Since ancient times, people have experienced problems with rodents, because they live wherever there is food for them - from fields to megacities. Naturally, a person does not like such a neighborhood, since mice not only make noise and are harmful to food and furniture, but also carry various infectious diseases. And the very fact of having such unwanted neighbors does not give pleasure, and therefore, almost every person, when mice appear, has a desire to get rid of them. The easiest way is to leave poison on the products in places where the mouse was seen. But if there are small children or pets in the house, then it is better not to risk it. It remains only to independently catch the pests, outwitting them with the help of a trap. In addition to factory traps, there are many different ways to make a DIY mousetrap that will work just as efficiently.
Varieties of homemade traps
For the centuries-old struggle with mice, mankind has come up with many ways to lure a rodent into a trap. Let's dwell on the most accessible fishing methods using the following materials:
- Banks and papers.
- Banks withlid.
- Banks with a coin.
- Plastic bottle.
- Plastic bottle with bucket.
- Plastic bottle and gravity.
- Plastic bottle trap.
- Baits in the form of a support.
- Buckets and planks.
Trap from a can and paper
The essence of this mousetrap is to get the mouse inside the jar, from which it will not get out. To do this, writing paper is stretched over the neck of the can, which creates the appearance of a solid surface. A small piece of bait is suspended above the jar in such a way that it can only be removed from the stretched paper. The mouse will definitely try to get the bait, leaning on the paper with its front paws, and fail. You can also make a similar mousetrap from a bottle with your own hands. So that at the same time the rodent does not have the opportunity to grab the neck, it must be wide enough. Perhaps this is the only nuance of such a mousetrap.
Mousetrap from jar and lid
Building such a mousetrap with your own hands is simple, but it is suitable for catching one pest.
A regular jar with a wide neck is rolled up with a tin lid. After that, the surface of the lid is cut from the center along the sides of the edges in the form of a cake, and the sharp teeth are bent into the can. The result should be a hole for the mouse to enter the jar, but with a diameter no larger than the size of the mouse. At the end of the jar should be the bait. As such, it is better to use lard, sausage, seeds or wheat grains. The mouse will definitely be attracted by the smell of the bait, and it will climb inside the jar. But they will prevent her from getting outsharp teeth pointing inward.
A mousetrap from a can and a coin
One of the oldest, simplest and not very reliable do-it-yourself home mousetraps. For her, you only need a bank, a coin and a bait. A bait that exudes a strong smell (for example, lard or peanut butter) should be applied to the inside of the jar. The neck must be placed on the edge of the coin, preferably large, so that the trap does not slam shut when the mouse penetrates under the jar. Since the coin holds the jar on its edge very weakly, and the neck of the jar is not so large that it is possible to freely bypass the coin, then the mouse that comes will surely touch it, and the jar will slam shut. The disadvantage of such a mousetrap is the possibility of its "operation" before the victim is under the jar.
Do-it-yourself mousetrap from a plastic bottle
Plastic bottle traps are varied and require virtually no investment or materials other than the plastic bottle itself. At the same time, they perform their function very effectively. Therefore, one of the easiest and most affordable ways to catch a mouse is to make a mousetrap from a plastic bottle with your own hands. To do this, a two-liter plastic bottle is cut into 2 parts so that the upper part is one-third of the bottle, and the bottom is two-thirds. It turns out the top of the bottle in the form of a watering can. After that, the bait is placed on the bottom of the bottom of the bottle, and the upper part is inserted into the bottom and fastened with a stapler along the edges.
The neck of the watering can is lubricated with sunflower oil from the inside to reduce resistance. As a result, the mouse tries to get to the bait, trying to crawl into the neck of the bottle. The oil helps her climb into a trap where she can no longer get out.
Mousetrap with bucket and plastic bottle
Adding a bucket in this method is provided for mass catching mice and placing them in a separate container. The bucket can be filled with water if you want to kill them right away.
So, in order to make your own mousetrap from a plastic bottle in this way, you need to have:
- bucket;
- long knitting needle or other hard twig;
- plastic bottle;
- adhesive tape;
- bait.
