Tips for Catching a Clever Mouse in Your House - Peanut Butter Trap Hacks

[wadesgirl]

There is a mouse in my house!! I've seen it, the cats have tracked it around the house but don't do anything to it! Usually peanut butter on a trap works perfect but this one has been the king of getting the peanut butter off the trap without setting the trap off. Or in the case this morning some how set the trap without getting squashed in it an then too all the peanut butter off it. Any other tips?

 

[chefmickey1]

Try using Marshmallow Fluff instead of peanut butter - harder for them to get off the trap before it gets 'em.

 

[Kjurich]

Sticky traps . . . they step on it to eat the PB then they can't get off. . . the only problem is they are still alive. . . it then becomes my husbands issue. . .

 

[Sheila]

Oh, I did the sticky trap one time and it broke my heart! The mouse was stuck & scared. When I went in to get the trap, I scared him & he fell over sideways trying to get away. then he was REALLY stuck and squealing. I think a fast death is much more humane. I ended up having to put another sticky trap on top, hoping he'd suffocate fast ... and threw him in the trash outside so I couldn't hear him suffering. I've never bought another one of those traps again. Even though it was a mouse that I didn't want in my house, it just seemed so cruel to see/hear him suffering like that.

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

I hate the sticky traps too for the same reason as Sheila. Kill 'em quick is my motto. I typically use peanut butter or confiscated halloween candy of some sort. One of my grad students ties a piece of bacon with dental floss onto the trap. I may have to experiment with this one. lol

 

[wadesgirl]

Okay we'll try the marshmallow fluff tonight! Just another excuse for my husband to make peanut butter marshmallow fluff sandwiches! I had mentioned the sticky traps last night. We'll use that as a last resort.

 

[pchockeymom]

A stick of gum works too. They eat it but can't digest it so they die. Serves 'em right.

 

[wadesgirl]

A stick of gum works too. They eat it but can't digest it so they die. Serves 'em right.

Yah I don't want it to die in the house, I want to trap it and throw it away! I'm already scared of the cats finding it behind the couch and killing it or leaving it there!

 

[wadesgirl]

Ding dong the mouse is dead! All it took was for me to take over, get the peanut butter slathered onto the trap (apparently all DH did was put a glob on top) and set it up in the right spot. Within 30 minutes it was taken care of!

 

[NooraK]

Ding dong the mouse is dead! All it took was for me to take over, get the peanut butter slathered onto the trap (apparently all DH did was put a glob on top) and set it up in the right spot. Within 30 minutes it was taken care of!

If you want it done right, you've got to do it yourself...

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

isn't it the greatest sense of accomplishment when you kill the little rodent in less than an hour! LOVE IT!

 

[Sheila]

Glad your problem is resolved!

 

[wadesgirl]

Yah but DH is still asking for Marshmallow Fluff!

 

[raebates]

Ding dong the mouse is dead! All it took was for me to take over, get the peanut butter slathered onto the trap (apparently all DH did was put a glob on top) and set it up in the right spot. Within 30 minutes it was taken care of!

Did you sing the dead mousey song?

Dead Mousey Song
[Sung to the tune of Ding Dong the Witch is Dead]

Ding dong the mousey's dead
The mousetrap
It snapped it's head
Ding dong the little mousey's dead

:sing:

 

[wadesgirl]

Did you sing the dead mousey song?

Dead Mousey Song
[Sung to the tune of Ding Dong the Witch is Dead]

Ding dong the mousey's dead
The mousetrap
It snapped it's head
Ding dong the little mousey's dead

:sing:

Too funny! Ding dong the mouse is dead was the first thing I thought of!

 

[esavvymom]

my parents always smeared it on and under the little pad...so they worked at it. Never failed.

 

[pampered1224]

Must have been a female mouse! You just proved that women are smarter than men! And SHE sure told your DH he wasn't the right woman for the job!

 

[esavvymom]

Funny thing was, when I saw your thread title, I was thinking "Is that like a "smart phone"? and thought maybe they have come out with a new 'mouse' for the computer. haha. Darn Information age!

 

[Sheila]

LOL ~ Love the Ding Dong song! I thought of that too earlier!

John, you're funny! I actually used to pick on my officers & ask them "Hey, you know why women don't work as hard as men, right?" They would be all serious when they asked "Why?" like I was giving them the universal secret to women ... I'd simply say "Because we do it right the FIRST time." ... then I'd walk off and leave them scratching their heads. But it was so true with cops! You'd think they'd be all big & bad & be able to do everything, but we were basically their secretaries who stepped in & helped with the stuff in the background. I can't tell you how many police reports that I've written with them dictating ...

