Diggin It
Super Star Member
What OP needs is a camera recording a 12 hour loop overnight.
What the heck is making these holes?
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/pine
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A couple of observations...if whatever is springing the traps is larger than a mouse you need bigger traps (as has been pointed out)...
secondly...if you're using peanut butter for bait try something different...insects can eat the bait without tripping them...try something like a sunflower seed wedged under the tap OR in the case of the newer (yellow pad) bait tray traps...there is a half moon hole that tightly holds one half of a regular peanut...
The pictures could be a little better but from them it appears that some of the smaller holes may have been bored for a purpose possibly before they were used on the floor...it may be that some of the smaller holes have been enlarged by whatever may or may not be springing the traps...
secondly...if you're using peanut butter for bait try something different...insects can eat the bait without tripping them...try something like a sunflower seed wedged under the tap OR in the case of the newer (yellow pad) bait tray traps...there is a half moon hole that tightly holds one half of a regular peanut...
The pictures could be a little better but from them it appears that some of the smaller holes may have been bored for a purpose possibly before they were used on the floor...it may be that some of the smaller holes have been enlarged by whatever may or may not be springing the traps...
MossRoad
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Anything that's triggering it is smaller than the trap, not larger. The trap bar is going over the critter as it trips. I thought the OP said they were rat traps.
dannoGT
Silver Member
I remember when my younger brother found one of grandpa's old brace and bits out in the shed and proceeded to make all kinds of similar holes in the floor, in the walls in the work bench! No one saw the humour at the time! But we kill ourselves laughing about it now!
MossRoad
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When I was about 3-4 years old, my dad was adding 4 bedrooms and a bathroom onto our house (5 kids). I wanted to help, so he gave me a little hand drill with a 1/8" bit and a block of scrap wood and asked me to drill some holes in it. Well.... I finished that job. So I looked for more wood that needed holes drilled in it. Found about every piece of redwood door trim in the place and put a hole in each one. :laughing:
goeduck
Super Member
We had holes in our metal barn roof that puzzled us until we realized they were all the same caliber. Kids got in there and were shooting at the owls.
Back you your problem, the boards do not look like they were raised based on the debris on them, how do you know it is clean underneath? Got to be some sort of critter.
Back you your problem, the boards do not look like they were raised based on the debris on them, how do you know it is clean underneath? Got to be some sort of critter.
Stomper
Gold Member
Just like Jaws :shark: ....... "you're gonna need a bigger trap!"
Or a smaller ones.......... I'm not sure if it would be mice making the holes but I would bet that they are setting the traps off and licking them clean. IF the Victor rat traps that I have are the same as yours, a mouse trap on steroids, A mouse could sit a lick the trigger clean with out setting it off and even if the trap was tripped it would be highly unlikely that it would hit a mouse that was close enough to the trigger to be licking it. At least on the rat traps I have. I would set a few mouse traps also to see if it is mice licking them clean. I would bet money on it. What ever is setting off the traps clearly isn't getting caught in them. I've have caught squirrels in rat traps that have fought their way out of them and the trap was never in the same location that it was set. Durring the struggle to get itself free it would flip all over the place and move the trap with it until it was free.
Stomper
Gold Member
I totally agree. Been there, done that
crazyal
Super Member
Whenever I use those Victor traps I always tweak the metal piece that holds the arm when set. I make it so the slightest touch will set it off. Can you use Decon or Tom Cat? You may not find out what it is but chances are you'll kill it.
OP
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That is why I screwed them down to the floor. And I have caught “Northern” squirrels in those same traps, by tying a peanut to the trip mechanism. On the other hand, here in Toronto we used the same traps to try and catch squirrels, but the squirrels were so big that they could easily squirm out of them. And by the way, surprisingly enough, we did catch mice in them!