Moving uninvited guests into an apartment or private property does not bode well for a pleasant neighborhood. People try to get rid of rodents as quickly as possible. Purchased mouse bait or a homemade trap does not guarantee their capture. It is important to know what to lure a mouse with.
What smell attracts mice - a strong, pleasant aroma of a natural and fresh product can lure a rodent into any trap.
Salo
When asked what mice love most, experts answer lard. Rodents can easily recognize high-calorie foods, which they can fill up quickly and for a long time. Lard is considered the most effective assistant in catching mice. To enhance its attractiveness, the treat is lightly fried with a match to make the smell more captivating. It is necessary to use fresh lard with an attractive aroma; the smell of old and stale lard repels them.
To save money, you can put the skin with the remaining lard in the rat trap. Such bait will not deteriorate for a long time and will retain an appetizing smell for the mouse.
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Expert opinion
Evgeniy Koshalev
I dig in the garden at the dacha until the last rays of sunshine every day. No specialty, just an amateur with experience.
Catching a mouse is possible, although difficult. In this article I want to share with you the most effective baits that you can use to catch a mouse.
In order to catch a mouse correctly and quickly, you need to know where it most often lives. Mice are predominantly nocturnal pests; they do not have much intelligence or order in their pack. They shit where they sleep and live.
Here is a list of places that deserve maximum attention:
- along vertical surfaces;
- near the trash can;
- bottom cabinet drawers;
- under the furniture.
Nuts
Along with sunflower seeds, walnut kernels, peanuts or peeled hazelnuts are used as bait. The main thing is that they are without spices and flavorings.
Additional Information! Based on the list of treats that rodents love most, you can prepare an effective mixture for a mousetrap. You need to grind 1 oatmeal cookie, several corn sticks, a dozen peeled sunflower seeds and mix with 1 tsp. halva.
Seeds
Sunflower seeds are another favorite treat for mice. Before eating, they clean them by holding them with their two front paws.
It is not necessary to peel the seeds for bait. Any seeds will do - processed or not. You can fry them before putting them in the mousetrap. When exposed to heat, oil will be released and the seed will smell stronger.
The cake also has a strong smell. This is what is usually used in villages.
Features of catching rodents
The choice of bait depends on the type of structure. If it has a hook, then it is necessary to attach a dense product (lard, sausage). The animal will pull the treat and the mousetrap will work. She will easily gnaw the seeds and nuts and run away. If the trap snaps shut due to the weight of the rodent, any bait can be used.
There are several types of devices for catching animals:
- A mechanical mousetrap includes metal elements attached to a rectangular wooden base. You need to securely attach the treat to the trigger lever. Insert the holder into it so that at the slightest contact it jumps off. The rodent follows the smell of the bait, touches it, and touches the trigger. The clamp slams shut, holding the victim tightly.
- A live trap allows you to release a caught mouse away from your home without harming it. Once in the trap cage, the door slams shut, and the mouse remains locked, with no chance of getting out.
- An electronic mousetrap kills a rodent with an electric shock. Such traps are effective for places where a large number of mice live (industrial premises, food warehouses). The device can be powered by mains or batteries.
- The repeller distributes high-frequency waves, making the presence of rodents uncomfortable. It dulls the animal’s instincts, creates uncomfortable living conditions, and forces it to leave the territory. Constant operation of the device will give the desired effect. Ultrasound is safe for people and pets. Such a device, installed in the attic or veranda, can even get rid of bats. Sometimes it is installed in greenhouses where jade vines are grown - a favorite delicacy of bats. The main thing is to use a high-quality device from a well-known class=”aligncenter” width=”960″ height=”720″[/img]
Advice! To catch mice, a device on a wooden base is used; for rats, a heavier metal structure is needed.
It’s easy to make a trap for an animal with your own hands from scrap materials. There are several ways to catch a rodent:
- Place a bucket of water at the edge of the tabletop, on which a sheet of paper with bait is placed. Half of it should lie on the table, and the second (with bait) should hang over the container with liquid. The mouse, under the influence of the smell, approaches the bait, the paper overturns, and the rodent falls into the water.
- A plastic bottle used as a mousetrap eliminates contact with the caught animal. You need to cut off the neck, put a treat on the bottom, and place the container horizontally on a table or shelf. Part of the bottle with bait should lie on the edge and hang down a little. The structure is attached to the table with a strong thread. When the rodent is trapped, the bottle falls under its weight and hangs on the rope.
- A glass jar is placed upside down on the edge of the coin, and bait is placed under the jar. The mouse follows it inside, the coin falls, and the container falls onto the neck, blocking the animal inside.
Interesting! To exterminate mice, an unusual mixture of flour with gypsum or alabaster in a 2:1 ratio has long been used. Near the places where rodents move, place 2 plastic lids, one of which contains this mixture, the other contains ordinary water. The mouse absorbs flour with plaster and washes it down with water. Alabaster or plaster, in contact with liquid, hardens right in the animal’s stomach, which is why it soon dies.
Baits are used to attract rodents into the trap, but are sometimes mixed with poisonous agents. The drug “Nutcracker” is considered the most effective means of fighting mice. Used indoors and outdoors. It does not have a pronounced odor, but attracts mice. The consistency resembles stiff dough or green plasticine.
A mouse poisoned by poison can die anywhere; it is not always possible to find it. A terrible smell will spread in the house, corpses may end up in hard-to-reach places, under floors, in holes, in cracks. In addition, such means of bullying are dangerous for children and pets.
Busting the Cheese Myth
Everyone probably knows that mice are crazy about cheese, and any rodent will never refuse a good piece of cheese. However, as studies show, mice are quite indifferent to cheeses in general and to fermented milk products in particular. Almost all rodents eat plant foods , so you shouldn’t rely on mice running headlong to cheese as soon as they spot it in a mousetrap.