Them: I went to pull him over.
Me typing: This officer initiated a traffic stop
Them: But the [cuss word] took off
Me typing: But the suspect accelerated in what appeared to be an attempt to flee from the police.
...
Them: Then he took the right turn at [street] & [street] too fast, and slammed the driver's door into that light post on the northeast corner.
Me typing: Suspect attempted to turn east bound on [street] from [street], but lost control of his vehicle and slid sideways which resulted in his driver's door impacting with the light post on the northeast corner of [intersection].
Them: Then the [cuss word] bailed out of the passenger door & took off running towards the 7-11
Me typing: At this point, the suspect exited the vehicle through the passenger's door and a foot pursuit ensued east bound on [street]
...

Loved my guys though. They were like brothers!

 

[wadesgirl]

Must have been a female mouse! You just proved that women are smarter than men! And SHE sure told your DH he wasn't the right woman for the job!

I won't tell him you said that

LOL ~ Love the Ding Dong song! I thought of that too earlier!

John, you're funny! I actually used to pick on my officers & ask them "Hey, you know why women don't work as hard as men, right?" They would be all serious when they asked "Why?" like I was giving them the universal secret to women ... I'd simply say "Because we do it right the FIRST time." ... then I'd walk off and leave them scratching their heads. But it was so true with cops! You'd think they'd be all big & bad & be able to do everything, but we were basically their secretaries who stepped in & helped with the stuff in the background. I can't tell you how many police reports that I've written with them dictating ...



Loved my guys though. They were like brothers!

Too funny!! I use to work at a newspaper and we always got the police reports to type up. It was a small town so usually nothing big but one day the report came through and said "Drive was driving east along the highway when a deer failed to yield and hit the car in the passenger door". We had a good laugh on that one.

 

[Sheila]

Hey, it was true ... the vehicle had the right of way & the deer caused the accident. But that's funny! (Wonder if they wrote the deer a citation? LOL)

 

[CRuff]

My mother in law came up with this one. Take a 5 gallon bucket, drill a hole in each side on the top edge of the bucket. Insert a dowel in one side, thu an empty peanut butter container with the lid on and out the other side thru the hole on the other side of the bucket. Smear Peanut Butter on the outside of the jar, put water in the bottom of the bucket. Set the bucket somewhere that the mouse will climb up and hop to the jar. When MOUSIE goes to get the peanut butter, the jar rolls over, the mousie goes for a swim and drowns. It works great! I think I need to patented this invention! My kitty gets to have a treat we find one in the water!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

There are some next-to-useless cats here, too. The best mouser I ever had was a ferret that we inherited some years ago. The only problem with Squeaky was that he would eat the mouse, except for the head. That is not a pleasant thing to step on in the middle of the night.I also found a mouse under a burner on my stove one day. He made the unfortunate choice to crawl into the drip pan under the burner just about the same time I was about to boil water for pasta.The result: Crispy Critter.(Photo withheld by popular request.)

 

[babywings76]

There are some next-to-useless cats here, too. The best mouser I ever had was a ferret that we inherited some years ago. The only problem with Squeaky was that he would eat the mouse, except for the head. That is not a pleasant thing to step on in the middle of the night.

I also found a mouse under a burner on my stove one day. He made the unfortunate choice to crawl into the drip pan under the burner just about the same time I was about to boil water for pasta.The result: Crispy Critter.(Photo withheld by popular request.)

EEEEEWWWWWWWW!!! :yuck:

 

[pampered1224]

Wasn't there a cereal called crispy critters at one time? I think my grandma called them creepy creatures! She would have passed out if we had dumped out crispy mice! (Actually I would have too!)

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

Set another trap. There may be a FAMILY. I used to take a toothpick and put it under the latch.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Wasn't there a cereal called crispy critters at one time? I think my grandma called them creepy creatures! She would have passed out if we had dumped out crispy mice! (Actually I would have too!)

Yes, a couple of times. The cereal resembled animal crackers, and the first go-round featured Linus the Lion that was voiced by Sheldon Leonard. (He was Nick, the bartender at Martini's, in It's A Wonderful Life and often played mobsters. He was also the producer of The Dick Van Dyke Show, and his distinctive voice and mannerisms made him a frequent guest star in those days.) It didn't sell, and was recalled. It was re-introduced in the 1980s and didn't sell then, either.

Here's the commercial: Original animated CRISPY CRITTERS Cereal Commercial - YouTube

(You might recognize the jingle as a phrase from Tchaikovsky's Trepak from The Nutcracker.)

 

[esavvymom]

Here you go!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Yup, the early bird gets the worm.

But the second mouse gets the cheese.