I've made this trap before using a coat hanger wire and a plastic pop bottle, instead of PVC pipe and a coffee can. I use lots less peanut butter too. Add a ramp with a very light smear of peanut butter on it, just for the smell, and it works really well.
A friend uses one in his cabin when he closes it up for the winter. He puts antifreeze in it instead of water so it works all winter....also, the antifreeze will somewhat "pickle" the dead mice so they don't stink up the cabin before spring. It catches GOBS of mice and works all winter. A ramp helps the little snots get to the lip of the bucket.
Went into our motorhome a couple days ago and mouse droppings in the drawers. My husband saw your video and made your really ingenious trap and we put it in the motorhome last night and went out this morning and we already had a mouse floating in the water. Great idea. If there are more in the motorhome we'll get them too!!!!! He put a rope through the pvc pipe that hangs down to the floor for the mice to climb up to give them some fun before they do the Yippy Skippy Dip! Thanks for your video!
Thanks, I saw this trap being used 20 years ago in hunting camps. It works awesome!! Ya it definitely comes in handy and all that "scrap" material helps too!!
YICKS!!! I thought you said they would die quickly. I just can't do it. Don't they just swim until they can't and drowned? I MUST SAY, I'm on my husband's page. He'd die if I didn't say that, LOL! I'm looking for away to rid these rodents while camping. I know, I'm going to a hotel and let these mine alone, LOL! I also know... I AM A WIMP!! Seriously, this is definitely the most humane way I've seen to get rid of the little guy's so, KUDOS to you!
I agree with the other posters that the metal can in the center is WAY too large and also too heavy. I used a child size, "shorty" soda can and a 3/8 inch dowel; the can is featherweight and spins round and round very freely, especially because I glued a washer-like plastic disc on what used to be the top of the soda can, to make a perfectly centered round hole (matching the hole I drilled in the cans' bottom), instead of using the off-centered pop-top hole in the top of the can, which unbalances the can and stops it from spinning cleanly. Cinching a cable tie on the dowel at each end of the can will prevent the mouse from pushing the can over to one side of the bucket, and you can also put some large inside- diameter plastic beads or very short segments of plastic pipe onto the dowel just before the ends of the can (sized just slightly larger than the dowel) as additional slip rings or roller bearings. Smear peanut butter around the circumference at the middle of the can, and maybe add a couple of shelled pistachios, which are the mouse equivalent of cocaine !!!! Designed and built properly, this type of trap can run on the same bait literally for months. No need to put peanut butter on the stick that serves as the ramp, the mice will follow their noses. Leaving live mice in the bucket for more than a few hours means they are likely to resort to cannibalism, and setting them free ultimately just generates even more mice, which are a vector for fleas, Lyme disease bearing ticks, salmonella, and the DEADLY Hanta Virus, so I feel it is safer and more humane to drown them, preferably with something that won't freeze and won't get smelly for weeks, such as a nontoxic type of antifreeze, or a heavy salt brine. By the way, I don't like poisoning mice, as the sick or dead mouse may easily be caught or found and eaten by a hawk or owl or other helpfull pest-controlling animal, or by somebody's dog or cat.
Pretty sure, from what I understand, mice cannot jump as well while they're in water. And so...I'm hoping so cause I just made one but I used a big 2.3 feet yard can...and I lowered the coffee can....just in case. Mine is for inside so I built a stairway out of cardboard for their "climb up". Ima also use tape to secure the stick that holds the coffee can. :D
Everyone is saying how they want the mice gone but "I don't want them to suffer". Fuck that. These little bastards can do a lot of damage to your home in a short amount of time not to mention the annoying chewing and squeeking noises they produce whilst destroying your home. The way I see it is, these mice came into my home uninvited, I don't appreciate unwanted guest in my house especially one that is eating the insides of my walls and keeping me awake at night. I get dCON glue tunnels and my mouse problem was solved almost over night. I caught one almost 5 minutes after setting the first trap. But really don't take pity on something that is costing you time and money and giving you nothing but holes in your wall. They may be cute but you have to remember that it's your home and you want your trap to kill them by any means nessasary. Oh and yes I use poison traps and I have a dog. Put them where your dog won't get them or train your dog better.
It's a pest. Why would you care if it suffers or not. That's like crying about someone smushing a spider and like I said when they start costing you time and money you might just want the little suckers to suffer a bit.
You obviously have never had mice in your home. It's annoying and they are in my territory. Even a dog would get rid of mouse in its territory. I don't want to torture the poor thing like I said earlier they don't really suffer when their neck is broken instantaneously. Get off your high horse you are acting like a huge bigoted ass hat. I never said I wanted to torture them.
I recommended this type to a friend of mine in the Philippines where they didn't have the regular spring type here. Otherwise after costs of material and time, I am happy with the 3 for $1 old fashioned type.
in Australian grain stores they use a similar set up but they put antifreeze in the bucket and the mouse goes straight to the bottom -they cannot float so instant death
I'd be worried a dog or cat would get ahold of the antifreeze. I just use a snap trap and blocked potential openings with steel wool mixed with that expanding canned floam stuff. It's messy, but after a little practice it dries and no mouse can chew thru it.
