Trapped four mice right in a row...

[sixdogs]

Maybe the mice have gotten smarter and you just caught the stupid ones.

I think my mice were coming from the neighbor's overgrown place 1/8th mile away. After he passed away, the acres were cleaned up and rented for grain farming. Not much in the way of habitat there now and I noticed the decline in mice. Plus I have more snakes and that must help. I've also eliminated anything I have that was temping habitat so as a package, the welcome mat is now gone.

 

[sixdogs]

Here's another four in a row. Am having great results using real, 100% peanut butter-the kind that separates with oil in the jar. I put up a game camera and mice spent hours circling the peanut butter blends but not many took the bait. Most did not hesitate for the 100% peanut butter.

 

[shooterdon]

I started using bucket traps about three years ago. Have caught up to 7 at a time. Cheap and very effective. I use this to pick them out of the RV antifreeze I put in the bottom.

36 in. Pickup and Reach Tool

Amazing deals on this 36In Pickup & Reach Tool at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

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Easy peesy.

One bucket in the tractor building and one in the attached garage.

 

[caver]

I bet you watch some of Shawn Wood's videos. I recently made a rat motel like he talks about in a video. I'm doing what he suggested is to put some bait in there but don't arm the snap trap. He said that helps to get the older wiser more suspicious rats.

 

[oosik]

Does my heart good to see your pic in post #12. God knows - I HATE mice/chipmunks. I've hung up my mouse traps - for now. The last four or five months - I've not seen a single mouse or chipmunk or any "evidence".

What I HAVE seen - coyotes moving directly into my yard. Some in the day but mostly at night. I've always had trouble keeping cats - owl & coyote food. So I very much like this change I've seen with the coyotes.

More power to the coyotes - Mother Nature at her finest.

 

[Jack6378]

Glue traps work good also.

 

[Richard]

Interesting comments. I was going to make a thread but I'll just add here.

Wife said we had a mouse. Found the droppings near the garbage can. (yep)
Later, she (who is prone to getting overly excited) exclaimed that we had a HUGE RAT in the garage and opens her hands up to illustrate to me it's probably 10" long.

I kind of ho-hum that because she can get excited.

Set trap near garbage can, caught a mouse. (this is in kitchen). Saw a dropping in garage that is a LOT larger than the mouse in kitchen so go out to buy a bona fide rat trap.

Week goes by, the bait (usually peanut butter or cheese) gets eaten but nothing trips the trap.

Several days ago, I open door to go into garage....and "omg" what do I see sitting still right in front of me? What I'm told is a "woods rat" (is there really any difference??)

Was minding its own business and MANY places to hide.... it was still so I immediately looked for a weapon. I found a shoe (ha) I figured if nothing else, I could maybe stun it with a good thwack on the head....and I managed to give it a good thwack.

It slowly meandered under some shelfing and just sat there to sort of recollect itself.... meanwhile, I'm looking....looking.... I find some gloves, no, these won't work, too thin. I find a thicker pair.... can't find the mate, there it is, put them both on.

Get a stick and scoot the varmint out from under the shelving....NOW what am I going to do??? I just grabbed it with my left hand. It immediately started to wiggle and fight back, attempting to bite my hand several times. Well, that was a mistake. I took my other gloved hand and gave it a good whack on the head....tried to bite again, another whack. Finally, it was almost like it realized I wasn't going to torture or kill it (though I wanted to kill it my wife would have been crushed had I done so since it's only trying to survive....)

March down towards the lake. I was going to toss him/her (the rat, not the wife lol) into the woods and realized we're too close so kept going. Got to lake and was going to toss into water and let nature take its course, to whatever end. I ended up tossing it onto the beach where the water has been drawn down.

Turned around and came home. Told wife what had just transpired and now I'm in trouble because I didn't contact her. She would have helped me by driving us down the road to get said rat further from the house. I shouldn't have stopped at the lake (blah blah blah.... I knew I should have just drown it)

So I let her know that it was an action with a reaction and no time to sit down and deliberate my move since I had the nibbler in my hand.... and I gave it a chance at life.....should it return, it will be to its demise. (which is generic enough for me to terminate the next one since for all I know it's the same one)

No signs of any brothers/sisters in the garage. Reset the big trap and the bait is simply sitting there, starting to dry out as it gets old. I'm beginning to think we just had the one.

 

[oosik]

Five years ago. Open the hood on the F150. There is a nest big enough for a raccoon - right atop the air cleaner. Later I start the Jeep to go in town. Holy Carp - something just went thru the cooling fan. I look - one very dead mangled wood rat lying on the tie rod.

Bottom line - over the period of eight days - I killed seven wood rats. Never ever seen any in the prior 35 years or since.

And man are they stupid. Open the door - one sitting right on the porch. Close the door - get the pistol - shoot the rat from a distance of five feet. And the remaining six were all the same. Walk right up to them and "BANG".

They don't even seem to acknowledge your presence.

 

[sixdogs]

Does my heart good to see your pic in post #12. ...

After the four in post 12, I did a rinse and repeat with another four the next night, then three, one and two the following nights. It's been areal mouse massacre here and I've never had such success.

The only thing I've done different is to switch to straight 100% peanut butter--the kind with the oil on top. They must prefer it.

 

[Molalla1]

After the four in post 12, I did a rinse and repeat with another four the next night, then three, one and two the following nights. It's been areal mouse massacre here and I've never had such success.

The only thing I've done different is to switch to straight 100% peanut butter--the kind with the oil on top. They must prefer it.

Don't know about that. Our house is over 100 years old (built in 1910) . . . of course it has been extensively remodeled over the years, still over 100 . . . It will go in streaks here (mice), I will go years with none and them boom I'll find signs (always in the kitchen) set my traps underneath the over 100-year + wood cook stove. This just happen last month got 6 in about 8 nights, one was a Biggy. (all I had on hand was chunky PB)