need Mouse and rat traps recommendation
ahneedhelp
| Posted in General Discussion on
I need…..some feedback on rat traps.
Heard something running around in the attic in the house I am renovating next door.
Luckily, the house is empty.
Yes, I see some spots where they could have gained access to the attic.
I also saw an area in the attic with some old rat droppings.
I am saying rats because mouse sounds too cute and I want to kill ’em all !!
Besides the very satisfying spring traps, there may be other traps.
I don’t want them crawling away to die in a hidden place.
Alan
Replies
I had luck with some live-catch traps from Lowe's and peanut butter. With mice. And the mice weren't the cute lab ones. They were really ugly field mice.
Thanks for the tip.
Hmm...live catch traps.
Yesterday I was in the house and heard the pattering from them (or one big one) running around in the attic.
And a trail of droppings were sighted in one of the bedrooms....I was not happy about that.
There are old droppings in one area where they seem to have nested in the insulation.
The house does face a pasture across the street.
I could seal up all access that I can find, maybe in the garage.
I'm guessing the old one-piece steel garage door.
I'm wondering if one is trapped live and there are more, the rest will stay away from the bait :-) ?
Time to head to Lowes....
Thanks again,
Alan
Depending on how into animal rights you are, glue traps (the biggest ones you can find) are pretty reliable. The mice in my house seem to get the bait off the snap traps at leat 1/2 the time, but the glue snags them all the time. The downside is, that the traps aren't really reusable. Last time I checked though, Home Depot was selling smallish traps (maybe 5 inch square) that would be too small for a rat situation I guess!
Yeah, it's cruel, but I'm not a big fan of mice sharing my living space.
Glue trap sounds interesting.
If mouse droppings dry up and give someone the hanta (sp?) virus, it is......"preemptive strike" time.
This remark has absolutely nothing to do with the Iraq situation and does not imply death.
This situation needs to be dealt with pronto.
I am watching "Mouse Hunt" tonight.
I was catching them on consecutive days, so they didn't learn from history it seems. And even though I attempted catch and release, after I let the first one go and it ran across my foot and back towards the house a 1/4 mi away, I became less humane. Let's just say I haven't been asked to join PETA. Oh well. They haven't come back, though.
I've used live traps on mice, caught as many as seven at a time. Make sure you release them at least a mile away. We were catching at the rate of a dozen a day and releasing 500 feet away from the house. After catching over 150, I put a drop of white paint on the tails of a trap load before releasing, caught three of five again the next day.
Snap traps are semi-effective but lose a lot of bait. Had one rat snap the trap but escape leaving a pool of blood. Turned up at 4 AM in bed with us - cold little feet running across us. Found out the trap had really damaged it when it kept running into walls as I chased it down the stairs - finally shot it with a pellet gun in the living room to put it out of it's misery.
Most effective I've found is bait blocks (much better than bait pellets), gets them all and fast. They do die in unreachable spots, and stink for a short period until they dry out, but it works. You have to plug all the access points, or they'll be back.
Roar! Your verbage painted a good picture of your rodent dilemma. Made me laugh out loud. Pellet guns can be handy.Half of good living is staying out of bad situations, the other half gets so complex I don't deal with it.
I never had a problem with character, people have been telling me I was one ever since I was a kid.
the benjamin c9a series 20 calber pellet will do the trick... 9 pumps. sturdy gun around 130.00 bucks. i have trembling with fear.... seriously the minute they hear me pumping the gun they scatter "just like rats" : )....... i've learn they are a very smart adversary, very smart happy hunting...... bear
I think the sticky tape is what I need, then drop in a bucket of slow filling water to die a slow death. I know its mean but hey its a rat, get over it.
I live in a older house that seems to be a haven for mice. This past year was expecially bad because we had seeded a new lawn late in the year. Here are my recommendations:
I've have excellent results with the "tin cat" brand of repeating box traps. I use several of these in the crawl space, my storage shed, and garage. These are a non-windup repeating trap. The mouse basically climbs through a one way door and can't get back out. Unfortinatly it dies a slow death. The really cool thing is that the trap is "self maintaining" in that subsequent mice turn caniballistic and clean things up pretty well.
In the attic I use the classic snap trap. I like these because the kill is sure and quick. They're cheap too. Just be carefull if there are young'ns around. I'm sure these traps will break tiny fingers.
I've had problems with the sticky traps in that the mouse will sometimes crawl away only to die and stink up the attic. I also will occasionally find a wad of fur or a leg on the trap, but no mouse. There is no way to remove the mouse from the trap, so it's really a one time use.
I will never use a bait type trap. The problem is two fold. First is that these animals will occasional hord the poison without actually ingesting it. Also, the critter is likely to die in some inaccessible location only to remind you of it's demise for the next couple of months until things dry up enough not to stink.
