Bucket Mouse/Rat Trap

[Fowler]

Niglefritz mentioned rats on another thread so i thought I'd throw this up here.

It's fall and the mice have been trying to come into the house.  Got sick of resetting the small traps so I tried making one of these.  Had to get tomato soup to get a can the right size that could be drained through a small hole but it seemed to work OK.  Smeared the can with peanut butter and put water in the bottom.

First night in the henhouse it caught 7.  Second night, it caught 3.  Third, it caught 1.  Nothing the past two nights and, best part, I've had nothing in the house traps either.

The guy mentions that it can work for rats.  He says to add more water so they have to swim rather than jumping out but I'm wondering if I'd want a bigger tub for a rat.  Would probably mean a heavier wire (or small rod to act as a axle for the can to turn on) too.  I'm also thinking rats would be more leery and might wait a week or two until they were used to it.  Has anyone tried these for rats?  Just in case, I did add plenty of water to the 5 gal bucket.  Don't have rats right now but, if I catch one, I'll be sure to tell you.

[Chickenlady]

On my to do list with a star meaning priority thank you for sharing

[niglefritz]

We've seen this idea before. I would certainly get a larger bucket for rats. Last thing you want is for them to get back out and warn the rest.

We have also heard of burning a rat and hanging it up for all of them to see. I guess they hate that and run away. Sounds awful to me, but just passing that on too.

We wil have to discuss the rat problem again and try these things out. We have to be careful with it all, however, with curious kids all around. I would hate to catch the youngest ones playing in the bucket afterward... ew. We'd have to place it somewhere where they don't go...and that could be tough.

You don't have any issues with hens getting into the bucket?

[prairie dog]

Tried the five gallon pail and I did catch a few , but I had way better results with the traps nand some peanut butter

[Fowler]

It's in a spot away from the birds. Had another mouse last night.

Another thing I read about rats was to crush cookies and mix them with concrete. Rat eats mixture and dies. It would have to be where other animals couldn't get at it of course.

[Sponsored content]