Author Topic: Mice  (Read 3028 times)

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Offline DC

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Mice
« on: April 27, 2020, 07:27:45 pm »
I think we have at least one mouse wandering around our house. I've been after him/her(I hope not) for about a week. I have eight Victor traps out. I've tried peanut butter(licked clean except for the stuff under the trigger), pretzels(ignored), Tootsie Rolls(ignored in the house but I did catch a rat with it in the crawl space) and tonight I'm trying sunflower seeds hot glued to the trigger. Funny thing is the only thing we've noticed is that they've chewed off houseplants. A Ti plant. a Jade plant and a cactus of some kind. They have also pulled off some carpet close to a crack between the wall and the floor. The crack is only about 1/8" by 3", too small for them to go through. Our gut feeling is that they/it are trying to get out. Any thoughts? It's starting to get to me. I sure wouldn't make any money as a trapper :D

Offline Pat B

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Re: Mice
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2020, 09:10:35 pm »
I use the same trap with a piece of dry dog food wired to the trigger also cheese squished into the trigger. Both work good.  I tried hot glue but nothing messed with it.
 Oh, by the way, you never have just one mouse.  ;)
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Hawkdancer

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Re: Mice
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2020, 11:40:34 pm »
They can get through a very small crease!  I agree with Pat B, there isn't ever only one!  Ham fat spread on the trigger works, just enough to encourage a firm hit!  Keep a trap line loaded!
Hawkdancer
Life is far too serious to be taken that way!
Jerry

Offline willie

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Re: Mice
« Reply #3 on: April 28, 2020, 12:49:35 am »
put the end of trap against the wall. the end without the bait.

Offline Mesophilic

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Re: Mice
« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2020, 12:58:28 am »
I use the sticky traps with a smidge of peanut butter in the center.  Never failed to catch a mouse yet with that combo.

Yeah, they're single use, but with my temperament, I'd be punching holes in the walls and baseboards with a pellet gun by now in an attempt to shoot the darn things.
Trying is the first step to failure
-Homer Simpson-

Offline GlisGlis

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Re: Mice
« Reply #5 on: April 28, 2020, 02:35:22 am »
try the rolling can trap
it's DIY and it's very difficult to pick the peanutbutter without falling in

Offline chamookman

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Re: Mice
« Reply #6 on: April 28, 2020, 02:40:13 am »
I super glued a chunk of Frito on the Pan- took 4 in a row  :OK ! Bob
"May the Gods give Us the strength to draw the string to the cheek, the arrow to the barb and loose the flying shaft, so long as life may last." Saxon Pope - 1923.

Offline JEB

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Re: Mice
« Reply #7 on: April 28, 2020, 05:25:39 am »
Couple of ways I do it around the hunting camp.

super glue  a kernel of corn to the trap catch. They can't steal it on you.

take a gallon ice cream bucket and fill it half full of water. Sprinkle sun flower seeds on to the water. place it near a wall and lay a board on an angle to it. 

Both of these have worked real good. I don't have them inside the cabin but in the out house and other buildings.

I also take rat traps and screw them to a tree, super glue corn to the catch to get rid of the red squirrels.   

Offline bjrogg

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Re: Mice
« Reply #8 on: April 28, 2020, 05:33:18 am »
Maybe you need to ask outback about his figure 4 deadfall on page 2 of primitive section. He’s doing pretty good thinning the herd. :-T
Bjrogg
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Offline osage outlaw

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Re: Mice
« Reply #9 on: April 28, 2020, 05:50:57 am »
Adopt a cat from the pound.
I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left

Offline Marc St Louis

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Re: Mice
« Reply #10 on: April 28, 2020, 07:21:25 am »
They can get through a very small crease!  I agree with Pat B, there isn't ever only one!  Ham fat spread on the trigger works, just enough to encourage a firm hit!  Keep a trap line loaded!
Hawkdancer

There can be only one...if you've already caught the other one :-)

I use a raisin stuffed into the hole at the end of the trigger then peanut butter slathered over that.
Home of heat-treating, Corbeil, On.  Canada

Marc@Ironwoodbowyer.com

Offline DC

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Re: Mice
« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2020, 09:46:12 am »
Has anyone run across them eating houseplants? I searched Google and the best I can find is that they will dig in the soil around the plant but I couldn't find anything about them eating the plant. It's a strange behaviour to me.

Offline mullet

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Re: Mice
« Reply #12 on: April 28, 2020, 10:13:09 am »
I wire a small piece of Bologna on with peanut butter on the trigger then dribble honey over it. Works every time.
Lakeland, Florida
 If you have to pull the trigger, is it really archery?

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Mice
« Reply #13 on: April 28, 2020, 10:18:27 am »
Sticky traps are fail proof. I put a peanut or almond right in the middle. 100% success.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline Hummingbird Point

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Re: Mice
« Reply #14 on: April 28, 2020, 10:31:11 am »
For mice nothing is better than the old fashioned snap traps.  Bait with salami or pepperoni, stuck into the bait hook on the pan, or if no hook, tie down with dental floss.  Set against the wall as willie says, placement is very important the biggest mistake most people make.

But:  Mice can't help but leave droppings everywhere they go and are very easy to catch, so combined with the fact that you caught a rat in the crawlspace, I don't think you are chasing a mouse.  Norway rats are hard to trap (roof rats not so much).  A rat sized snap trap set the same as above for mice may work.  I usually just poison rats and accept the fact that I may be looking for a smelly corpse a few weeks later.  The trap I have found that actually works the best for them is a chipmunk/squirrel sized live (cage) trap baited with oil type sunflower seeds (bird seed) or dry pet food.  Of course, you then have a live rat to deal with...