Mouse in the house

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
What the best bait for a snap trap? I've always put peanut butter in the trap but sometimes they ignore it. I've heard some bacon or pork fat will be irresistible. I just found some chewed up hotdog buns this morning in the pantry. When I get home from work, I'll be setting a trap or two.
 

CountryRN

Twelve Pointer
I always used cheese but I mashed it onto the trigger lever really good and then burnt it around the edges with a lighter to make it harder to get off.
 

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Peanut butter never fails......choosey mice prefer JIF in a national survey.....LOL
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
I just figured out where the mouse came from. In the 17 years I lived in the house, I've only had mice twice. The first time was last spring. I was getting granite countertops in the kitchen which is next to the entry door from the garage. The workmen left the door open all morning while they worked. Two mice got into the house. I had a third one in the garage that chewed up my garden seeds. Yesterday, I was replacing the deadbolt on my front door. Even though the new dead bolt was the same brand as the previous one (Schlage), it was slightly larger in diameter. So I had to make the hole larger so I was going back and forth to the garage for tools. I left the front door cracked open. The first sign of a mouse was this morning on the eaten hotdog buns. Hamburger buns and bread were not touched nearby. Hopefully it's just this one mouse and he didn't bring any buddies. There is a big enough gap at the bottom of the pantry door for mice to enter.
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Take a Q tip, rub the peanut butter into the cotton. Then cut that end off and wedge it into the hole of the trip lever. Their teeth get hung in the cotton easier and they'll trip it sooner....
 

30/06

Twelve Pointer
I think the mouse is trying to tell you something with his choice in treats, he'll come right in to a hot dog.
 

Cannonball

Six Pointer
Another trick similar to the q-tip is to hot glue a very small piece of pecan to the trigger ( pan ). Then I like to place some cheese on the pecan and then I burn it with a lighter. The burnt cheese and pecan will create a scent that ole mr mouse cannot resist. If he is nearby you will have him in short order.
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
Take a Q tip, rub the peanut butter into the cotton. Then cut that end off and wedge it into the hole of the trip lever. Their teeth get hung in the cotton easier and they'll trip it sooner....

Good suggestion on the Q-Tip. I've always wondered how a mouse can lick a trap clean without triggering it.
 

Harpoon

Guest
I had a pack of those cheap o traps from the Dollar store......a mouse can stand on the end and it may not trip.

Went and bought a national name brand at ACE, two out of three snapped on their own....

Old style traps were better, imo...rod through the trip lever.

(Was two moles in garage...kind of strange.)
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
After the first night with traps set, there is no evidence of a mouse in the pantry. Nothing else has been eaten that I can see. I can think of one of two scenarios. The first is that the mouse is now somewhere else in the house. Since the pantry has the main food source other than the dog bowl in the kitchen, it should come back eventually. The second scenario is that the mouse got its trapped in something. There are other things stored in the pantry other than food. There are empty containers being stored. It may have fallen and can't get out.:) This weekend I may empty a lot of shelves to look for any other packages of food it chewed into and for anything it may have crawled into and can't get out. I also need to clean up the feces it dropped.
 

Zombie

Old Mossy Horns
Always agreed with "match the hatch" in fishing...I'd use bread, lol

Sent from.......wait....where am I?!
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
After several days of inactivity, I was starting to wonder if the mouse got trapped in some container and couldn't get out. This morning I checked the two traps I put in the pantry. There was new mouse poop near them. I used longrifles suggestion to put peanut butter on a Q-tip and jam it into the trap. This morning one of the traps had a nicely licked off Q-tip in the trigger. The mouse did a thorough job. The mouse also didn't trip the trap. The traps I'm using are the cheap Victor traps.

I may buy a few glue traps. This mouse is very good at avoiding the triggering of the traps.
 

jhwilli2

Eight Pointer
This may be the most interesting read we have had on here in a while. Are you using trail cams to track his movement? Just a thought. What about baiting? I think I'm starting to pull for the mouse...
 

Foothillsd1

Six Pointer
Ive had this same problem just a couple weeks ago. I live in a very old house with a root cellar type basement. Anyway I saw a mouse run by one night while watching tv. I set two traps then put out poison pellets as well.

I used bread with peanut butter. That next day all the poison was gone and the traps had been tripped, and the bait was missing. Fast forward to that night the mouse was just sitting in the door way of my kitchen. I went and got the dust pan and smashed him. I guess he ate the poison and came out to die. Was lethargic and that's why I got a crack at him.

So I would suggest using the two prong attack with poison and traps unless you have crawling babies.
 

wolfpacker

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
The triple threat of traps, sticky pads and poison has been working good for me. I have really been slaying them the last few weeks in crawlspace and storage room. Jhwilli2, I will hope to have some trail cam pics for you next week. Make sure to put some bait in the middle of the sticky pads.
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
The reason I don't want to use poison is that my house is pretty tight. The mice are not coming through holes in the house. Any poisoned mouse won't escape back to the outside so I won't know where it died unless I smell it or stumble upon it. In my dad's hunting cabin, it was different since there were plenty of places for them to enter so we used poison.
 
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