The mouse eats cheese in the same cases in which it pounces on sausage - when there is no alternative, and it really wants to eat.
In any other cases, the rodent's preference will be given to either seeds, bread and nuts, or butter and lard.
Mice eat cheese if there are no more tasty foods at hand.
However, a study by a group of English scientists was able to prove the love of cheese in mice. For three weeks, they placed three mousetraps in cages with mice: with apples, cheese and chocolate. And, oddly enough, mice were more likely to fall into “cheese” traps than into all others. Of course, the smell of cheese cannot be compared with apple and chocolate. Now, if they put meat or lard there, then the choice of a mouse would be obvious. Therefore, how to treat cheese is up to you.
As you can see, there are quite a few foods that mice like, and almost all of them are found in the kitchen. Therefore, if you want to quickly catch all the rodents, follow the tips described above and experiment.
Catching mice with glue
A popular extermination method is the sticky trap. Special glue for catching rodents is sold in stores. It is applied to a sheet of cardboard, which is left in places where the rodent moves. One touch with the composition ensures a strong grip of the rodent with the trap, from which it will not detach.
It is not necessary to use bait for this trap; otherwise, it is recommended to place a non-perishable product (lard, a piece of bread dipped in vegetable oil) in the middle.
The most effective traps
Several of the most effective methods are used to control pests. These are poisonous baits, ultrasonic repellers, mousetraps that kill or catch animals alive, and sticky traps.
Each method has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. To choose the appropriate option, you should consider them in more detail.
Poison traps
Placed in places closest to nests or movement routes of animals. Often made from seeds or grains. Rodenticides can be purchased at pharmacies.
The drugs are made on the basis of substances that block blood clotting. As a result, rodents die from internal bleeding. Such baits should not be used in areas where pets live.
Ultrasonic repellers
This method is considered the most humane and safe for both animals and humans. Such devices produce sounds at a certain frequency.
For humans they are imperceptible, but for rats they are simply unbearable. Some models, in addition to ultrasound, are capable of emitting special sound signals and scaring away beepers using light flashes.
The combination of several effects completely kills the desire of pests to be near such powerful stimuli. In the first few days of using repellers, an increase in the number of rats may be observed, but do not be alarmed, this is a normal reaction.
Another safe and humane way to control rodents is with essential oils. Animals simply cannot stand the smell of mint and try to stay away from it.
Rat traps
If there are a lot of pests, you can try to catch them with a rat trap. To do this, you need to use the best baits that were listed above.
When setting traps, it is important to ensure that there are no small children or pets nearby.
Compared to poisons, mousetraps have undeniable advantages. A poisoned rat can die anywhere in the house. The corpse under the floor will poison the air with an unpleasant odor for a long time.
Traps with bait for rats are located along the walls, in areas where rodents or traces of their presence have been noticed. Typically traps are placed perpendicular to the wall.
In addition to devices that kill animals, there are also so-called “live traps”. They confine the animal without injuring it. This allows you to release the rat into the wild, the main thing is to do it away from your home.
Sticky traps
Usually used for catching mice, since their weight is much less than that of a rat. The animal, running along its usual routes, ends up on a sticky surface from which it cannot get out.
If such a trap is glued to the body of a person or pet, it can be removed using vegetable oil.
Prevention
With the onset of cold weather, mice and rats move into people's homes in search of food and warm shelter. They live in barns, warehouses, attics, chicken coops, storage rooms, apartments and houses, where there is something to eat.
In order to prevent the appearance of rodents, you must follow the recommendations:
- sweep up crumbs on the kitchen floor and table;
- regularly take out the food waste bin;
- do not leave bags and containers with cereals and pasta open, and remove spilled grains in a timely manner;
- empty utility rooms of garbage and old rags;
- close the gaps between the wall and baseboards, next to the sewer pipes.
To effectively exterminate rodents, it is important to consider what kind of bait mice like. A suitable trap, knowledge of the behavior and taste preferences of cunning rodents, and installation of several traps are the main measures for catching gray pests. It’s easier to prevent rodents from entering your home than to hunt uninvited “neighbors.”
Where is the best place to put a mousetrap?
Some useful tips:
- Since mice prefer to live in human homes at night, it is better to install mousetraps in the evening, and you can check them in the morning.
- It is better to install a trap next to the hole, although this is not critical.
- To be more effective, you will have to install several mousetraps in different places. Basically, mice are attracted to the kitchen, since it is where edible odors come from.
Rodenticidal foam - a new type of bait with a double effect
Rodent repellent foam is a bait contained in a pressure container; it looks like a dense foam mass that does not lose its shape for a long time. The main advantage of the foam is its dual mode of action:
- It is edible, which means it works like a regular food bait.
- Able to fill narrow cracks and any gaps where rodents run. Having gotten dirty in it, the pests clean the skin, eating the poison.
You can even cover walls and pipes with foam, after first cleaning them of dust. It holds perfectly on vertical surfaces, which other baits cannot do.
Foam can be used to fill holes, channels for laying cables, pipes, and cavities in walls
There is no need to come into contact with the poison; the foam is poured directly from the container. It can be applied directly into holes, sprinkled with earth, or in the traditional way - on substrates. The foam does not lose its shape for at least 2 weeks, is readily eaten by rodents and gives excellent results.
Which bait to choose depends on the location of its placement and the preferences of the buyer. Outdoors, hard briquettes, grains and pellets work best. To exterminate rats and mice indoors, it is better to prefer soft briquettes, foam, as well as grain mixtures and granulated food.
