Mice eat your bait off the mousetrap mostly because something is wrong with your placement. Reassess your plan and further observe rodent activity. Plant less bait on the mousetrap, but make sure they are high-value food for mice. Sticky food is one of the most recommended bait for mice.
Use peanut butter: Make peanut butter more effective by wrapping a piece of gauze in it and around the trap's trigger. As it tries to dislodge the peanut butter, its teeth will embed in the gauze and pull the trigger with it.
Instead: Only Use a Tiny Amount When you load up mouse traps with a lot of bait, the pests can steal some of it without getting caught in the trap. A pea-size amount of mouse trap bait is just right - enough to attract mice, but not so much that they can eat it without springing the trap.
If your mice aren't biting, the problem could be that your bait smells bad. If you smear the peanut butter on with your bare hands, the mouse might smell you on the bait and stay away.
Mice have a great sense of smell which also allows them to avoid traps. Once they smell a human scent on a trap, they avoid it. Additionally, smelling dead mice on a trap teaches them to avoid particular areas. That scent warns them of the dangers in that area.
Mice are smart and adaptive creatures. They always make sure to avoid anything unfamiliar and possibly dangerous for them, allowing them to survive even in the harshest conditions. Although traps are new to them at first, they'll eventually know what it does and find different ways to get the bait while avoiding it.
Bucket Trap
Similar to the paper towel trap. You'll need a large bucket, piece of wood to use as a ramp, and some strong smelling bait. Mixing peanut butter and bacon together works well. All you have to do is set the ramp at an angle over the bucket so that the end of it is over the middle of the bucket.
1. Use Less Bait. As mentioned earlier, using too much bait allows mice to eat the bait without taking everything and setting off the trap. Just a tiny size of food can be enough to attract them and lure them to your trap.
What food is irresistible to mice? People often think cheese is the best food to catch mice, but there is an even better option. Peanut butter is the most cost-effective food that rodents seem to love. Its strong nutty aroma and sweetness make it the perfect mouse trap bait.
Most homeowners find that milk chocolate and regular chocolate do well in baiting mice. We prefer miniature recess peanut butter cups, or some piece of miniature chocolate candy similarly. Rats and Mice LOVE dog food, they love dog food so much they often eat dog feces.
Spotting one elusive mouse typically means there are at least five or six hiding out in your walls, basement, or attic. This is particularly true if you see a mouse at night or in a low-traffic area of your home. For more proof of a full infestation, look for these indicators: Scratching noises in the evening.
Each control method has its advantages and disadvantages. If people are going to do their own mouse control, we generally recommend sticking to traps just because too many people don't know how to use poison baits correctly, or they place bait and forget it.
Ideal placements are along both sides of interior and exterior doorways. To prevent non-target exposure, snap traps can be placed inside tamper resistant bait stations. For fast and easy servicing, alternate between placing glue boards and snap traps along rodent runway walls.
They are also known to warn other mice about danger so that they can be safe. “If mice get caught in a trap and somehow survive it, they memorize it and avoid repeating the actions that got them into trouble.”
Not using enough traps.
But unless you're dealing with just a single rat or mouse that's confined to a small area, that's not going to cut it. Experts recommend that homeowners put out up to three snap or glue traps for every rodent present.
If you have captured the mouse in a box or cage trap, you can place a plastic bag over the opening, drop the mouse into it, twist the bag down to control the animal's movements, firmly grasp the mouse behind the head, and apply cervical dislocation or decapitation Cervical Dislocation.
Mice won't disappear by themselves
Unless you change your habits to deprive mice of their food, wipe out the existing population and proof your property to stop them coming back, you'll always be sharing your home with disease-spreading, food-stealing mice.
As it turns out, there are several smells that these pests cannot stand, which means you can use them to your advantage. But what exactly do mice and rats hate to smell? Mice can be kept away by using the smells of peppermint oil, cinnamon, vinegar, citronella, ammonia, bleach, and mothballs.
Mice are natural seed eaters, but inside homes they're very attracted to high-calorie sweets and fatty foods. Tiny bits of peanut butter or soft cheese have always worked well. Stick a pinch or two of marshmallows, gum drops or beef jerky to the trigger and the trap will spring when mice take a bite.
When your bait is fresh and new, the scent becomes stronger. This makes it more likely for you to successfully trap mice. For instance, if you're using peanut butter, it's recommended that you replace it after the third day because it will become dried out after that.
#1: Too Much Bait
Maybe you put a very big helping of Peanut Butter or Chocolate on a trap and have had no luck in catching mice. Believe it or not, using too much bait, will let mice be able to get access to the food without triggering the mouse trap.
The way mice perceive threats is different than how we do. They are not able to look at a trap and understand that it is a spring-loaded death contraption. They must rely on their instincts to avoid those traps.
The Victor Snap Trap #325 has an expanded trigger (professional model) to use the trap without the lure. Place it next to the wall where the mice are running, and they step on it. Studies have shown that the professional model trap has a capture rate of 53% as compared to 37% for the standard trigger model.