Saw this design over 10yrs ago except with a few beer cans suspended by a coat hanger wire run through the bucket. only a few inches of water needed BUT you MUST check the trap more that once a week (ewwww talk about gray water) The designer of this trap was an 86 yr old WWII vet.
Nice trap. If you add a bit of dish detergent to the water, it will dissolve the oils in the mouse fur and he will sink. This will be a quicker and more humane death.
This truly is awesome!!! I am definitely going to make one of these. One thing I think I am going to add is a hole on each side of the coffee can and put wire thru it so that the coffee can is stabilized. Do you think that would be helpful or would it affect the rolling of the can?
The coffee can is too big for that bucket. It's too close to the sides. Rats & mice can jump. I'd say they'd jump off that easy when it started to roll. Smaller the roller & the greater the distance to the side the better.
And put the smaller can a little lower into the bucket. Mice and rats will make a lunge for the side as the can rotates. If it's too low, they'll escape and bring their friends back to share in the fun!
The coffee can is too big --if the rat is small and just stays at the center, the can won't roll over and rat just stand still to eat the thick peanut butter and go
I love this trap! I have been using Victor snap traps and already caught 20 mice in my apartment in NYC but there isn't an end to them so I am hoping this trap does the trick. Going to build 2 and put the other in the basement. Thanks for the well thought out video my friend!
I would suggest a smaller coffee or other can, and also putting some dish soap in the water. It will make the water have less surface tension and harder for them to stay afloat.
Very efficient but OLD. We wired the pail to the wall, used a 28 oz can on a spindle & hung a peanut butter string down over the can. Caught over 100 before midnight 1 evening.
The can will spin much more easily with a thin axle to replace the PVC pipe. A 3/8 dowel, an umbrella stalk, or something that size will make it roll smoother and easier.
My friend made one of these years ago for his cabin. He kept finding dead mice in his livestock water buckets. So he shaved a paint roller, attached it to a bucket and had a ramp going up to it. Same idea. Anyway, he worked with a designer, they made a prototype and flew out to "Victor" to present it. The finished trap was basically a bucket lid with roller set up so it would fit on any 5 gal bucket. They tested it against their tin cat trap. The bucket trap caught 20 mice in controlled tests in under 5 minutes, defeating the tin cat every time. In the end Victor turned him down because they already had their investments in the tin cat.
Just use a plastic water or soda bottle and a wire from a clothes hanger. Place the end of the bottle top near the side of the bucket with the paint stick. Use the peanut butter. When themouse climbs into the bottle it spins and it falls into the bucket Takes 5 minutes
Very ingenious & durable design. I've seen other designs with beer cans and water bottles, or tilting boards. Your design seems more robust and quite simple to build. The only improvement might be to use a larger piece of PVC pipe instead of the coffee can as the bait roller. Thanks for posting.
Great idea. Side note: center can on pipe, then place screw at each side of can thru pipe. Will not allow animal to lock spinning can against sides. Chicken wire is awesome idea too.
Actually that pvc pipe is brilliant. You could use terminating caps at the ends to keep the pipe in place instead and still take the pipe on and off easily.
I like this and will try it! Use gloves, I find they can tell and know to avoid anything handled by hands etc. peanut did not do it many times but bacon will be the way to go with me in Australia!
Not sure if panic, exhaustion, fear, then drowning is preferrable to poison. havent seen the poll numbers. only part i would rework is securing the dowel. Can't use the handle! other than that... price is right, and gets the job done.
Put anti-freeze in the bucket and the mice can stay there for a month or two without there being any smell. A perfect trap to leave in RV's and cabins when they are not in use.
Obviously we only put antifreeze in this kind of trap if it's only accessible to mice and rats. My neighbors "saved" their beautiful RV by keeping this kind of trap in it during the Winter. It had lots of mice in it when they opened up, and there was no stench.
I discovered recently that the reason we had stray cats visiting our backyard at night was because we had a mouse infestation outside our suburban home. This should have been obvious but the cats were gone in the early AM so I didn't see them that much. The mice never got into our home And since we have bird feeders, I figured the cats were probably after the birds. But after trapping 33 mice outside in less than a month, I now realize I was completely wrong about this.
If you tie a rag on the end of the rod towards the wall, you will catch the mice easier. I have used the rag method and have even caught the smaller mice that cannot seem to figure out how to get to the peanut butter. Also try using a small metal rod and a soup or vegetable can. Just cut both ends off the can and no holes to drill. Yes, some cans are made that you cannot use a can opener on the bottom. As for the previous job experience mentioned by Milosz Ostrow, hunger will drive even the richest mice to steal. :-)
I hear you about the dogs!! Ha, I have to see the wire and beer can system before but I have seen the poor little guys hanging on to the wire for dear life, kinda sad and funny all at once, so thats why I use the PVC!! Have a good one!!
The reason for the pvc is the one thing that I didn't think of. Plus I thought you should havedrilled and wired to center the can, or some screws ; if it squeaks a bit, you'll know every time a mouse drops!
I hoped you would present step three: showing success, results. And a small soup can would do as well or better. How do the critters climb up to find the bait, and use it?
