A Better Mousetrap

Rodents can be a serious problem. They destroy food/equipment, leave a mess of mouse waste, are carriers of parasites and can spread disease like Hantavirus.

My hunting partners and I own a small hunting camp in rural Central Ontario.

I discribe it to people like this:
You know behind every run-down farmhouse there is an old shed? Well our hunt camp is the dilapidated, crooked building behind the shed and we have had a war with mice since we bought the place.

There is no electricity (or plumbing) so the Riddex Plus will not work but we have used other methods.

We run a "trapline" when we are present at the camp, each member has the same number of traps and we bet on the outcome, winner takes all!

We use mouse poison in the off-season (block style - we pick it up when we are there, so dogs/kids do not touch it), but the problem is that the mice die in the camp and make it smell even worse than normal!

The most inventive way involves a pail, a wire (piece of coathanger), a soda pop can, some anti-freeze or windshield washing fluid and peanut butter.

• Put about 3 inches of anti-freeze or windshield wash in the bottom of the pail.
• Punch a small hole in the bottom and top (or through the middle sides) of the can and run the wire through it.
• Place the wire across the top of the pail with the can in the middle.
• Put peanut butter on the sides or ends of the can, depending on how you oriented it.
• Place the pail so the mice can access the wire across the top of the pail.
• The mice walk across the wire, crawl onto the can to get the bait, the can spins and the mouse fails in the pail where it drowns in the liquid and is preserved (little smell).

It is possible to catch many mice this way and is good for when you will not be returning to a building for a long time.

Mike