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neb
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2015 07:14pm
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I know this topic has been addressed here before but I have a question.
Has anyone ever made a 5 gal bucket mouse trap with a tin can? You will know what I talking about and does it work and how effective is this trap?
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2015 07:35pm
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saw lots of them in action in the GREAT Maine woods...they work
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OliveSheep
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2015 07:40pm
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I have a 5 gallon bucket under my cabin, to collect sink water. And there's some lumber near it, stored (where mice can climb). Some days, if I don't empty the water right way, I can catch 2 mice in one day. No tin cans, no peanut butter - they just jump in for some reason. Only bad thing, is I have to remember to toss them in the firepit, otherwise the dogs find them and try to eat em.
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neb
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2015 07:59pm
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OK>>I will make one. I have never seen a mouse or had any issues with at my place. I do know they have to be there so last week I bought some bait and it was gone today. I put it in the shed so I know nothing else had got it but mice. I dislike mice with a passion! I was surprised that the bait was gone with no sign of mice. I really don't have any place for them to hide behind because things are off the ground etc.
Thanks for the confidence.
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Malamute
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2015 08:55pm
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I think bucket traps are a good idea. I'd put a few inches of antifreeze in it to kill them and not smell. As much as I dislike mice, I dont like the idea of them starving.
Where applicable, I've had great success with the Victor traps with the large orange plastic triggers that look like cheese. They work so well I dont even bother to bait them, but set them with the trigger end up against a wall. When I was baiting them, I caught more mice that were simply walking across them than were interested in the bait. I stopped baiting them and never slowed down the amount of mice I caught. I think those type traps are simply amazing.
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RichInTheUSA
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2015 09:08pm
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I made two of the bucket traps... and they work.
I think I caught 8-10 mice in a week.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2015 09:38pm
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Quoting: neb Has anyone ever made a 5 gal bucket mouse trap with a tin can?
Nope, I have no idea what you are talking about.
You mean, this one? Yep, been using it for 40 year. Works perfect everytime. 
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2015 09:41pm
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Just like to point out what most have probably heard before- bait poison kills the predators that eat the sickened mice that go outside looking for water. Dogs and cats, raptors, owls, coyotes, foxes, etc. I read an article that D-con is being pressured to stop selling poison.
Victor traps and the bucket with rolling tin can seem to work well for a lot of people. They take some maintenance. Here's an idea I read about that takes less work. Chop up ordinary cork and fry it on the skillet with bacon, beef, cheese, whatever to get the flavor into the cork. Serve on a silver platter with Louis XIV filigree. The cork kills the mice because they can't digest it. But there is not enough cork to kill a cat that eats the mouse. Cute trick, eh? Someone should tell D-con. I haven't tried this.
But for old softies like me who haven't had enough bad experience with meese to hate them enough to be willing to kill them, the old Hav-a-hart trap is still a good option. Higher maintenance option. One problem I found is that you have to let them go at least a mile away or they will come right back. But I don't want to drive that far every time I catch one, I don't want to leave a mouse in the trap for two days before I decide to drive off to get groceries, and if I do leave him in the trap that leaves the trap unavailable to catch more. And where there is one there is more.
Fortunately the junk shop in town had an odd but effective small animal cage, so I toss the little buggers in there for a few days, feed them and observe their behavior, now that it's been disrupted having been caught and imprisoned.
I tossed two in there last trip and threw in the half shell skin from an avocado that still had some in it for them to eat. They scraped that skin clean. Then, next morning I found the two of them curled up together in the avocado skin, snug and comfy. Ain't that cute. Let them go a few miles away near the house of someone who once insulted me. No, just kidding.
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neb
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2015 10:32pm
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toyota_mdt_tech>>>yep that is the one> I will take your word that they work. Thanks
Malamute>>>Thanks good idea on the anti freeze won't freeze in the winter also.
bldginsp>>yes I don't like using poison if I don't have to either and you are right it also effects their natural predator.
I will make one and see how it works. Thanks
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2015 10:34pm
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Bucket traps,don't the mice suffer? They swim until they get exhausted than die drowning.
Regular snap traps? They dont always die from a broken neck. Some get caught by the foot or nose.
Ordered four electronic shock traps from Amazon. They are supposed to work fast. Don't see a body and just dump it into the trash. Ill let you know how it works out.
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2015 10:38pm
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Quoting: neb Thanks good idea on the anti freeze
I don't do poison OR antifreeze BECAUSE I take my dogs to camp...and if you throw a soaked mouse in antifreeze in the woods anything that eats it may die...
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neb
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 08:03am
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TH>>yep that is true I will re-think that part. Thanks
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 10:55am
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i just use traps.the plastic kind cause they are the only ones i can set...i always keep them set.
and we need to purchase more.always good to have a couple laying out.
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 11:33am
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I never had any evidence of a rodent in my southern camp. It's built high off the ground and I have one set of temporary steps( 3 years is temporary ..lol) going to the back door....on the wooden steps I keep rubber snakes....got 5 on it to be exact ...no birds /no mice...I think it scare's them ...who know's I picked 2 more at a yard sale for .25 cent each last week.....AND the camp is built very bug/rodent proof so to speak.. I read to do this years ago in a sporting magazine on hunting camps.
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neb
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 04:15pm
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Thanks! I don't have them in the cabin and I'm also off the ground about 3 feet and sealed up well. I put a work shed up last year and that is right on the ground with a dirt floor. I knew I would have some issues with tin going down the to the ground. I have not seen any sign of them in there but the bait was gone.