I bought one a few months ago at either Depot or Lowe's that really works well in my external shop/garage. It's about 8 inches long, by 6 inches wide, by 4 inches tall. Mice enter either side (because I threw in some Nabs [crackers]) and when they get to the middle, a sort of spring-driven revolving door sweeps them out of the entry tube and into the main part of the trap. I've caught about a dozen, including two at a time the last time. It needs to be checked at least daily or they will die for some reason (not because of lack of food). I highly recommend it. With our new puppy dog, I don't want any poisonous chemicals around the house.
New!
'Tomcat' Multiple Catch Mouse Trap
This multi-catch mouse trap has been used successfully by professional pest control companies and is now available for home use. Easy to use and effective.
$14.84
http://www.pestdetour.com/ratsmice.htm
Try putting the peanut butter on the underside of the trip lever. Think of the peanut butter as a candy and the mouse wants to get all of it. The harder he has to work to get the last drop off, the more likely he will be at the tripping the trap. I guess you also don't need to feed the entire family. A tiny daube is more than enough. It's a very rare occurance that I'll have a clean empty trap.
Yep, if I find a dead mouse and the peanut butter is gone it's a sure thing more will follow. It a good way to tell if you've got them all. Had great success with cheap spring traps and peanutbutter. Once caught two on same trap at one time. Shoulda had a camera.Half of good living is staying out of bad situations, the other half gets so complex I don't deal with it.
I never had a problem with character, people have been telling me I was one ever since I was a kid.
In addition to the above suggestions: two cats (two so they can keep each other company). Give them the run of the place; they'll bring their "gifts" back yo to near their feeding places...
Regards,
Rework
we have dogs ,horses ,3 cats and the most intrepid are the cats at least two vermin a day. i have a boston terrier who is my sidekick who runs a tight second with the cats , which i believe is breeding ... anyhow you cant go wrong with cats i prefer females there the hunters.... p.s. the reason i mention the horses is at least twice a week i'll go into the stall they will be remanents of what was once a rat. horses wont tolerate them in the stall..strange but true bear
Except when your cat brings a mouse into the house to play, and the mouse gets away under the fridge.
As for bait, peanut butter with chocolate chips is the universal attractant.
Once lived in a group house that had ant and mouse problems. Bought a glue trap and the ants disappeared. Well not really, they were just diverted to the dead mouse in the glue trap. If you put a trap out, you do need to monitor it.
FWIW, Smarthome sells one which is electronic. Charges up a flash-cap, and then electrocutes them when they crawl through. Sounds like $50 of pure entertainment to me. ;-)
I use the snap traps for indoors, but here in the Caribbean, we go for preventative measures as well. Once a month I lay out the bait blocks, always in heavy bush areas, or just on the other side of the fence, so my dogs don't get to them. Recently my exterminator gave me a good tip; Save the juice from a couple of cans of Vienna sausages, and dip the bait blocks in this before placing them - makes them irresistable!
"If left is wrong, then right is the only thing left, right?"
Someone once told me that mice have a hard time finding water. They said to take an old soda bottle cap (Back when they were glass bottles and metal caps) and solder it upside down to the trigger on a "snap trap". The put a few drops of water in it and you'd catch all kinds of mice.
Sounded like a good idea. But I never caught a single mouse that way.
No doubt about it, peanut butter and the snap traps have been the best thing for me. I buy the traps with the metal trigger and cram the peanut butter inside the curl of the trigger so thay have to work for it. And bend the wire so it just barely catches. ie: so it has a "hair trigger". Works like a charm.
Back when I was a kid, we once had some company from the city come out for dinner. While we were eating, we heard a trap go off in the living room. Their young daughter got up to investigate. We went in to check on her, and found her sitting on the floor by the trap, petting the mouse.
Her Mom was mortified. The rest of us thought it was pretty funny.
A fool is quick tempered; a wise man stays cool when insulted. -- Proverbs 12:16
We lived in a trailer for a few years and could not keep the mice out. I tried everything, what finally worked the best was to catch them before they got in I used a bucket trap under the trailer. The bucket trap consists of a five gallon bucket(approx.) with a wire strung across the top threaded thru a tin can with a hole drilled top and bottom. spread peanut butter on the tin can, fill the bucket with about 6" of water put the bucket in the location you want it and use a piece of 2 x 4 for a ramp up to the top of the bucket stopping a few inches short of the tincan. The object is for the mouse to run up the ramp and jump on to the can at which point the can spins on the wire and deposits the mouse in the water. Very effective trap as it works for days with out needing to be reset and the peanut butter dries on the can and continues to attract mice for weeks. Don,t leave the moist mice in the bucket for to long as it can turn your stomach when you need to empty dozens of their rotten carcasses. The first month I used this trap I kept track of the success of it I caught 74 mice in the first month after this I quit keeping track but I am sure I caught hundreds in the two years we were in the trailer.
I'd hate to mention it, but a sump crock is just as effective. One of those things that's just be left unknown...
