Hoots Mon! There's a moose loose aboot this hoose!

[Jonny69]

Oh no, hang on, that's joose, not moose. Try this instead:



Aye, so I've mooved offices at work and there appears to be mice in the new one. I left a packet of biscuits in my drawers and they got raided overnight. Next night I sealed everything up but they visited again and pooped all over my things. These are the critters:





Pretty sure they're just like that, straight out of Hey Duggee. But either way I don't like having my bickies nicked. So a bit of mouseproofing is in order. First, block up the massive hole in the bottom of my desk drawers:





That ought to stop them getting in. Now to try and catch one or two of them in the act.



Armed:



And tested with my 25g dummy mouse made of nuts and electrical tape:



I can't take credit for the design. I was watching videos of people filming how small a hole or gap that mice could get through and happened across this trap made from a scrap bottle and some can lids:



You've got to work with what you've got, so some bits and bobs from round the lab and a quick root through the bins and I knocked together something similar. I won't bait it over the weekend because I might find a 3-day old dead mouse on Monday. I'm going to load it up next week so I can go and dump the live mice on someone's desk over in Estates because they're doing nothing about it release them in the park far away from the office. Will update again next week. Hoots mon!

[Jonny69]

If you were wondering how small a hole or gap they can get through, this makes entertaining watching

[braaap]

I need to inform You that mice can bite through thin plastics, usually to reach potential food inside a plastic container, but a big world ful of freedom waiting ouside a plastic bottle may be reqson enough to try, so expect to find a nibbled-through bottle on monday morning.

[Jonny69]

Jul 28, 2023 13:40:27 GMT braaap said:

I need to inform You that mice can bite through thin plastics, usually to reach potential food inside a plastic container, but a big world ful of freedom waiting ouside a plastic bottle may be reqson enough to try, so expect to find a nibbled-through bottle on monday morning.

Then so be it. Get rich or die trying.

[93fxdl]

Possibly the best bait for mice is chocolate, and place your trap againt a wall as mice prefer to stay away from open spaces
Ttfn Glenn

[Jonny69]

One minor modification before I set the trap tonight- a washer over the pen so it won’t jump out the pivot.

Jul 28, 2023 15:54:54 GMT 93fxdl said:

Possibly the best bait for mice is chocolate, and place your trap againt a wall as mice prefer to stay away from open spaces
Ttfn Glenn

Noted. Armed with a bit of chocolate spread before I went home. See what happens overnight

[93fxdl]

Suffered a brain fart, peanut butter not chocolate, sorry
Ttfn Glenn

[Jonny69]

So THAT’S why I haven’t caught anything yet!

[spacekadett]

To be honest chocolate worked a treat on the traps I put in the little garage where my Mini lives, used to bait them with Aldi knock off Kitkat. Lost count of how many of the little sods I caught in there but at one point if you checked the traps three times a day you’d get three mice 😲.
Has slowed down lately so they might need to change bait

[93fxdl]

Aug 4, 2023 12:32:12 GMT spacekadett said:

To be honest chocolate worked a treat on the traps I put in the little garage where my Mini lives, used to bait them with Aldi knock off Kitkat. Lost count of how many of the little sods I caught in there but at one point if you checked the traps three times a day you’d get three mice 😲.
Has slowed down lately so they might need to change bait

For somewhere like a garage, consider using a bucket and roller trap,
Just check, empty and reset every few days
Ttfn Glenn