A tail of two mousetraps....

[Conrad]

Maybe I'm using the wrong bait in my traps.

[B.D.F.]

The problem with that Conrad is that you are limiting yourself to the heterosexual mice. What about the homosexual mice- they are gonna' walk right past ole' Minnie. They might go for Minelli (Liza) but you ain't gonna' get to many straight mice with bait like that.

But everybody loves Jif! Even the vegetarian mice. Even the vegan mice. Why, I think you might even get a Jewish mouse on the Sabbath- sure they are not supposed to eat but what's a little nosh when nobody's lookin'? Just make sure you are using Jif is Kosher. The Islamic mice wouldn't even stop and consider before diving in. Same thing regarding Indian mice (south Asia). Now for the Asian mice, you might catch them with peanut butter, or you might need to put a drop or two of soy sauce on the peanut butter.

Brian

Maybe I'm using the wrong bait in my traps.

[cugsy]

Jeez and shucks...etc. Note to self - turn on transatlantic translation module before confusing them lil' ol hill billies. Is hill billies one word?  I used to catch 'em and release the mice bit I'm certain they just laughed and ran back in the garage or house. House that used to belong to the railway line and was used to house the resident level crossing operator - level crossing ...er...don't know what that is in yankese. 
 Waders - not a bird that paddles. But fishing trousers...
 No pets except goldfish and they don't like peanut butter. Or get to the garage.
 Leathers - er...leather trouser and jacket for riding a 'sickle...or is it mo'cickle? Languages eh?
 And I'm 1/72 cherokee or so I'm told ...or is it sioux...or inuit?   

[Conrad]

The problem with that Conrad is that you are limiting yourself to the heterosexual mice. What about the homosexual mice- they are gonna' walk right past ole' Minnie. They might go for Minelli (Liza) but you ain't gonna' get to many straight mice with bait like that.

But everybody loves Jif! Even the vegetarian mice. Even the vegan mice. Why, I think you might even get a Jewish mouse on the Sabbath- sure they are not supposed to eat but what's a little nosh when nobody's lookin'? Just make sure you are using Jif is Kosher. The Islamic mice wouldn't even stop and consider before diving in. Same thing regarding Indian mice (south Asia). Now for the Asian mice, you might catch them with peanut butter, or you might need to put a drop or two of soy sauce on the peanut butter.

Brian

Wow, too many things to consider in this mouse hunt!

You're confusing your mice Brian. Minnie is/was Mickey's girlfriend. Pearl Pureheart and Mitzi were Mighty Mouse's girlfriends.

Pearl


Mitzi


After the Mighty Mouse cartoon ran it's course Pearl Pureheart ran onto hard times and had to do what she could to make ends meet.

[B.D.F.]

Well, hillbillies really only come from one section of the country. A better term might be colonists.

Railway house- got it but still has no meaning in regards to what type of house that might be.

Waders- yep that term ever works here but I was thinking of some strange and magical thing that you would use while eating something strange and unusual such as 'steak and kidney' pie.... from a can no less.

Leathes- yep, that term works here as well, I was looking for something more.... foreign I guess.

No opinion on the American Indian component; it won't do you any good here. But if you were 1/16th Indian, you could work at a local casino! 

Mice- me too- I used to let the little rascals outside but realized I caught the same one twice because it was an odd gray / spotted color. That is when I realized there was only one way to stop them. Too bad they behave like animals because otherwise they are cute, cuddly little things. But nesting in things I like is bad, eating parts off things I like (easy boys! I meant my mechanical things!) is worse so they got to go.

Brian

Jeez and shucks...etc. Note to self - turn on transatlantic translation module before confusing them lil' ol hill billies. Is hill billies one word?  I used to catch 'em and release the mice bit I'm certain they just laughed and ran back in the garage or house. House that used to belong to the railway line and was used to house the resident level crossing operator - level crossing ...er...don't know what that is in yankese. 
 Waders - not a bird that paddles. But fishing trousers...
 No pets except goldfish and they don't like peanut butter. Or get to the garage.
 Leathers - er...leather trouser and jacket for riding a 'sickle...or is it mo'cickle? Languages eh?
 And I'm 1/72 cherokee or so I'm told ...or is it sioux...or inuit?   

[Outback_Jon]

No opinion on the American Indian component; it won't do you any good here. But if you were 1/16th Indian, you could work at a local casino! 

Or, you could just claim to be and get elected senator from Massachusetts.   

Yeah, I know this isn't the Arena...   

[VirginiaJim]

You're right, it isn't.

[Cold Streak]

Glue traps.  That is all.

The nice thing about glue traps is when your wife (now ex) goes down to the kitchen in the morning and you hear an EEK, then hear her leave the house immediately.  When I went down a bit later, I found two mice on the glue trap and they had managed to drag it out into the middle of the kitchen floor.  Hee hee. 

I guess I'll get called cruel for having them die a slow death on the glue trap, but I don't have much in the way of feelings for the little b'stards.  I sometimes will dump the trap into a pail of water and end their suffering that way, or I'll just throw them in the trash can if it's cold out, knowing they'll be dead very soon.

[Conrad]

Glue traps.  That is all.

The nice thing about glue traps is when your wife (now ex) goes down to the kitchen in the morning and you hear an EEK, then hear her leave the house immediately.  When I went down a bit later, I found two mice on the glue trap and they had managed to drag it out into the middle of the kitchen floor.  Hee hee. 

