Humane Mouse trap not catching the mouse

dobbers

We have a non-lethal mouse trap that is very effective - caught 17 mice so far this season from a hole they make from next door's garden. My tip is to weigh down the mechansim with a 2p piece as without it the mice are often not heavy enough to set it off. They also love mince pies so have some left over from Christmas to bait the trap.

subjecttocontract

dobbers said:

We have a non-lethal mouse trap that is very effective - caught 17 mice so far this season from a hole they make from next door's garden. My tip is to weigh down the mechansim with a 2p piece as without it the mice are often not heavy enough to set it off. They also love mince pies so have some left over from Christmas to bait the trap.

Have you considered that it may not be what it seems ? Perhaps they've set up a competition to see who can get the mince pie without setting off the trap. After all, even if they loose they don't die and they get a piece of mince pie and perhaps the chance to take part again later after you have released them !

How do you know you've caught 17 mice.......it could be the same mouse 17 times......have you checked ?😁😁

Swasterix

I had a similar problem a little while ago so I set up a wildlife camera to see what was going on. Night after night the food was gone, trap had triggered, but no mouse to be seen. Turns out mice are clever… the little sod was using his tail to keep the door open, pinching the food and backing out allowing the door to close on his way out. 

Problem was solved by buying larger traps. 

dobbers

subjecttocontract said:

dobbers said:

We have a non-lethal mouse trap that is very effective - caught 17 mice so far this season from a hole they make from next door's garden. My tip is to weigh down the mechansim with a 2p piece as without it the mice are often not heavy enough to set it off. They also love mince pies so have some left over from Christmas to bait the trap.

Have you considered that it may not be what it seems ? Perhaps they've set up a competition to see who can get the mince pie without setting off the trap. After all, even if they loose they don't die and they get a piece of mince pie and perhaps the chance to take part again later after you have released them !

How do you know you've caught 17 mice.......it could be the same mouse 17 times......have you checked ?😁😁

I know I have caught 17 mice because I am a nerd, I keep a count on whiteboard and they each look different in terms of size and shape. 

Also, I drive around 2 miles to different countryside areas and release each them - if they are making it back home then they are welcome to more mince pies.

paul2louise

@dobbers
@Swasterix
Thanks, I did try the coin on the plate and that did seem to work. Caught 2 little ones so obviously the trigger isn't sensitive enough. 
I run a lot in countryside and there is a field that I know a few miles away that I took them to. I know they can make there way back if you don't take them far enough. 

chilswelluk

Cherryfudge said:

People are allowed to come to different conclusions about what is right in their situation.

To an extent.  But their options are constrained by the law.  Whatever they conclude is the right thing to do has to be lawful, which means not causing unnecessary suffering.  Live trapping is fraught with difficulties in ensuring the welfare of the animal, and in compliance with legal obligations.  Which in part is why the RSPCA (et al) rightly highlight how 'humane' traps can be anything but.

Are you able to cite any case law which shows that releasing a mouse in the countryside is causing unnecessary suffering from a purely legal threshold?  In addition, the OP did not ask a question seeking to debate this point. Why don't you stop posting condescending remarks and try to answer the OP's question?

Swasterix

… just to add… not sure what type of trap you are using but these worked well rather than the smaller, cheaper ones available on Amazon (other websites are available…). Because of the size of the trap and trigger it’s more or less impossible for the mouse to get to the food without the door closing behind. I ended up catching 16 of them in my garage. 

https://amzn.eu/d/cS7bs6C

paul2louise

Swasterix said:

… just to add… not sure what type of trap you are using but these worked well rather than the smaller, cheaper ones available on Amazon (other websites are available…). Because of the size of the trap and trigger it’s more or less impossible for the mouse to get to the food without the door closing behind. I ended up catching 16 of them in my garage. 

https://amzn.eu/d/cS7bs6C

These are the traps. No mouse this morning. But the coins definitely helped

Happymonday

I had the same issue and use 2x 2p coins to weigh down the plate. Another option is to tilt the trap so that the bait tray is higher. When I first started using I caught the same mouse 3 times! I had been releasing less than 500m away. Now take for a drive. 

LightFlare

Apparently rodents have an attraction to peanut butter if you are trying different baits