# Help with mice



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Traps and more traps. Set some outside as well and check often.

Note, I have learned to tie a string to my traps and secure them to something as some just vanished, still watching out for them.

Anyway, trap until your traps aren't catching anything.

Keep searching for where they are getting in and always keep a few traps out in case a new visitor finds your house.

Eliminate all food inside as well.

Bud


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## John Smith_inFL (Jun 15, 2018)

living out in the country for 50 years, mice is a problem every winter.
the most successful trap I found was the Tom Cat black plastic trap for "mice".
even the small wooden spring snapper works well. I only used peanut butter for bait.
SUGGESTION: always use a string to tie the trap to something the mouse or RAT
can't drag off - which happens very frequently if he is only caught by a leg or two.
I really like the black plastic Tom Cat model. one time I had it set in the carport
and . . . well, one mouse wasn't heavy enough to trip the trigger, two mice didn't 
trip it either. then, the third mouse showed up and BAM !!! one shot ~ three kills,
as the Sniper says from way up in his camouflage perch.


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## CaptTom (Dec 31, 2017)

Snap traps are pretty good. Those black "jaw" traps (there's a white version, too, different brand) can also work well. Never got more than one at a time though!

After extensive experimentation this summer (in a shed with a large mouse population) I've concluded that the best trap I've tried so far is a bucket with a "walk the plank" trap on it. Put a few inches of water in the bucket for a kill trap, or bedding for a live trap. The rolling bar bucket traps didn't perform well in my tests, nor did the metal box with the one-way doors (live trap.) For some reason the mice just had no interest in going in the box, and they were able to tightrope walk far enough along the rolling bar to reach the bait without losing their grip.

There will always be one mouse which gets away, and will shy away from that type of trap forever more. Using multiple types gives you a better chance at getting them all.

I've never found any better bait than peanut butter. Problem is, if you have ants, they'll clean it off pretty quickly. I haven't figured out how to solve that problem yet. I was thinking about ant bait made from borax and peanut butter, but haven't tried it yet.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

CaptTom said:


> Snap traps are pretty good. Those black "jaw" traps (there's a white version, too, different brand) can also work well. Never got more than one at a time though!
> 
> After extensive experimentation this summer (in a shed with a large mouse population) I've concluded that the best trap I've tried so far is a bucket with a "walk the plank" trap on it. Put a few inches of water in the bucket for a kill trap, or bedding for a live trap. The rolling bar bucket traps didn't perform well in my tests, nor did the metal box with the one-way doors (live trap.) For some reason the mice just had no interest in going in the box, and they were able to tightrope walk far enough along the rolling bar to reach the bait without losing their grip.
> 
> ...


For the ant problem I've had, I've found that 5 % seven powder around the trap is a deterrent, at least for the ants I've had a problem with. It keeps them from the humming bird feeder too.


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## ChuckF. (Aug 25, 2013)

I've found you might need a variety of kinds of traps, so if they figure out the wooden ones, you can change to the black plastic ones, or the ones that are like a maze, etc.

There's a kind of spray foam at the home centers that calls itself 'rodent-proof'. Maybe it has poison in it or something.


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## PestGuy (Jan 15, 2018)

Exclusion is key. Find where they are getting in and get it sealed asap.


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## Studly (Feb 27, 2009)

PestGuy said:


> Exclusion is key. Find where they are getting in and get it sealed asap.



I agree. The key is to seal the holes on the outside of the house, and it sounds like the original poster is sealing up the holes on the inside. If you do that, then they still may live in your walls, chew on electrical wires in the walls, etc. 



Go around the perimeter of your house on the outside and fill any holes dime size or larger (and any cracks that you can fit the width of a pencil into) with copper mesh (doesn't rust like steel wool) and expandable foam, which you can get at Home Depot and similar stores. For the copper mesh, check on ebay and the pest control online stores and get a roll of that. Check high and low on your house, including your roof. We had mice getting in our house way up by the roof, under the eaves. They would scale the brick chimney and next up there.



If you can't find all the holes and indoor trapping doesn't work, I'd put bait stations with blocks of "Tomcat with Bromethalin" rodenticide (available at HD) around your house and possibly on the inside if the traps don't work.
Search the web for "mice exclusion" for more tips on finding and filling holes, and where to look on your house for gaps.


Good luck!


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## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

Had a few mice in my barn. Set out Tom Cat traps & liquid TomCat bait. Got two or three mice. Then I wasn't catching any more. But one day, I was going into the barn & right inside the barn door was a stretched out black snake. 


The snake took care of the mouse problem & saved me some money I managed to get the snake onto my broom handle & took him out to the hay field & let him go. I'm happy-snake happy-mice not so happy. Best of all the wife is scared to come into the barn, that's the best part. Finally there's peace in the valley!


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## CaptTom (Dec 31, 2017)

Wait, I don't get it. The snake was keeping the mice population down, and you got rid of it? Seems like I'd want it to stay!


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## Jim F (Mar 4, 2010)

Wire snap traps have always seemed to work best and are cheap. They will get bait shy after a while and leave the traps alone. Jelly beans cut in two and stuck to the bait peddle seem to work as well as peanut butter. The seem to like the black licorice ones. 

But they really have been a problem in the house since we got our current outdoor tom cat. I call him the terminator. he's gotten ghoulish in his old age though. He pulls their heads off or nearly off and that's how I find them. He used to eat the top half only and does still partially eat them sometimes.


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## BrayB (Oct 24, 2018)

Traps are great, I have also found success in putting out food traps as well.


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## riccobo4 (Dec 29, 2017)

I have had a lot of success with poison. I used the one that is a green cube of bait in a black box with a clear plastic lid. I think tomcat brand.


I agree though that multiple lines of attack is the best. Have you seen the homemade trap made from a bucket with a string and a spinning can? They are big but work well for a garage and can kill many without needing to be attended to..


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Because of Missy Starbright Goldylox Butterbutt, the traps here at the ranch are rusting.


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