Water traps revisited

As every one knows, Mice and Rats are a scourge where ever they are found. If they are not controlled they soon find ways to get in the house and cause all sorts of problems, such as having to wash all the silver ware because a mouse has left his calling card in the fork drawer.

Here in the Desert, one of the really serious problems are Pack Rats. We have three separate species here, none are desirable. Our attic was a favorite of them. The rock walls are easy to climb and there are numerous little holes chewed into the wood where the rocks meets roof. They of course are stuffed with steel wool, but I am sure there are others that are not as easily visible.

My cure for the attic was a rather large industrial strength Victor electronic noise maker. I have heard that strobes are effective as well. The Victor seems to work quite well however. At first we could hear one for a while, but they soon decided that it was too noisy for comfortable living and have moved out.

I actually started actively trapping outside of the house to augment my hawk food. Mice make dandy little vitamin pills. I have discovered that Jessie, the Peregrine, also likes them, so trapping has gone into high gear. The funny part is that the Mouse breeding program seems to be well able to keep up with my inroads into their number. I am quite sure that I have trapped at least a hundred so far with no reduction in numbers.

I still have a number of Starlings that I trapped in winters past, but they of course are only a tidbit for a 31 oz Peregrine. My feeding program for Jessie consists of either a "spent breeder Quail"  or a 8 week old Quail one day, and a Starling and about five Mice the other. then one day of fasting sometime in the week.

Considering that Quail are running about $1.50 each, the savings are considerable. I have bucket traps set at the likely mouse runs around the house and in the Motor home. This of course means that any mouse getting any where close to the house, first has to resist the temptation of all that P'nut Butter. Considering the two cats that live here in the house have not caught a mouse since last year, not many can resist.

I have refined my trap a bit since starting, but it isn't all that necessary. I have used PVC to make a nice smooth roller.

Mice run along walls, so I have a ramp that makes it easy for them to get to the roller. I smear a light patch or two of P'nut butter on the ramp to get them interested, then pretty good gobs of it on the roller on all four sides, so that bait will always be present. The idea of course is to get them to walk out on the roller to get the food, and then all is left is to find out how good they are at log rolling. You also need about four or five inches of water in the bucket.

This one is in my hanger and at the corner of the garage door where they come in the hanger.

You can see the live trap beside it. I had a pack rat that was big enough to hold onto the edge and lick the bait off the bar, so I set a live trap with some apple on it and I had him within 3 hours of setting it.
This one is a bit smaller or dumber, whichever. There are also two Mice in there as well.

This is the nights take, from the back porch, the hanger, and the Motor home. This comes out to three days supplement for Jessie. Its worth it for the cost savings not to mention the hazard and damage that the Mice represent.

A empty sitting Motor Home or Fifth wheel represents a great place for Mice and Rats. Easy for them to get into and no one to cause them any distress. With a trap set in there one only needs to empty it every now and then, and maybe put a little newer bait on it. 

One can make the traps with something like a plastic coke bottle with a wire stuck through the middle of it so that it will roll smoothly. You just need to keep it close enough to the edge that the mice can crawl out to the bottle. For that an 1/8 "all thread " rod and a few nuts to keep it where you want it works pretty good. 

I have a lot of old 1 1/2 pvc here at the house, so I carve a plug for each end, drill a hole in the center, and run a piece of stiff wire down the center and span the center of the bucket. Then all you need is for a way for the mice to get up to the bait. I am using a ramp, but I bet a piece of cloth hung over the side would be enough. I just like to make it easy for them to die.

Last year I ran a "trap line" of about 18 snap traps to try to get the Motor Home and fifth wheel cleared of Mice and it was a lot more trouble. This way if there are 3 mice working an area, you are able to catch all of them. The traps only have to be re baited and the water changed every now and then.