Mouse and rat traps

[User00047]

I’ve been having a spot of bother with the varmints around my chicken pens recently and have deployed several Mk4 fenn traps for the big fat rats and they are catching very well and I’ve had several large trophy rats including one which should go Bronze if not Silver CIC (or plutonium if I get BASC to measure it) however I see that mice are taking the bait without triggering the trap or tripping it off without getting chopped so I think I need something smaller for them.
Is there a smaller Fenn trap I should use for mice/small rats specifically or anything similar?
I am not keen on poisons so if you were going to reply to tell me how I need to use poison or how I should get some funky breed of schnitzelhound to track wounded animals, please don’t bother.
Thanks

 

[enfieldspares]

You Tube shows many DIY mousetraps made from plastic one litre drinks bottles and rubber bands. Also if you put them under a box with suitable small entry points glue boards work without fail.

 

[User00047]

Probably should have mentioned: I want a trap that is made of metal and whacks the mouse in half ideally.

 

[User00040]

Get some DOC traps and make sure you cover the top so no one can trigger them from top-down (think birds, small children, stupid people).

I rate the DOC 200 (they make a 150 smallest, 200 and the biggest, 250).

The biggest one can have quite an awesome effect (think pancake-flat) but they are a bit of a barstard to re-set due to the big spring in them.

 

[User00047]

You Tube shows many DIY mousetraps made from plastic one litre drinks bottles and rubber bands. Also if you put them under a box with suitable small entry points glue boards work without fail.

I’ll take a look, thanks.
I like the Fenn traps very much so ideally I’d get something similar.

 

[User00047]

Get some DOC traps and make sure you cover the top so no one can trigger them from top-down (think birds, small children, stupid people).

I rate the DOC 200 (they make a 150 smallest, 200 and the biggest, 250).

The biggest one can have quite an awesome effect (think pancake-flat) but they are a bit of a barstard to re-set due to the big spring in them.

They look good but they are expensive! £39.99 each in bushwear.

 

[User00040]

They look good but they are expensive! £39.99 each in bushwear.

True, but depending where you are an anti could try to land you in hot water for using a Fenn trap (legal for rats/mice but not other species, whether you intended to catch a non-target species or not is a bit hard to prove in some circumstances.)

 

[User00040]

See here: Stoat killed in illegal trap on grouse moor in Teesdale

Admittedly, if you don't have any stoats about then you should be fine (so long as it is covered from above!).

 

[rem284]

A local woman here started ranting about having mice. She had set several traps but the mice were all taking the bait without triggering the traps. I had a very old trap which is sensitive as the front half is the trigger, I asked if she wanted to borrow it. She did, and caught a big slug with it.

You could try feeding them into a deep container. The way I have done it in the past is set it so they can get in and out and let them do this for a few days. Then remove the bit so they cannot get back out. The addition of a wee bit of water in the bottom usually prevents them from trying to jump out

 

[Overlay]

I’ve been having a spot of bother with the varmints around my chicken pens recently and have deployed several Mk4 fenn traps for the big fat rats and they are catching very well and I’ve had several large trophy rats including one which should go Bronze if not Silver CIC (or plutonium if I get BASC to measure it) however I see that mice are taking the bait without triggering the trap or tripping it off without getting chopped so I think I need something smaller for them.
Is there a smaller Fenn trap I should use for mice/small rats specifically or anything similar?
I am not keen on poisons so if you were going to reply to tell me how I need to use poison or how I should get some funky breed of schnitzelhound to track wounded animals, please don’t bother.
Thanks

Get some AF large rat monitors and the AF snap traps to suit, from Killgerm really good traps for rats - they do the job 100% you can get the same but smaller for mice slip up the trigger and it will sort-give me a PM with a contact number if they won’t supply and I’ll order them up and get them sent to you

 

[Overlay]

A local woman here started ranting about having mice. She had set several traps but the mice were all taking the bait without triggering the traps. I had a very old trap which is sensitive as the front half is the trigger, I asked if she wanted to borrow it. She did, and caught a big slug with it.

