Many people are disgusted or frightened by mice, in addition, they are carriers of a number of diseases, eat food and spoil surrounding objects. The device for catching rats and mice, described in this article, will help you solve the problem yourself. A mousetrap will be made with your own hands using improvised means.
Advantages of homemade mousetraps
In situations where it is undesirable to use poisons, due to children or pets living in the room, or there is no time to purchase store-bought traps, you can try to make a mousetrap yourself. The process is quite simple and does not require complex equipment and skills. You will need paper, various containers (buckets, plastic bottles of different volumes) and household items that are found in almost every house (wire, small pieces of wood, school ruler, plastic bottles).
Many traps, made from improvised means, are able to work autonomously, without recharging and are designed for repeated activation. Such mousetraps can be left when going home from the country (the main thing is not to leave the mousetrap for a long time to avoid the appearance of a foul smell). In a few days, there will be no trace of the mice, and at the same time, you will not have to do or buy anything.
A little about baits
In order to make a mousetrap productive, it is not enough to know how to make it correctly. Hunting cannot be successful without the desire of the mouse to go in the right direction, and only bait can provide it.
The idea that mice are crazy about cheese is wrong and more about stereotypes than reality. They do eat it, and most likely they like it, but there are much better types of bait for mousetraps :
- Aromatic grains such as sunflower seeds;
- Fried lard or sausage (especially blood sausage);
- Dry bread soaked in vegetable oil (sesame will definitely not leave the mouse indifferent).
Types of self-made mousetraps
Mice have accompanied mankind throughout its history, and during this period, people invented a lot of methods and tools to fight them. Modern technologies have expanded this arsenal, but some old solutions are still relevant.
Plastic bottle
There are several ways to make a mousetrap from a plastic bottle, consider the most famous and simple:
- Cut the bottle 3 cm from the middle closer to the neck;
- We put the bait on the bottom;
- Remove the cork and oil the inner surface of the neck;
- We insert the neck down into the second part and fasten both halves with glue or wire.
Sensing food, the mouse enters the bottle, easily reaching the bait through the oiled hole, and therefore cannot get out on its own.
An alternative way to make a mousetrap:
- We find a container with a neck diameter sufficient for the mouse to penetrate inside;
- We tie a thread of sufficient length to the neck so that its other end can be tied to something without tension;
- Place the bait on the bottom and place the container on the edge of the table so that it overturns with a small change in mass.
The mousetrap works as follows: the mouse, sensing the smell of food, climbs into the bottle and causes it to overturn with its weight. Since the container is tied by the neck, it hangs on a rope, and the mouse will not be able to get out of this situation. In addition, it will remain alive, so that it is also a humane method of rodent control.
Electric mousetrap
Unlike the previous one, this method does not differ in humanity. The electronic mousetrap works according to the following principle:
- Attach one of the wires to the metal plate (the metal must not be painted);
- Coat the second wire with something edible for the mouse, for example, peanut butter.
- We connect the device to the network in such a way that the phase is with the bait, otherwise the mouse will immediately feel a small discharge and may change its mind about going further.
A bucket of water
A mousetrap made of a bucket of water is quite simple and there are many variations of it. Let’s consider one of them:
- We put a wire or a metal rod on top of the bucket (a welding electrode is the best option), it is desirable to fix it to prevent it from sliding or falling into the bucket;
- We put any flat and oblong object perpendicular to the rod, for example, a school ruler. One end of the ruler rests on the top of the bucket, the other is above the water.
- To make everything work at home, you need to put the bait on the edge of the ruler, which is above the water, and simplify the rise of the mouse to the top of the bucket by placing a board next to it.
Catching happens as follows: the mouse follows the ruler for food, and at some point the ruler falls over under its weight. In addition to the ruler, you can use any object, for example, a tunnel made of folded paper.
Another simple mousetrap using a bucket:
- A thin metal rod is pushed through the bottom and neck of a plastic bottle;
- Food that interests the mouse is attached to its middle;
- The rod is placed on the bucket in such a way that the bottle is in the middle of the bucket;
The mouse goes for food and as soon as it stands on the bottle, it rolls, and the mouse falls into the bucket.
