Mice are a lot smarter than humans give them credit for. They fear the Greeks, especially those bearing gifts. In this metaphor, humans are the Greeks and mice are the Trojans. A considerable amount of knowledge and strategy goes into keeping rodent populations at bay. In this article, we’ll discuss some basic mouse traps and how they work to control mice populations.
Snap Traps
Snap traps are probably the ones you grew up using. You place a small piece of cheese on the trap and wait for a mouse to come by and grab the cheese. Once they do, the trap snaps shut on top of the mouse, generally killing it.
Modern traps have safety features that maximize the impact on rodents while limiting the threat to humans. Too many folks were getting their fingers snapped, so modern traps attempt to mitigate the threat to people.
These traps have been around for ages and are still among the most popular you can find. They work best in larger areas where there is enough room so that the trap can snap. While they are effective at reducing the mouse population, they are not good for eradicating an infestation.
Glue Traps
Glue traps have a bad reputation for two reasons. Firstly, the mouse sticks to the trap where it slowly dies of starvation. Secondly, mice can sometimes escape the traps when the person who set them makes a huge mistake. Since it works on glue, there are some substances that can reduce the stickiness of the glue. Oily substances, for instance, will make the traps less effective, so they need to be deployed in areas where there are limited substances that reduce the effectiveness of the trap.
Other things can impact the stickiness of the glue as well such as temperature. You want to avoid placing your glue traps near heating vents and should expect the traps to be less successful when the temperatures go up.
While glue boards have some disadvantages, there are major benefits as well. Glue boards can be a good way to catch other pests you may not be aware you have. Glue boards fit well in tight spaces whereas snap traps don’t. You can customize a glue board to fit in tight areas of your home. And lastly, glue boards can catch more than one mouse at a time.
Multi-Catch Traps
These traps are used to essentially cage mice. For those who aren’t interested in killing the mice, they can provide an effective means to immobilize them until they’re dealt with. Mice trapped inside will naturally die because they can’t get out. But you can also dump them in the brush if you want. The traps are good for catching more than one mouse at a time. They’re especially effective against large populations.
What Bait Should I Use?
The first thing that probably pops into your head is cheese, but cheese isn’t necessarily the most effective bait to use when dealing with mice. It can be an effective bait, but sometimes other baits outperform cheese. For instance, peanut butter can be effective bait but not when you’re using glue traps since the oil in the peanut butter will cause the glue to lose its stickiness.
In some cases, you won’t even need anything edible. Mice are also interested in materials that they can use to help insulate their nests. For instance, cotton balls can be an effective bait.
Chances are, if you have a serious mouse problem, then you already know what food they’re interested in. Grains and cereals can be very attractive to mice as well as other types of food. There is no best bait. If you don’t feel like you’re catching enough mice, then you can try switching baits.
What Do The Pros Do That I Can’t?
You can work with poisons to control a pest population, but you’ll need to be careful if you have pets or small children. Poisons are effective for use in crawl spaces or other places that are easy for mice to access but difficult for you.
Pointe Pest Control uses a range of methods when dealing with mice. But we can also monitor our bait stations for activity. This allows us to make smarter decisions when positioning our baits and generally leads to a more efficient outcome.
Call Pointe Pest Control Today and Learn About The Best Rodent Bait Today
If you’re having mouse problems and they seem to be outsmarting your traps, let the rodent control professionals at Pointe Pest Control help. We can get rid of those critters for good!