Making such a trap is simple: a needle is threaded along the bottle in the center of the upper and lower parts. This is necessary in order to ensure free rotation of the bottle without overweight. The bottle is in the middle relative to the edges of the spoke. Now you need to fix the bait with tape around its perimeter. It is enough to “walk” once in the middle of the bottle. To make the bait smell more, do not completely cover it with tape. Next, the needle with the bottle lies on the edges of the bucket. If you want to catch a lot of mice, then for greater reliability of the design, it is worth punching holes along the edges of the bucket to thread the edges of the knitting needle. The latter, together with the bottle, should rotate freely. Finally, one or two rails are installed on both sides of the bucket so that the mouse can reach the bait bottle.
The principle of operation of such a trap is that the mouse climbs onto the bottle for the bait, as it is attached in the middle of the bottle. Leaning on the bottle, the rodent inevitably falls into the bucket as the bottle spins under its weight.
Trap using gravity
The next easy way to make a DIY mousetrap out of a plastic bottle is to use it with gravity:
- Cut off the top of a plastic bottle to make a hole large enough for a mouse to freely enter the bottle.
- A rope is attached to the edge of the bottle.
- A bait is placed at the bottom of the bottle, and the bottle is placed on the edge of a table or other surface on a hill. Part of the bait bottle should be off the edge of the surface, but it should not fall.
- The other side of the rope is attached to the surface. The rope should be long enough so that when dropped, the bottle will sag completely under the edge of the surface and not fall to the floor.
As a result, the mouse enters the bottle to get to the bait, and under its own weight falls along with the bottle from the edge of the surface. In this case, the bottle is held on a rope along with the prey until it is removed.
Plastic bottle trap
A very effective way to catch a rodent in a do-it-yourself mousetrap in the shortest possible time. Moreover, such a trap will require nothing more than a plastic bottle.
So, cut offhalf a plastic bottle. The edges must remain straight. Along the entire diameter, you need to cut petals with sharp edges a little longer than the radius of the bottle. The length of the petals is also very important to observe. You need to make them not too narrow, since they will have to keep the mouse in the trap. The resulting petals are bent inward and slightly pressed through, forming a hole for the mouse to enter. Thus, it will not be difficult for a rodent to get into a bottle from the outside, but sharp petals will not let him get out of there.
Mousetrap with support bait
Among the do-it-yourself mousetraps at home, this one is the most common. Take any container in the form of a bowl or bowl of small volume, sufficient to hold the mouse. It is turned upside down, and the bait is placed under it. It should be large enough to lift the container high enough to get inside the mouse. You can also use two sticks that will be held together by the bait. Thus, when a mouse eats a treat, it simultaneously destroys the support that holds the container above it. As a result, the plate covers the rodent. The photo below shows the principle of operation of such a trap.
Trap with bucket and plank
This method is also focused on the mass capture of mice. It will not be difficult to build such a mousetrap with your own hands. All you need is a plank, bucket, needle and bait.
First of all, you need to prepare a bar a little longer than the radius of the top of the bucket. It is attached to the spokeor another rigid rod, which, in turn, is installed along the edges of the bucket. It is necessary to ensure the approach of mice to this edge by placing a plank or placing a bucket next to a similar hill. A bait is placed on the edge of the bar, upon reaching which the rodent must fall into the bucket, since the trap must tip over under the weight of the mouse. Therefore, the needle should be attached in such a part of the bar that the bait does not outweigh it, but only capsizes when the mouse crosses the point of no return. This is the place where the spokes are attached to the bar. As a strap, you can use expanded polystyrene, which is quite capable of withstanding a mouse. It is also very easy to knit and cut.
The photo below shows another version of such a trap, where the bar runs along the entire diameter of the bucket and is attached in the middle.
Instead of a strap in this design, a cover of a smaller diameter is also used. You just need to fix the needle in the center of the lid and put it in the middle of the bucket. The bait should also be in the center. The main thing is that the cover after installation can independently be in a horizontal position. The effect will be the same as with the bar.
Of course, you can not design a mousetrap with your own hands, but just buy it. But the effectiveness of most of the traps invented by the people has been proven in practice and does not require costs. They are used much more often than factory traps, glue-based traps or ultrasonic repellers.
