How To Get Rid Of Mice
Getting Rid Of Mice With Spring Loaded Traps - Once you've cleaned up and put food sources out of reach, and you have a reasonably good idea of where the mice are visiting, it's time to set some traps. The traditional approach is to set out a single mouse trap with a piece of cheese in it. People have long used this approach, and probably will continue to do so. There are two things wrong here though. One is, mice aren't all that attracted to cheese. If there is some grain, bread, pet food, or cereal nearby, they'll probably go for that instead. It's not clear where the idea of using cheese got started. It does work; it's just not the best bait you can use. If you insist however, hard cheese such as cheddar is better than soft cheese, only if because it isn't apt to be quite so messy. Bread, peanut butter, and scraps of meat are usually very effective as bait. The second thing that is wrong is the use of only one trap. This might work if you have only one mouse hole, and maybe only one mouse. Setting out several mouse traps, in different locations, is usually much more effective, whether you have one mouse or a dozen.
In the discussion above, the usual type of mousetrap is the familiar snap trap. The bait is placed on a piece of flat metal, called the trip, and a spring-loaded bar is held in place by a catch. When the trip is disturbed, hopefully by the mouse, the catch releases the bar which snaps and kills the mouse. Because of the placement of the trip relative to the bar, the snap trap generally kills the mouse instantly, rather than injuring it. A snap trap designed for mice generally will not work for rats who can usually escape it. The trap though could kill a small house pet, or injure a larger one, so you'll need to be careful where you place it if you have pets, or toddlers, around. When removing a dead mouse from the trap it is always advisable to wear gloves, plus the trap will have to be cleaned if it is to be used again. Plastic traps, where available, can be advantageous in this respect, and some models make it possible to remove the mouse without having to touch it.
Another version of the spring-loaded trap is called a Mouth - trap (not moth trap, or mouse trap misspelled). Instead of a bar, the mouth trap has spring loaded jaws, which snap shut when the bait is disturbed. This type of a trap can inflict more serious injury to something larger than a mouse, so careful thought needs to be given as to its placement.
Other Lethal Methods For Getting Rid Of Mice - Try electrocution. An electric mousetrap, sometimes referred to as a zap trap or zapper trap, works on the principle of the mouse completing a circuit between two charged electrodes, as it approaches the bait. This is not unlike the little zapper lights you hang out on the patio to zap bugs, but is of course larger (and more expensive). Most zap traps are cage-like in design (to enhance the chances of the mouse coming into contact with both electrodes) and are usually battery powered. About the only drawback to these traps is that they are more expensive than the traditional spring loaded trap, and you sometimes will want several of them. Also new batteries might be needed after a few zaps, but they do the trick.
Spring-loaded and electric mouse traps are generally humane, in the sense that they usually kill the mouse instantly, and because of that, people are generally willing to use those kinds of traps. Other methods are not so humane, and one of those methods for getting rid of mice is the glue trap. With this trap, a strong adhesive is placed on a piece of cardboard or plastic, and the bait is place on it as well. When the mouse goes for the bait it becomes glued to the cardboard, in effect stuck. While this method is quite effective, if the trap is not monitored frequently, a mouse can suffer a slow death by starvation. For that reason, many people will not use this type of a trap. If a dog or cat gets stuck on the trap, it is not likely to die from starvation, but it could be an adventure separating the dog or the cat, especially the latter, from the sticky trap. Vegetable oil is said to work, at least that's how the mice are usually removed, if the trap is to be used again.
Another approach is the bucket trap. The principle here is that it is impossible for a mouse to climb out of a steep-sided, smooth-surfaced bucket, pail, or bowl. If there is water in the bowl, the mouse will of course drown. While effective, this can be a cumbersome method, including trying to figure out how to entice the mouse to go into the bucket. Occasionally a dead mouse will be found in a feed bucket that has not been used for some time. It has gone after a few pieces of grain left in the bucket, and can't get back out. If you leave a 5-gallon pail half-filled with water outside for a few days, you may well find a drowned squirrel in it. This is not a suggested method for killing squirrels, but is something that happens by accident. The principle is the same as for the mouse bucket trap.
Poison? Not The Best Solution - There are other methods for getting rid of mice as well, including one we haven't mentioned. That is by using poisoned bait. This should usually be a last resort approach, as too many things can go wrong. A pet or small child can get into it, or the mouse can go inside a wall in your house to die. Worse yet, a rat could do the same. When these rodents are about to die they don't go out in the middle of your lawn, which would be convenient. They usually go to an out-of-the -way, small place, where they feel more secure, like the wall behind your kitchen sink. You won't find the corpse with a stud finder, and may have to take out a section of drywall once the smell becomes overpowering. Poison is just not the best option.
If, in deciding on the best way for getting rid of mice on your property, you settle on a bar-type snap trap baited with a piece of cheddar cheese, that's OK. You more than likely will have some luck, and if you just have one mouse, some luck is all you'll need.