Weve had great luck with the revolving baitless traps.We'd catch 7-8 at a time.Its true they'll come back from amazing distances too; sometimes I swear they beat us back to the house. Dont use pellets or poison or be prepared for a stench from your heat ducts.Plus any that make it outside on their death march can be picked up by pets and benifical wild critters.
They are rats right?.. they could be flying squirrels partic. if theyre in an attic.Cute boogers.Also it amazing the rukus a simple field mouse can make.
you will never use this method in town unless you want to sued, and maybe be put into jail.
It is anhydrous ammonia you won’t have any smell from the rat. It will have no moisture left in it. It will pull all the water out of the blood, lungs, eyes throat right threw the skin.
Some Farmers use it around the grain bins for rats. you pull the tank up and stick the hose in the rat hole and put some dirt over the hole and then open the tank. No more rats. If the farmer is not careful no more farmer.
re - It is anhydrous ammonia you won’t have any smell from the rat. It will have no moisture left in it. It will pull all the water out of the blood, lungs, eyes throat right threw the skin.
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I was told the baits (legal) available in stores will also dry up the carcass and prevent the stink.
Alan
and if you shop around for bait pellets, the really good ones (in my mind) are the kind that poison the critter that eats them but bio-degrades so quickly in its system that when the owl or house cat catches the staggering, coughing fella (this kind of poison takes many hours to kill) the higher-up-the-food-chain recipient gets nothing more than an easy meal.
And, since the poisoned critter dies slowly, they are less likely to be curled up in their nest in the wall when they expire (so the packaging said of the stuff I bought last time, though I guess it would depend on the characteristics of the critter that was suffering, I guess some would 'go home' when they feel lousy and some would 'stay away from the family' then). Anyway, the point was that they should be easier to get caught and be eaten when they start to slow down and be less likely to end up dead and decaying in your wall.
Though, since a house mouse weighs only a few ounces even several of them decaying at once wouldn't be able to smell all that much would they?
Squirrels on the other hand...
From what I've been told, the poisoned bates dehydrates the critters and prompts them to go searching for water.
And the poison helps dessicate the corpse, usually preventing the rotting and in some unfortunate circumstances, attract the flys/maggots, which could happen in an attic.
Since I started this thread, I want to report I caught only one mouse in the garage.
The loud rodent running sound I thought I heard in the attic may turn out to be the rambunctious squirrels running on the rooftop.
Alan
One rotting mouse inside a wall will smell terrible for 7-10 days. The sticky traps placed near a baseboard or in a corner will be very effective. Buy a roll of the sticky tape that is used for sealing the nailing fins on new windows and cut off a four inch strip then place peanut butter in the middle this will catch several at one time and you can make a hundred traps from one roll for about $12.00
If you have a live mouse in a wall you can remove the baseboard and cut a thin horizontal slot in the drywall just over the bottom plate and slide the sticky tape into the slot while sliding it from side to side until you feel the little sucker get stuck on the tape. Cut up from the slot only enough to get the mouse out of the wall. If your'e careful the baseboard will cover all the cuts that you made in the wall.
Hello Bandit!
Regards,
Rework
Bait blocks and snap traps are my preference. Though the rolling tin over the bucket of water appeals to my Rube Goldberg side.
Any time of year but especially in the fall, with falling temperatures, the critters start looking for nesting spots. Our homes, complete with food water and central heating, are rodent heaven. As an electrician my primary concern is that these pesky varmints will chew through, actually around, cables. Rat damage requires that I have to inspect, visually or by feel, every cable that I can for damage. I follow this with a hi-pot test on each circuit. An average house can take two days and is not easy or cheap.
I have seen 12/3 romex stripped of its jacket and insulation. Gnawed down to three bare copper conductors for about two feet. The cable was still live and in operation. I found it while searching for a problem with a different circuit. Amazing the mice don't seem to get electrocuted as I have never seen a dead rat positioned like it was chewing a cable.
I tell customers to toss a couple of bait blocks in both the attic and crawl space as insurance every 6 months or so as a preventative measure. This is cheap insurance that can, according to a pest control service we use, stop an infestation before it can become entrenched and have a population boom.
I like snap traps also. The reinforcement of hearing and seeing results, the hands on activity and the plotting of strategy appeal to my primitive hunter side. Peanut butter works well. If you kneed it into a cotton ball and then tangle this onto the trigger lever it reduces the number of free meals the rodents get.
Don't wait to attack this problem. Rodents can cause real problems and even burn down the house if let get out of hand. Kill them, relocate them or drive them off as soon as possible. Then seal the place as well as you can. Don't forget the bait blocks every 6 months even if you don't, or think you don't, have these critters.
Thanks for passing along the wisdom.
I do have one old 12 gauge cable (no ground) completely severed where it enters through a top plate with no way to retrieve the other end for splicing.
This damage seems to have occured many years ago but not discovered until we bought the house recently.
I was wondering about some outlets/lights with no power and this is probably the reason.
Luckily, it's the house next door to us and is vacant.
I'll just add it to the list of items that needs to be taken care of.
Alan