How to catch a mouse

He's not usually that shy. We see him quite often, and he often rustles about in our vicinity even if we're openly going about our business.

That said, while tidying the mess that is our outhouse, I found evidence that that's his epicentre of activity, and in it I found a bust open bag of grass seed which had clearly been his food reserve. I've chucked that, so now he has more incentive to go for the bait.

 

My traps are rubbish. Just seen Mickey, walking away from an undetonated trap. All the peanut butter cleared from the trap.

I've reloaded it.

 

What sort are you using?

 

This is what I'm using in the chicken-hut. I could understand them getting away scot-free with hard cheese, but like Clue, they're licking the spike clean of peanut butter without releasing the spring! Ingenious!

 

Cheapo conventional spring traps. 4 for a quid.

They've dispatched 2 mice so far.

 

If that's 'conventional' wood & wire traps, I've given up on them as the ones around these days seem so shoddily made that mice can continually steal bait from the spike on the platform without triggering them, so use the plastic ones with a small plastic 'cup' positioned within the 'trigger' platform and baited with peanut butter.

Catching 2 suggests you have a whole brood of them about.

 

@Scrungee can you find us a picture of a plastic trap please, minus vermin content of course.

 

I've got a few of those (plus a few of the larger rat version) bought reduced at Wilko.

I've also got loads of these 'Big Cheese' type traps, bought in packs of 2 from 99p shop, and from Tesco Direct when in Sale at £1 for 2 using 'doubled up' points.



The 'box' gets used where there's bids and/or pets about. That's only part of my collection of traps as sometimes I catch 4 at a time in my greenhouse next to the hen run, where if left alone they'll eat seeds and dig around in seed trays. Caught 2 in the same trap a few times.

I keep a part used jar of Tesco Value peanut butter handy and leave a short plastic plant label in it to neatly apply bait to the plastic cups. I think they come with a pellet of bait in them, but I haven't found that very effective and immediately replace it with peanut butter.