I guess I'll get called cruel for having them die a slow death on the glue trap, but I don't have much in the way of feelings for the little b'stards.  I sometimes will dump the trap into a pail of water and end their suffering that way, or I'll just throw them in the trash can if it's cold out, knowing they'll be dead very soon.

Personally, I would never use a glue trap. I saw a mouse ounce who got stuck on one of those traps and he/she half skinned itself trying to get loose from the glue. He was dead when I saw him but that image still lingers in my mind. He must have died an agonizing death.

I know that I'm stupid about this but that's just how I roll.

[tweeter55]

I'm with you, Conrad. As much as I don't like them, I owe them a swift ending. Same as being an ethical hunter.

[B.D.F.]

Well just look at us- tough guy bike riders, straight razor shavin', real fine examples of American manhood! Except about the mice.... 

I caught one one time in a mechanical trap but it wasn't dead, just wounded. The trap had him but he was still scurrying around..... or trying to at least but he was way too hurt to recover. I ended up drowning him but I couldn't look while I did it. Wusses, all of us. I can't do the sticky traps or the bucket drowning either even if they are better or more efficient.

Brian

I'm with you, Conrad. As much as I don't like them, I owe them a swift ending. Same as being an ethical hunter.

[Son of Pappy]

So, add a cone in a bucket without water, kinda like a bee trap.  Take the volunteers to the local pet store for the "pets" to feed on

[B.D.F.]

Yeah, not 'at my house'. My son had a snake and wanted to raise mice to feed it- not in my house. He fed the snake frozen rodents (rats I think) but nothing alive- he did take the snake to a friend's house and try a live mouse but apparently it bit the snake and put it off to eating live, moving food. I called him Mary Jane Tinklesnake.

Brian

So, add a cone in a bucket without water, kinda like a bee trap.  Take the volunteers to the local pet store for the "pets" to feed on

[Steve in Sunny Fla]

Well just look at us- tough guy bike riders, straight razor shavin', real fine examples of American manhood! Except about the mice.... 

I caught one one time in a mechanical trap but it wasn't dead, just wounded. The trap had him but he was still scurrying around..... or trying to at least but he was way too hurt to recover. I ended up drowning him but I couldn't look while I did it. Wusses, all of us. I can't do the sticky traps or the bucket drowning either even if they are better or more efficient.

Brian

I've hunted for years and killed a lot of animals with arrows. I've had to slit a few throats, too. Never liked it, but the idea is to kill the animal, not make it suffer. Many animals will die so you and I can live. That's life at the top of the food chain. But that comes with responsibility, too - efficient killing in necessary, anything less is a failure. You're just being a good human. Steve

[B.D.F.]

Quick update: went out to the garage today to get the bike out (a balmy 39 F and a very pleasant ride to meet some other concours folk for lunch) and found I had caught both a cat and a mouse. The cat was not in a trap of any kind, just in the garage; I think I caught it with the automatic garage door opener.... again. So I set the cat loose and went onto the mouse:

I believe this is the third mouse I have caught with the more traditional mouse trap. There is a pedal type of trigger with a bait pit in the center, and the top of the trap is lifted against the spring and waiting..... waiting..... waiting for that pesky mouse. So this puts the score at 3:0 in favor of the trap that kills mice dead vs. the trap that kills mice fast. Now to be honest, it could be that the 'kills 'em dead' trap is simply the first one in line on the old mouse highway in my garage. ?? But to be sure, none of those poor mice have yet been interested in the other, I think far more interesting, mouse trap to stroll on over and take a test- bite or two from its little, covered bait well. My own personal opinion is that the trap that is actually getting the mice is awfully ominous looking and I would not even approach it but I only have my own (human) and Kirby's (squirrel) points of view.

Oh yes, we are still working on the original bait samples; both traps are full of bait, it is getting old but the mice partaking of the first trap are getting deader more quickly then they are getting fed so that trap also remains full of bait.

Brian

[Conrad]

My own update...

Since placing over 20 peanut butter baited traps, along with one bucket trap, in my garage. I have only caught one critter and it wasn't even a mouse, it was a very small mole (I'm sorry Mr Mole). I have not seen any evidence of mice in the garage so I'm hoping that they are not coming in. There's a hawk that has set up housekeeping in the tree next to my garage, so I'm hoping that the hawk is taking his share. We have lots of owls around too so maybe they're helping to keep the mouse population down as well.

[tweeter55]

Hate to break the news to you, Conrad. The reason predators are in the area is because the prey is there.
 

[VirginiaJim]

I hate moles more than anything.  Destructive little beasts.  I've often thought about catching one and nailing his carcass to one of my fence posts..  Lucky for them I don't have much luck in catching them.  I've found that spreading out the grub pesticide appears to work wonders with keeping them away...

[Conrad]

Hate to break the news to you, Conrad. The reason predators are in the area is because the prey is there.
 

As long as the prey is staying out of my garage!

[alexx45]

This has been one of the more entertaining threads I've reads in a long time. Thank you everyone. In my limited experience with pest control I found that if I put a raisin in the bait portion of the trap and cover it with peanut butter then I got 100% results. It seems the peanut butter attracts the rodents but the sweet tast of the raisin makes them want to take a bite there-by tripping the trap. This has worked equally well for me in both the small mouse traps and the larger RAT traps.