we seem to be suffering a multiplying mouse problem. with 2 young kids there are a lot of crumbs about which clearly doesn't help! anyway, I have a lot of traps out and they aren't being very successful. I've used baits that I've always found to work well before peanut butter in some traps, nutella in some. no luck. I've tried some raisins, no luck, I've tried rice pops/breakfast cereal. its like these mice no what a trap is and just don't touch it!
going to have to get some poison down. although i dislike using that so bait ideas welcomed, please!
Fat balls from the bird feeder.
Mice love 'em.<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> Highly calorific for no work</span>
Ah yes, i'll get some.
we realised we had probably 3-5 mice in the house in the summer and slowly, very slowly caught 3. we weren't convinced we got them all but didn't see sings for a few weeks. over the last week..well...there must have been greater than 1, and they've bred. I've got 11 traps out. I've just found the box of poison. 3 poison trays filled. i much prefer the rapid snap of the neck but needs must.
Peanut butter.
which i tried already. these mice have unusual taste prefernces
Nutella ftw 👍🏼
I’ve got 11 traps out
😳
I'm expecting a post later in the week, "Any cure for the black death?"
Chocolate
Or get the Proctor prebaited snap trap mouse traps.
We used jam the last time we had mice in the house and it worked well
Nutella ftw... Except not this time.
Could try chocolate though, jam too. Ta
Had this issue before, no matter what i put on the trap the mouse wouldn't take it, this went on for months, so i then tried poison but again with no luck, even humane traps didn't work
In the end i had no option but to use a glue trap, horrible things, very inhumane but id had enough, as soon as i heard the mouse had been caught it was quickly dispatched with
Id only recommend it as a last resort and do it when your other half and kids are away
Any future mice will be given the chance to be caught in a humane trap before having the option to die via trap or poison, glue traps are truly the last option
We found that one year they loved Nutella, but the next year they didn't, but jam did - so I think you have to start with no assumptions each time. Having more than one type of trap can sometimes help. We've got two cats now, and no mice…
I don't know about mice, but rats initially will try a new food sparingly, then once they're sure it's safe, will properly go for it. Maybe leave some chosen bait around outside the traps to get them used to it and then consider baiting the traps but not setting them so they get used to them and decide they're safe before setting the traps for real.
If you get bored of conventional traps and want automated, humane killing, I can thoroughly recommend the Good Nature A24 trap - expensive, but kills them well dead. We have one outside and it's taken out 20 assorted rodents in six months or so. Genius, but expensive.
Yes I threw out all my old traps as they weren't working and bought 2 different sets of new ones. That helped I think and I caught some back in the summer.
I've been desperate to avoid the glue traps but I might have to...poo poo and thrice poo. I've had to dispatch a few in recent years that got caught in a snap trap by leg or tail (think the old traps were not working so well as they once had) and it's not nice to have to do.
Wife and kids away currently, which has allowed me to set the place up with me traps and poison. Maybe I should escalate again too the glue strips before they return. Bugger.
Are your traps clean? If they previously killed a mouse they will possibly have had scents on them that warned other rodents to keep away.
Try leaving the trap unloaded but with bait. See if the bait disappears.
Snickers works for me every time.
When we first moved in together I didn't dare tell the wife that I had seen a mouse so was trying to secretly catch it. She then found half a Snickers in my sock drawer and thought I had a secret eating disorder!
we realised we had probably 3-5 mice in the house
Nah, you don't!
Square of dairy milk with a scoop of peanut butter in our traps. We also have a pre baited one that has never caught anything
Some of the traps out are brand new, never caught anything. 3 of them have done the business. In the past I've never had to 'clean" just Chuck the dead mouse out, reset and catch again. Anyway, 8 are fresh traps.
I've resorted this morning to an Amazon order for glue. Sorry mice, but you've got to go.
Wax crayon.
I use a paste made from peanut butter mixed with Nutella (Aldi substitute.....)
Mixed with vegetable oil to squirty consistency this is a killer “pause” bait for rats, as they stop to lap it so they can be picked off with an air rifle and infra red sight, but without too much oil it works well on the little nippers for the mice too.
A man in a bathtub.
leave the traps outside for a couple of weeks, they might smell of human.
Edit: Mrs Sims has caught them with a Tupperware box and 30 cm ruler! I can send her round if you like 😜.
I think it was only to prove me wrong when I said “ you’ll never catch it with those”
Peanut butter was also effective for me when I was serial killing them.
If they have a safe food source they won't go looking for another. You need to get down to Lakeland and put everything edible in an airtight container first.
Then your traps will look appetising.
Sounds like you need to go to DEFCON1 - get a cat! 😁
American hard gums work really well.
Boris Johnsons testicles - first they get stabbed on a medal spike, then nibbled by a mouse, then a metal bar slams shut on them.
I don't bait my traps anymore, I just put them in strategic places on their trails. I have created 'bottle necks' using bits of wood behind filing cabinets and shelves etc in my garage, with the traps at the end. You have to get smart with them if they aren't taking the bait. The traps I use have a platform that sets the trap off when the little blighters step on it.
I had this issue and nothing worked.
I resolved it with a cat.
a sexy lady mouse.
Worse one I read recently was a mixture of cocoa powder and plaster of Paris. Mouse has a feed, desperately needs a drink, runs off for a swift half and kapow! Disgusting and evil but you might end up with some interesting paperweights and jewelry.
Might be worth giving suet pellets a try, there’s always lots of bits lying under the Acer where I hang the bird feeders, the hedgehogs often go after them as an entreé before starting on the main course of dog meat and crunchy pockets, and for a while there was a rat living under the shed, which would dash out and grab bits then dash back, literally in seconds. Haven’t seen it for some time, probably nabbed by one of the cats that infest my garden.
I've had some success with vegetable oil. Soak little bits of kitchen roll in it, bait traps as normal.
Just caught two using very small pieces of Cadbury's Dairy Milk in the trap. First one within five minutes of setting the trap.
Jaffa cakes.
I've set one turned round to set another and the little bastard had already been dispatched.
And feed you child in the bath to prevent crumbs?
A man in a bathtub.
Made I larf anyway...thanks