouse is toast. Just leave a teeny bit sticking out either end and the smell will draw them in. Game over. All you have to do between resets is new peanut butter.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

After many years of trying conventional traps, I've had my best success using a bucket trap with peanut butter. Basic idea -- 5-gallon bucket with some water in the bottom (or antifreeze if it won't be checked for a while). Get a medium-sized metal can of some liquid, drill holes top and bottom to drain it out, then straighten a coat hanger and put it through the holes. Rig the can over the middle of the bucket so it can spin freely. Cover the can with peanut butter.

Here's the general idea:

Use a stick or long ruler to make a ramp up to the edge of the bucket. The mice climb the ramp, then try to jump onto the can to get the peanut butter. It rolls, they drop into the bucket.

I've caught as many as a dozen at a time.

Awesome

 

[Brainonska511]

I've always just used a small dab of peanut butter on the classic snap trap. Works like a charm.

 

[Druidx]

The trap is more important than the bait. I recommend these traps.
http://www.amazon.com/Kness-SNAP-E-M.../dp/B002YTQ9MI
Unlike other traps I've tried, I've never found the bait gone because the trap failed to spring.

 

[hdfxst]

peanut butter and i file the notch to give it a hair trigger

 

[LookBehindYou]

Peanut Butter is the best way. My wife found a mouse in the bathtub that couldnt get out because it kept sliding down the side. I put a trap with some peanut butter on it and set it down, it took all of 15 seconds (literally) for the mouse to hit the trap.

Anything else is a waste of money.

 

[highland145]

Peanut Butter is the best way. My wife found a mouse in the bathtub that couldnt get out because it kept sliding down the side. I put a trap with some peanut butter on it and set it down, it took all of 15 seconds (literally) for the mouse to hit the trap.

Anything else is a waste of money.

Hunting over a baited field......not fair.

 

[LookBehindYou]

Hunting over a baited field......not fair.

Yeah, that was just one example, it's been just as effective every other time.

Though it was funny to hear my wife scream and tell me about this "HUGE" mouse in the tub. It was more like Stuart Little's 1 hour old brother.

 

[crunkzilla]

After many years of trying conventional traps, I've had my best success using a bucket trap with peanut butter. Basic idea -- 5-gallon bucket with some water in the bottom (or antifreeze if it won't be checked for a while). Get a medium-sized metal can of some liquid, drill holes top and bottom to drain it out, then straighten a coat hanger and put it through the holes. Rig the can over the middle of the bucket so it can spin freely. Cover the can with peanut butter.

Here's the general idea:

Use a stick or long ruler to make a ramp up to the edge of the bucket. The mice climb the ramp, then try to jump onto the can to get the peanut butter. It rolls, they drop into the bucket.

I've caught as many as a dozen at a time.

Wow very nice. Were you playing the Mcgyver theme song as you were building the trap?

 

[Cheesemoo]

Note sure about bait, but I have always used this trap.....

 

[Sluggo]

If you park your cars in the garage, you had better hope they haven't already been gorging themselves on your car wiring.

That stuff adds up into the thousands of dollars quickly.

 

[EagleKeeper]

You built your house on their territory.

Now you pay the penalty.

Get a ferret. Problem solved in 2 days.
No mess; no environmental impact

Cat has to catch them;
Smell of a ferret will deter them

Shens, I had a ferret. He was a giant fluffy ball of useless.

smart mice / lazy ferret

Do ferrets run away if they get outside or are they like cats where you can let them outside and they come back?

We had to babysit a ferret for about 6 months.

Kids had a couple of pet mice and a couple of hamsters.
All four rodents would freeze when-ever the ferret was in the house.

We would put in in the garage and everyone was happy except the field mice that used to visit the garage.
They never showed in the 6 months.

Did the ferret get them or they were scared to visit?? Who knows; I appreciated the results. The mice stayed out of the bird seed.

 

[highland145]

Note sure about bait, but I have always used this trap.....

:awe: I remember playing with that in kindergarten.......43 years ago.

 

[endlessmike]

Chocolate works really well, and you can smoosh it into the trigger plate so they can't get it easily without springing the trap. Just a small bit of a square of a Hershey bar does it.

Trust me, we found enough half gnawed Kisses and little foil balls in the candy bag once to know those little turds love the stuff.