Mice and Common Household Traps

Mice are often nighttime movers and shakers, and have more activity at night, so it is not surprising if you have mice in your home, to find them in tall wastebaskets, buckets or toilets. They sometimes are searching for water, and end up going in the most unusual of places. It is a good thing to always have a plan to capture and evict your mouse population, but if you notice flies are everywhere, and a strong offensive smell, you could have some dead mice in your walls or rafters. In order to avoid having to tear down your walls or ceiling, it is better to have them leave or come to you.

Mouse Traps Can be a Tall Bucket or Wastebasket

With a simple large pickle or food bucket, you can capture most of your curious mice, with a board across the top, and another that allows them to climb up to that board. Then, place some food in the bottom, and you will capture some mice in the evening. The concept is that they can get in, but with the slippery and tall sides, they will not be able to get out. The bucket has to be tall, or it will not work.

We had a tall wastebasket that worked all by itself, when it was empty. We emptied the garbage, and left it alone one night, and caught a mouse in this standing container, with no food. The basket must have been a frequent food site, as they could get in, eat, and then with the liner's help, leave and do it again. One little guy was so used to his food source center, just forgot to use his nose, and got stuck. Catch and release my friends!

Your Toilet can Be a Mouse Trap

Mice need water more than they need food, and can only live for a few hours without clean fresh water. Most mice use your toilet for this resource, but they will use a hanging cleaning basket in the bowl to escape. If you have a scenario, where there is a nice wicker or textured clothes hamper or wastebasket near the toilet, and a hanging cleaning device in the toilet, they are all set. They do not mind the chemical as much as they enjoy the ability to get in and out of the toilet. Most mice will see the toilet as an obstacle they cannot retreat from, but if you have a large mouse population, and water is scarce, leaving the toilet up and open, can capture some mice.

Hiding in your Cushions is Not a Good Mouse Trap

If you need a reason to set your mouse trap plan into action, think about all the poop and urine that your mice are leaving in your home. In the kitchen cupboards, while they search for food and water, they are leaving a little trail of pee everywhere! It is a mouse highway of sorts, and they use this to find their way back and forth. Not only that, but if they find a nice warm and humid spot in the kitchen, probably near the water pipes, they can use the condensation off the pipes, to keep hydrated, and raise a family. Your pee and poop trail will only grow.

What about the living room? After a long day at work, who wants to end up sitting in a couch that is a mouse house? They are big creatures of comfort, so a couch is a perfect place to hang out, raise a family, and eat an use the bathroom in. If you see mouse scat in your home, do not take it lightly, as it is not fun to replace walls, furniture and other items because of a rodent infestation.