!44: Mouse Traps - What Options Do I Have To Get Rid of the Mice?

!±8± Mouse Traps - What Options Do I Have To Get Rid of the Mice?

One of the biggest questions that exterminators get is about mouse traps. Most people are familiar with the snap traps that have been around forever. With snap traps, mice run up to a device with food on it, and they are caught and die. While this might sound inhumane to tree huggers, this is a quick and painless death for many mice. There are other traps you can buy too. In my own experience in the pest control industry, I have used several different types of traps to kill rodents.

Most exterminators set up all the bait stations in the attic, crawl space, and garage. Since mice normally travel along walls, you should always place all rodent control devices along walls and along the edge of the floored areas in the attic. Do not place them in the middle of the floor anywhere in the home where people can step on it. You should set the them up against the walls in the crawl space and unfinished basements.

Snap Traps

We will start with the most common snap mouse traps. These have been around forever. You simply setup them in an attic, crawl space, garage, or other secluded area, and you wait for the mice to come. Many exterminators use specially packaged attractants such as Provoke Mouse Attractant to lure the mice, but a simple spot of peanut butter will work as well.

Snap traps are great if you are trying to figure out if you have mice, or if you want to know what type of mice are invading your home. If you are not sure if they are going into certain areas of the home, it is appropriate to set traps against walls inside the home. If you set traps in any living areas, you should be checking these traps regularly. These mouse traps will likely be used for centuries to come.

Stick-em Glue Traps

Another method that people use to catch mice is with sticky traps. There are also sticky traps/monitors you can use to catch insects, but these are specific glue traps designed to catch mice. The glue traps catch mice on the trap, but they will not die right away. The glue traps are sometimes best used in commercial establishments when you need to slide mouse traps under equipment. They are easier to set than snap traps. With snap traps, some people worry about getting their finger cut off by the trap going off on them, but this is not a problem with glue traps. Mice won't die right away on sticky traps, as they will die a slow painful death trying to get off the trap.

Rodent Baits

Rodent Bait is the most common type of traps used today. They are the most effective traps you can use. You basically set up the traps, the mice find the bait and eat it, and then they die several hours later. Several blocks of bait can eliminate a mice infestation. I like rodent bait because you don't have to go back and check on it every day, and it will exterminate the rodents.

One drawback with using baits is the chance that the rodent will die in an inaccessible area and have a bad odor. If this does happen, the only measure you have is to use an odor eliminator designed for this purpose and wait it out. Normally, the rodent decomposes enough to stop the odor within a couple of weeks, and you can breathe a sigh of relief. Usually rodents come out into the open and die due to the effect of the bait. This makes it much easier for disposal.

There are several types of mouse traps you can buy to exterminate the rodents in your home. To do the most effective extermination in your home or business, you should use a variety of mouse traps.