You could try feeding them into a deep container. The way I have done it in the past is set it so they can get in and out and let them do this for a few days. Then remove the bit so they cannot get back out. The addition of a wee bit of water in the bottom usually prevents them from trying to jump out

put pencil lead on the trigger it slips up the trigger hook - mice won’t like it

 

[Rhodesianjess]

I’ll take a look, thanks.
I like the Fenn traps very much so ideally I’d get something similar.

I use fenns MK4 for all my tunnels about the estate. I , very sportingly, use a file on the trigger to maximize sensitivity. Mice can and do set them off. The problem is you quite often find a sprung trap with no victim,the mouse having been thrown clear. Sometimes they're caught, depending on where they were when the trap jumped as it went off.
Mice only use Selfset traps, every one a winner!

 

[User00047]

Self Set - Mouse Trap

Shop Self Set Mouse Trap at Little Fields Farm. Explore Gardening, Poultry, Pets, Farming, Home & Garden and more products.

www.littlefieldsfarm.com

That looks ideal.
Great box too!

 

[Freeforester]

Had a set of eight of these 'Better mouse-trap', all full yesterday in a remote outdoor store which is a simple thing (alas no phone to record the moment), and easily and quickly set, and judging by the ninth mouse, quick at capture too, twenty mins after reset. My only observation is that they are the better of a rectangle of lead sheet being slipped in on the underside of the trap, so they cannot be dragged away by any half caught mouse. If you are frequently checking and resetting them, you'll soon make an impact. Set against solid objects so the mouse comes along to the side, they don't miss much. A tunnel or other cover can be readily devised so as not to catch non target species.


Just checked the traps in the eaves void;



A little lead weighting helps very much.

Otherwise, you could do worse than setting a few of the self setting multi catch bucket-type traps, as shown on Shawn Woods's YT channel mousetrap Monday:

 

[Rhodesianjess]

Self Set - Mouse Trap

Shop Self Set Mouse Trap at Little Fields Farm. Explore Gardening, Poultry, Pets, Farming, Home & Garden and more products.

www.littlefieldsfarm.com

That looks ideal.
Great box too!

Best thing about Selfset traps is you can set them without your glasses on. No fiddling involved, just flick lever over and ready to go. Handy in dark, like lofts and sheds with little light.

 

[dave 67]

Best thing about Selfset traps is you can set them without your glasses on. No fiddling involved, just flick lever over and ready to go. Handy in dark, like lofts and sheds with little light.

Got the old school little nipper traps in the loft, still work well but scare the bejesus out of me when they go off when placing them
Have to look into these Jess, hope to catch up with you soon fella when we are out beating

 

[Finbarn]

You Tube shows many DIY mousetraps made from plastic one litre drinks bottles and rubber bands. Also if you put them under a box with suitable small entry points glue boards work without fail.

I made something like that, in fact two. No joy yet - I‘ envious Buckaroo is catching his rats I’ve got two fenns, three standard traps, two roller traps & a bait box out & caught nowt. All I can see on the game camera is the little sh*t running around them all...!

 

[enfieldspares]

I made something like that, in fact two.

Ah 'twas this I was thinking of. Cheap, cheerful and you can make dozens if you have the bottles.

 

[TomT3]

Little nippers! I set them in soil pipe sections in my garage so the mouse has to run down and over them-gets them every time!

 

[Cawdor118]

My mouse traps were getting eaten around the bait holder (the audacity)... so I bought 2 new ones from Screwfix and they have nailed everything that's touched them since. Fantastic.

STV Pest Free Ultra Power Plastic & Metal Rat Traps 2 Pack

Order online at Screwfix.com. Quick, effective rat traps with simple, one-touch setting. Deep bait tray for all bait types. Easy corpse disposal. FREE next day delivery available, free collection in 5 minutes.

www.screwfix.com