Rat and mouse traps

[JK22]

I was out with a biologist a while back and made the comment about snakes eating mice. He said "not as many as people think". I don't know if he meant snakes in general, or just our common garter snakes.

Pet snakes eat once a week, pretty much regardless of what kind. So yea... they probably don’t eat many mice.

 

[gstrom99]

I use Duke or Freedom Brand (lots of choices) dog proof traps, to catch raccoons. I have found several rats in the traps, caught head first.

 

[sixdogs]

Voles chew off my fruit trees below ground. Hate them.

We had similar issues including white grubs (Japanese beetles) and all the critters that feed on them and then my fruit trees. Moles and voles come for the grubs and stay for the trees. Take away their primary food sources. One is the grubs that seem to be everywhere. Maybe it's a problem at your place. Voles and moles eat 24/7 and grubs are easy pickin'.

By accident, I put down the spring grub killer "Acelypryn". It's a chemical added to fertilizer or just granules you broadcast. I like to broadcast granules as opposed to liquid because it gets in all the hidden spots. Anyway, after the first year, grub population was near zero and beetles down maybe only 85% because of their two year emerging cycle. The burrowing and critter population was way down, especially as summer progressed. Year two had zero grubs and I could not find a burrowing critter. I'm sold on Acelypryn. It's lower impact and doesn't hurt honey bees.

Just an FYI.

 

[Jstpssng]

I use Duke or Freedom Brand (lots of choices) dog proof traps, to catch raccoons. I have found several rats in the traps, caught head first.

What do you use for bait? I've heard that marshmallows work well.
I bought one of those a few years ago when the coons were killing my chickens, but before it arrived I took care of them with "other methods."

 

[two_bit_score]

We had similar issues including white grubs (Japanese beetles) and all the critters that feed on them and then my fruit trees. Moles and voles come for the grubs and stay for the trees. Take away their primary food sources. One is the grubs that seem to be everywhere. Maybe it's a problem at your place. Voles and moles eat 24/7 and grubs are easy pickin'.

By accident, I put down the spring grub killer "Acelypryn". It's a chemical added to fertilizer or just granules you broadcast. I like to broadcast granules as opposed to liquid because it gets in all the hidden spots. Anyway, after the first year, grub population was near zero and beetles down maybe only 85% because of their two year emerging cycle. The burrowing and critter population was way down, especially as summer progressed. Year two had zero grubs and I could not find a burrowing critter. I'm sold on Acelypryn. It's lower impact and doesn't hurt honey bees.

Just an FYI.

Very interesting FYI - thank you for the information.

I'm curious about what concentration you used. Some of that stuff is expensive.

 

[goeduck]

We had similar issues including white grubs (Japanese beetles) and all the critters that feed on them and then my fruit trees. Moles and voles come for the grubs and stay for the trees. Take away their primary food sources. One is the grubs that seem to be everywhere. Maybe it's a problem at your place. Voles and moles eat 24/7 and grubs are easy pickin'.

By accident, I put down the spring grub killer "Acelypryn". It's a chemical added to fertilizer or just granules you broadcast. I like to broadcast granules as opposed to liquid because it gets in all the hidden spots. Anyway, after the first year, grub population was near zero and beetles down maybe only 85% because of their two year emerging cycle. The burrowing and critter population was way down, especially as summer progressed. Year two had zero grubs and I could not find a burrowing critter. I'm sold on Acelypryn. It's lower impact and doesn't hurt honey bees.

Just an FYI.

Very good information, do you know it it is taken up by the fruit trees? That would be a downside.

 

[5030]

Got my Ketch All with the drowning attachment in the mail the other day and put it to immediate use and got 4 in a single night. All did the fatal backstroke.

 

[5030]

Voles chew off my fruit trees below ground. Hate them.

Not an issue here. The outside cats get them. Must be tasty too.

 

[5030]

Tell her, that I know from first hand experience,, that mice swim about as good as Fat Albert!!
IT is FAST :thumbsup:

See #107 and chuckle...

 

[Alien]

Got my Ketch All with the drowning attachment in the mail the other day and put it to immediate use and got 4 in a single night. All did the fatal backstroke.

The magpies here watch me empty the traps and come down to clean up the mice I throw out. They love them.

 

[sixdogs]

Very good information, do you know it it is taken up by the fruit trees? That would be a downside.

I can't imagine hurting trees if it won't hurt honeybees. Check the label directions for Acelypryn granules. The label tells you everything you need to know including application, upsides and downside.

We found, by accident, that getting rid of food sources and hiding places has helped dramatically with mice and other vermin. I put fresh gravel around the pole barns and blocked as much access as possible. Eliminated as much food as I could. Normally, I catch a fair number of mice in the fall but after a year of cleaning up have only caught around 10. There were times 20 years ago when I caught a couple hundred. I've done threads on it with a picture of four mice in traps just inches apart. They aren't that smart. Eat, hide and reproduce.

 

[5030]

The magpies here watch me empty the traps and come down to clean up the mice I throw out. They love them.

...and my wife thinks they are 'cute'....

 

[Alien]

No mice for about a week now and no signs. Cross fingers I got them all. Funny, my step son and grand-daughter have both bought the electronic traps now. They were impressed.

 

[goeduck]

Oh they will be BAAAACK. But good job, be diligent. !

 

[sixdogs]

I can't imagine hurting trees if it won't hurt honeybees. Check the label directions for Acelypryn granules. The label tells you everything you need to know including application, upsides and downside.

We found, by accident, that getting rid of food sources and hiding places has helped dramatically with mice and other vermin. I put fresh gravel around the pole barns and blocked as much access as possible. Eliminated as much food as I could. Normally, I catch a fair number of mice in the fall but after a year of cleaning up have only caught around 10. There were times 20 years ago when I caught a couple hundred. I've done threads on it with a picture of four mice in traps just inches apart. They aren't that smart. Eat, hide and reproduce.

Here's another four mice in traps just inches apart. I'm more of. trap guy than a bucket trap guy so I just pile them together, put Jiffy PB on and show up the next AM to empty. No catch and release here.

And, just set a bunch of traps with a hair trigger and they can['t wait to try the bait.

 

[Alien]

Good catch.
Most mornings I sit on my front porch and have a cuppa. My chinese crested pup seemed to sniff around one area near the house pressure pump each day. I thought maybe she was smelling mice so I set a trap there. Sure enough I got a mouse night before last and 2 last night. They are still around.
So, mouse tally is now 28 and only 1 rat that I got in my tractor barn. Better keep baiting traps I guess. Magpies are well fed anyway.

 

[rangerfredbob]

I've caught about that many lately, average of one a day for about a month, sometimes 2, sometimes 0, sometimes 4... been a few days since I've gotten any, not that I'm sad, but then again they might be catching on, I saw a mouse or vole 20' away from the shed I've been trapping them in...

 

[Alien]

Update.
Few more mice and a couple of rats later.
I found that sometimes the bait was disappearing yet no animal. I worked out that the mice were coming in the end holes in the trap instead of the main entrance thus avoiding the shock bars. I modified the trap and 100% catch success now. My wife wants to get two more traps as she is a bit tense about having mice and rats around any time.
Pic shows the modification I did to the trap.

 

[goeduck]

I really like the bucket traps. Check them once a week to dispose of the mice and refresh the PB about once a month. Ramp is on the bottom for those that want to spin the bottle and go for a swim.

 

[Fuddy1952]

We got a new trap.