Bank with a coin
A very simple and effective mousetrap can be made not only from a can, but also with the help of any other suitable container, for example, a pan.
- Attach the bait to the inner surface of the can at a distance of approximately 4-5 cm from the neck (you can attach it with tape);
- The jar is placed upside down and a coin or button is placed under one edge of the neck for support.
If there is a mouse at home, it will definitely try to eat the bait, and since the support is very sensitive (this can be verified in the process of displaying the can on a coin), the can will definitely cover the rodent.
Kleiova
The glue mousetrap is quite simple to make with your own hands. For this you will need: special glue, a base for its application and bait.
The base is lubricated with a special glue for mice, which is sold at specialized points of sale. There is nothing complicated in the functioning of this self-made trap. A base smeared with glue is placed on the way to the food. The animal tries to overcome it and sticks to the base.
The method will interest first of all those who fiercely hate mice. The reason is his complete inhumanity towards them. A rodent caught in such a trap is in for a long torment. He will not die immediately, but will try to free himself for a long time, writhing. And it’s all in vain – it is impossible to get rid of the glue even with the help of a person. In general, the method is not for the faint of heart.
A can and a sheet of paper
In addition to a can, any container can be used. Also, you will need a sheet of paper, a rope and a bait. A cunning trap is made as follows:
- We are preparing a sheet of paper, for this, cut it from the center to the edges, so that in the middle it looks like a cross from the cuts (there should not be an obvious hole).
- We cover the container with the prepared sheet so that the center of the incisions is located above the middle of the container.
- We tie the bait above the center of the entire structure and wait.
A mouse or rat will go for food and when it finds itself in the area of the cut paper, it will fall into the container. The disadvantage of the method is that it works without misfires only with young individuals. An adult mouse that has had the experience of getting into similar situations feels danger and does not go further.
High-tech, computerized mousetrap
In this miracle of technology, several sensors are used to detect the rodent. A foreign developer named Jake Easton came up with the idea to do something similar. This homemade trap works as follows:
- Special acoustic and visual sensors, having detected a mouse in the reach zone, provide movements to the working levers of the device under which the bait is located;
- The mouse goes to the smell of the bait, and when it is in the zone of activation of the sensors, a pneumatic drive is started, which hits the mouse with a metal bracket with a force of up to 50 kg.
The result is the same, even when an ordinary spring mousetrap is triggered. The availability of computer technology has not made the fight against rodents more humane. Jake Easton called his invention “Better Mousetrap”, which translates from English as the best mousetrap.
Wooden
The trap is quite simple and safe for others, but to make it you will need a drill, drills, a hacksaw and some skill in working with these tools. Step by step:
- We cut a bar with a section of 40×40 mm and a length of 100 mm from a tree.
- Drill a hole in it from the end for the entire length of the bar (but not through), with a diameter of 25 mm.
- At a distance of 10 mm from the end with the hole, make a slit (2-3 mm) on top in such a way as to partially open the hole.
- Immediately after the slot (3 mm), we drill two side-by-side through holes so that the thread stretched through them blocks the way to the end of the drilled cavities.
- On the edge of the bar, opposite the entrance to the trap, we attach a spring with a loop opposite the slots.
The wooden mousetrap is ready for use. Catching mice is as follows:
- We put the bait in the dead end of the mousetrap.
- We lower the loop into the slot so that it coincides with the diameter of the hole and fix the spring with a thread.
The principle of operation is simple: the mouse tries to reach the bait and gnaws the thread, the spring activates and clamps the mouse with a loop. This version of the mousetrap is reusable, and there are also “multi-apartment” designs.
Conclusion
Using all the above methods of catching and destroying harmful rodents, it is not difficult to implement one of them yourself. All you need is a minimum of improvised means and a little patience. If the options do not seem humane enough, you can trust nature and get a good cat.