Just lean a stick against it for the mickeys to use as a Little Ramp to Tasty Death. They find it by the smell, and they can figure out how to get to it. They can be a lot simpler than that, and they work really well.
why not drill small holes on pvc pipe right where it meets the coffee can and put wire or a cotter pin thru to keep the coffee can centered in the bucket.
***** You are freaking hysterical!!!!! I have a vision of a crew of mice trying to break into my fridge, all dressed in plaid, with long beards and knit caps on. These guys are gonna say "screw the dry goods on the shelf, we want the stuff in the fridge - and the bitch better have good beer!"
Another couple options would be to consider spraying the can with cooking oil spray on non peanut butter surfaces so they fall right away. Also if you make the hole through the coffee can slightly larger than the pipe so it is more unstable and easier to spin once they get on it, would that help?
I made this but made a few improvements . I used a 3/8 dowel and a peanut butter jar and I also made the dowel about 5 inchs down from the top so I could cover the top with plexi glass to prevent jumpers. So far it had caught nothing and the bad part is the peanut butter starts to MOLD and grow fur 2 weeks in . I have a unfinished basement I put it down there maybe it will have better luck .
I built a small electric elevator with music playing and all, I designed the bottom of the bucket to look like a swimming pool, it's a beautiful death trap☺
If they use Glue,do they call it a "Gluman" Trap, by "Rodent/Mousesturn." ("Rhoda Morgenstern." Valerie Harper passed away, this past year and do not you forget it.)
I did this with a wire hanger instead on pipe and a water bottle. I didn't use water, I wasn't interested in killing the mice. I caught mice for 3 days in a row. Each time patching where I thought they were getting in. Once I stopped seeing mice in the bucket I new I was good. A very effective trap.
This is so cool! Thanks for posting the video. I recently used DCon in my car because I found 'evidence' of mice. Well, it killed the little darlins' alright but one or two did not go outside for water and I've been putting up with dead mouse smell for almost two weeks. Yuk! We plan to use this bucket idea for our barn instead of poison since it kills the other animals that come along and eat the dead mouse. Thanks again. Loved the presentation.
Jessica Lin I thought so too. My guess is none. Zero. To think that a 5 gram mouse will spin a 1 kg tin jar big as a basketball, is like thinking Armsrong would turn the moon while walking on it. But real nice of him to give the mice a year of food supply.
I think the larger diameter cans would be more effective. You can rig it so the can is a little tighter so the rodent gets all the way on the can. The moment the rodent goes to one side the greater diameter will give it more leverage to spin. Great design! I'm going to use a trash can, coffee can, and maybe even use washers so the can stays in the middle. Plus I will put some cooking oil in the water. The marsh rats around here can jump like you wouldn't believe.
great idea! i live in the stix in Tx, and this is the first dyi i can do. cheap too! thanx tues is payday, and i have faith in these. i dont like to kill anything, but mice are spreaders of disease. i have lots of animals here in the country, and cannot risk poison...so i havr to do what i have to do...even tho i hate hurting anything. i wish there was a way to make them die fast and as painless as possible! of course there are quick traps, but then it is a mouse or 2 at a time. living in the stix, and the rate of baby making with mice....it has to be controlled. :( bummer, but again i have to do what i have to do! ps. i had one dog bring me a gift. "Phoebe" brought a dead mouse in the house, and laid it on my pillow. oh it was gross i almost lost my lunch! momma doesnt like those kinda gifts! ugh!.....my kitties do not go outdoors, but in case anyone cares a fact for you....mice, rats, birds and snakes carry the feline leukemia virus. this spread to cats, and then from cat to cat, and is very very ugly for the infected kitty. mine, even tho they are always indoor are all vaccinated for leukemia, and all the other avoidable diseases.
I just bought a product called Snap Alert that attaches to a mousetrap that sends out an alarm that a mouse has been caught. Bought it on Amazon, pretty cool.
Finger off the trigger when your cleaning plug out of hloesaw bud !! I've seen co-workers injured by accidentally pulling trigger and whipping objects or smacking themselves pretty bad.
If you don't want smell of dead mice, put straight antifreeze in bucket, also helps if house has no heat, water will freeze, antifreeze won't. Antifreeze acts like a formaldehyde. I close my cabin in December and don't go back till march. I've found 36 dead mice.
the can is WAY too big, bud. Needs to be at least a small soup can our else the mouse can simply jump the small gap to the edge of bucket and home free!
You don't need any can. Use a stiff piece of wire, and bend it so that when the rat runs out to the bait in the middle, the wire tips just a bit. I actually made many that way, and think the can method is clever, but over-engineering the principle.
Were you in the military? Notice your watch is worn facing inside of your wrist which was common in the military. I had a few Uncles who served and they wore theirs that way to reduce reflective light in the field to prevent giving away their location and it protects the crystal from getting damaged. Very practical. Very informative video, thanks.
Measurements may not be necessary, but when drilling the holes in the can, you should measure to get the exact center. The same principal that he spoke about regarding the can being empty, to facilitate proper spinning, applies to the weight being even around the perimeter of the can.
