Mice Are Avoiding My Traps! London KY

Transcript from The Pest Perspective episode, “Why Mice Avoid Traps” with pest instructor Hadassah Hess

Ok, so you’ve seen some mice around your home… probably in the kitchen eating your food. You’ve set up a few traps- baited them with cheese or peanut butter, but the mice just aren’t going for it. You’re left scratching your head, wondering what you’re doing wrong.

Today, we’re going to discuss some of the reasons mice may be avoiding your traps.

Reason 1 Why Mice Are Avoiding My Traps:

Mice may be avoiding your traps if you’re handling the traps without wearing any gloves. Our skin carries it’s own odor, (whether good or bad HAHA) and animals, including mice, can easily pick up on that scent and avoid it. So if you’re touching your traps and the bait on your traps with ungloved hands, your oils may be leaving behind evidence that you’ve been there… and the mice will pick up that scent and avoid the trap altogether.

Reason 2 Why Mice Are Avoiding My Traps:

Mice may also avoid your traps because the traps are old, dirty, and maybe smell of the death of other mice that were previously trapped, and, well…… maybe left there for a little longer than they should have been.

Old, dirty, smelly traps can repel mice more than lure them. It’s best to immediately release dead mice from a trap and wash it under regular tap water with no soaps. This helps eliminate any debris or bodily fluids from the trap, keeping it clean and fresh for the next catch…. And you’ll want to be successful with that next catch too!

Don’t expect to trap mouse after mouse on a single trap if you aren’t willing to put in the time to gently clean the trap each time. You may get lucky for a while, but once a mouse avoids the trap, it may also “mark” the trap as “unsafe”. This can then prevent other mice from being attracted to the trap as well, and suddenly, your success rate will plummet, and you’ll be left to fight mice that are trap-shy. And that’s an unfortunate place to be!

Reason 3 Why Mice Are Avoiding My Traps:

When you’re setting the stage and baiting the trap, this is a crucial step… DO NOT OVERLOAD THE TRAP WITH BAIT! Too much bait is REALLY a thing. In fact, with too much bait on the trap, it becomes easy for the mice to feed from small amounts of the bait without triggering the trap. Now, what you meant to use to eliminate a population is actually helping it flourish.

Instead of heaping large amounts of bait, try using a strong-scented lure like peanut butter, a small scrap of bacon, a dab of bacon grease, a fruit jelly, or even a kibble of dog or cat food. Whatever the bait is, use about a pea-sized amount and make sure it is secured to the bait tray so the mouse has no option but trigger the trap upon taking the bait!

Reason 4 Why Mice Are Avoiding My Traps:

Mice learn well and that knowledge can be passed on to the next generation. It may not be passed on like the picture (below) portrays, but it is certainly passed on. When adults have the opportunity to escape poorly set traps, remove improperly positioned bait from traps, or mark traps that are already dirty or have dead mice in them, this learned behavior can be passed to subsequent generations. This means that you could end up with a trap-shy population within multiple generations of offspring.

Learned behaviors in mice may be passed to the next generation.

Mice learn well and that knowledge can be passed to the next generation leaving you with smarter, more difficult to control populations.

The Dangers of Mouse Infestations And How Four Seasons Can Help

When mice invade, it’s serious business. House fires, damaged building and furnishing components, loss of food and food contamination, and the potential of disease caused by these pesky creatures, are not to be taken lightly and must be eliminated for the health and safety of ourselves and our loved ones. Knowing how to properly handle, set, and bait mouse traps is key in controlling your small infestation by yourself.

But perhaps you aren’t up for the task at all? Instead, you prefer to hire a professional to do all the dirty work? That’s what Four Seasons Pest Solutions is here for! Our team of highly trained pest experts can devise a plan to eliminate your rodent infestation and combat future intruders and you won’t have to raise a finger…. Well, except to make that payment!

So give our office a call at 1-877-999-BUGX, or locally at 606-521-PEST and a member of our team will discuss our programs, set up a time of service and send a technician out to get your plan started right away. Then you can join the ever-growing number of people who have learned what it means when we say, “It’s good to have Four Seasons on your side!”