Recommendations for "nokill" mousetraps please.

January 8, 2008 11:12 AM

Recommendations for "nokill" mousetraps please.

Can someone recommend a nokill mousetrap that they've had first-hand results with or some other kind of proof of effectiveness. I really dont want to use traditional traps but a lot of these nokill alternatives seem like gimmicks. Thanks.

posted by damn dirty ape to Pets & Animals (17 answers total)

I've used the Mice Cube several times. It works like a charm. I smear a little peanut butter inside; they can't resist. It doesn't hurt them, it just traps them, so you can pick them up and carry them outside.

I plan on trying this clever little diy trap tonight. I almost always have a mouse or a mole or a shrew in my basement.
posted by iconomy at 11:20 AM on January 8, 2008

DIY no-kill mouse traps ;)
posted by caddis at 11:27 AM on January 8, 2008

I forget what they're called, but there's a no kill trap that looks similar to the mice cube mentioned above. Around here they're the first thing hardware stores will show you when you tell them you're looking for a no kill trap.

They're available in a bunch of different sizes and are made of wire/metal. I used them effectively by putting peanut butter on the little platform in the middle.
posted by drezdn at 11:38 AM on January 8, 2008

Here's something similar to what I used, though this one is really over priced (and you'd probably want something smaller)
posted by drezdn at 11:42 AM on January 8, 2008

I used to keep library in a portable building in the middle of a grassy plain, so field mice were often a concern. Catching them truly was as simple as putting a piece of candy bar in the bottom of a knee-high plastic wastebasket -- I'd often arrive in the morning to find two or three inside. Then off they'd go to the farthest reaches of the property.
posted by spinning jennie at 11:44 AM on January 8, 2008

Any brand-name glue trap designed for mice capture will work, but stay away from the dollar store variety.
posted by smoothhickory at 11:56 AM on January 8, 2008

I use this on the odd occasion a fat field mouse wanders in. I bait it with raisins smeared with peanut butter and hide it behind the sofa.

The trap is small enough that a big field mouse can't move about too much and so is less likely to injure itself trying to escape. I'm not sure about a smaller house mouse, as I don't get them where I live. I doubt it could open the trap, but it might try its best to get out. I think there's a danger with all humane traps of the panicked animal hurting itself.

And the last time a mouse was in it, my two cats batted the trap across the living room before the noise woke me up and I saved the mouse, but they couldn't get it open.
posted by essexjan at 12:07 PM on January 8, 2008

Here's a homemade one that's personally worked for me in the last few days (although it requires that the mouse start up on an elevated surface, like a counter). Find something that can be used as a small tunnel -- the cardboard roll from paper towels, a small box that's open at both ends, etc. Set it so that it's halfway on and halfway off of the counter, with an open end facing out, and put a small portion of food in the outward facing side. Put a container on the floor underneath -- we used a plastic trashcan, which my wife hospitably padded with tissue paper. The mouse will run into the tunnel, making the off-the-counter side heavier, causing him to gently drop into the container. We added a couple of crackers in the trashcan, to keep him satisfied overnight...
posted by svenx at 12:09 PM on January 8, 2008

Response by poster: I dont like the sticky traps because its impossible to unstick the mouse and leaving it for dead in my trashcan isn't appealing. I'm doing everything I can not to kill them.
posted by damn dirty ape at 12:10 PM on January 8, 2008

The traps we used are pretty clever. They balance very carefully on a ridge on the bottom with the door swung up and a little weight inside for food. When the mouse comes in it unbalances the trap and the door closes behind the little sucker.

I'm failing completely to find a picture of them online. I believe we only ever caught one mouse, but then we have a cat so the traps weren't really working at 100% capacity.
posted by Skorgu at 12:15 PM on January 8, 2008

I'm just throwing this out there but ... I think catch-and-release mice will just come right back inside your house (or somebody else's) or die slowly of shock leaving them outside far from their cozy warm nest. Mice reproduce prodigiously, and I hate them, having had to clean up after infestations in a house I bought. So, I use the standard snap trap. They usually die instantly. Then I throw the whole thing in the trash.

I am a Buddhist-style don't-kill type whenever possible, but mice are filthy and for them I make an exception. (I certainly don't enjoy it, though.)
posted by Camofrog at 12:18 PM on January 8, 2008

Avoid glue traps like the plague. Kinder to buy kill traps.
posted by fcummins at 2:34 PM on January 8, 2008

I want to Nth the people saying no-no-no on glue traps.

I know three people who bought them thinking they were less cruel than traditional mouse traps and now even years later feel sad about the horrible deaths the stuck mice had (as they had to hear the squeaking all night long until they made the horrible decision to thrown them away still alive.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 3:17 PM on January 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

I've successfully caught and released several mice using the Havahart mice traps. Good luck!
posted by funkiwan at 5:19 PM on January 8, 2008

Not saying that it's not sad to kill little creatures. You are aware though, that let go outside they will come back inside, and that transporting them to a different place is pretty much a recipe for getting them eaten, smooshed, or starved to death from the stress, right?

I was all sweet to them too, till a norway rat literally attacked my 65lb golden retriever in my hallway until I punched it off her face and smashed it to death with a lacrosse stick. Now, whenever possible, I drown them. Sounds cruel, but it's really very very fast. They don't last long.

You do also realize that by dealing with a live mouse and the ensuing feces and urine that you're opening up all kinds of health risks to yourself, likely moreso than just leaving it in your basement? Hanta virus anyone?
posted by TomMelee at 5:21 PM on January 8, 2008

The animal shelter/clinic/rescue org I worked at sold the tip traps neustile linked to. One of the possible benefits of these is that they are not see-through, so possibly a little less stressful for the mouse. We had a sweet little old lady who lived pretty much next door who would bring her traps in for us to dispose of the mice cleanly. ANd we saw her fairly regularly, so I believe they work.

Some thoughts:
Consider where you are going to release the mice when you catch them (or how you are going to kill them if you are just looking to kill more humanely and certainly than a traditional trap) before you set the trap.
Causing some stress to the mouse is unavoidable, but you can minimise it a little with some thought, and I still say good on you for trying. Still less stressful than getting caught in a trap that doesn't make a clean kill.

It is Plain Bad Manners to release them where they will infest someone else's property.

Don't set traps if you will forget to check them (I know YOU wouldn't do this, but I'm writing for the ages here).

You shouldn't be dealing with the mouse "directly", as TomMelee is concerned about - you transport it in the trap and just open the door and gently tip it out. You can wear gloves to handle the trap anyway. Mice (and the ensuing feces and urine) don't stay in the basement if they can get in the kitchen!

Peanut butter is a good bait.

Good luck!
posted by Catch at 9:03 PM on January 8, 2008

Sherman trap. It's what mammalogists use for live trapping of animals this size. You won't find a better track record. I suspect it's what those box-style traps linked to earlier are based on. The Hav-a-hart linked to earlier is for larger animals. You want something smaller.

If you try a Sherman, play with it awhile before baiting it. Since it's a flexible metal, you'll need to fiddle with it to make sure the door mechanism is sensitive enough to snap shut when the mouse enters but not so sensitive it snaps shut before. The simple test is, if you tap the top kind of firmly, does the door close. Takes a little tweaking of the trap to get it just right.
posted by Tehanu at 4:23 AM on January 28, 2008