If I was there full time I would use some traps also well. The bucket thing is a perpetual trap that would work for me.
Thanks
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bobrok
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 04:42pm
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I've used the bucket trap with peanut butter and ramp. Never bothered to install the rotating can. I just smear the pb several inches below the lip. They seem to find it just fine then loose their balance reaching way down and fall into the water.
We're not there over the freezing months so I've never used antifreeze. I also wouldn't want to a) dump antifreeze in a hole in the ground, and b) scoop out dead, bloated mice into yet another container to dispose of them.
I've created a mouse graveyard (hole in the ground in an already low area) and inter them with honor, water and all.
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Malamute
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 05:20pm - Edited by: Malamute
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Thats a valid point about the antifreeze being bad for other critters. I was thinking in terms of keeping the smell down. I wouldnt use antifreeze if dogs or other animals could get to it.
If they arent getting in the cabin (and I havent ever had mice in my cabin, if they are built tight there shouldnt be any) then just setting out your trap line while you're there may be adequete to keep them somewhat under control.
I've never used poison, I didnt want any collateral damage or chance my dogs could get the bait or dead/dying mouses.
In one cabin I lived in, it was really poorly built (bought it, didnt build it) and overun with mice. I shot a couple dozen mice in it with my 22 Marlin rifle and CB caps. Was rather entertaining in a way. I also shot a couple dozen mouses in the tipi when I lived in it.
My reputation for shooting mouses in the house preceded me. When I rented a farmhouse from friends once, the lady said, Now ____, theres no shooting in the house". 
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 05:42pm
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RV antifreeze, Propylene Glycol based. Its non toxic. This is used in RV drains for winter storage.
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Smawgunner
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 09:09pm
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My cabin has tons of mice in it. They're not building nests, just running around. I've had a bucket 1/3 of water set up for 3 weeks now,....with a wood plank up to it and it sits next to the wall. I have not caught one yet.  I guess I'll have to bait it. But if I bait it, I'm afraid they'll smell it from outside bringing even MORE mice! And if I use any other traps, they could lay rotting for well over a week in 80-90 degree weather before I can get there. I can just imagine THAT smell 
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bobrok
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 09:25pm
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You need to bait the trap. AFAIK mice can swim, but they won't go in the water just for the enjoyment of it.
And, yes, the smell of decomposition will be terrible if left unattended as you've described. Been there. Done that. Perhaps this is where the antifreeze would be better than water, but I don't know. Others may.
For your situation maybe a different type of trap would be better?
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Smawgunner
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 09:30pm
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A neighbor uses his toilet! He's lucky enough to have septic. He puts a plank up to the bowl and says he catches quite a few...just flushes them down lol
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bobrok
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 09:39pm
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HA!
Well, you just blew my theory out of the water.
Sorry, had to make the pun.
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neb
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# Posted: 14 Jun 2015 11:21pm - Edited by: neb
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I made one today and will set it up next weekend.
I was told I should use window washer you put in your window shield washer container.
They say it works but won't hurt wildlife when disposing of critters.
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TranquilMan
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# Posted: 15 Jun 2015 12:47am
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I posted this on a different thread back in February. here is my story about the bucket trap. I've had my place for 20 years and I have been on a mission to eliminate the mouse population for 20 years. My cabin is on an island and hadn't been lived in for several years before us so the mice had taken over. I spent a lot of time crawling around sealing cracks up and finally made the place mouse proof. I trapped them out but these mice are pretty smart. They hang around the doors at night waiting for someone to come out so they can sneak in - and they are quick. I have baiting stations set up outside and they clean the poison out in a few nights. If I set 6 traps outside with peanut butter, I get 6 mice a night. One night I got up when I heard a noise and they were climbing on the outside wall and window screen. I counted 16. That was it - all out war so I progressed to the bucket trap outside. I used a 5 gallon pail with peanut butter smeared around the rim. This worked great and I could sometimes get 14 in a night. I have a mouse graveyard in the bush out back. But I don't use the pail anymore! I left it set and we left for a few days. When I came back my cabin had been broken into! A bear had happened on the pail outside my cabin, knocked it over and licked the peanut butter clean. Then, thinking there was more of the good stuff inside, proceeded to rip all my screens looking for a way to get in. He ripped the window out of my newly installed door and proceeded to have a good time inside. I still can't find my honey jar. Chewed up cans of coke, tonic water and beer sure do make a mess. But the peanut butter pail does catch mice. And yes, the bear did come back. That was last year. This year I am going to try peppermint oil as a deterrent. For the bear, I'm trying solar powered LED motion lights. I'm hoping they might even scare mice. Good luck everybody.
- TranquilMan
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FishHog
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# Posted: 15 Jun 2015 09:22am
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I use bucket traps with regular glycol antifreeze. It essentially pickles the mouse and even after a long winter of not being there, the mice in it don't smell and look like they were alive yesterday. Works all winter long, even when I haven't been there for months at a time. That being said, antifreeze can be toxic to other animals, so proper disposal is important. My mice go into my burn barrel. I change the antifreeze out about once a year just to keep it from looking too gross.
There is no better trap in my mind if you a place that you are living in full time. I add snap traps when I'm there, but I forgot one last trip and the decomposed mouse covered in maggots was not a nice find this trip.
Mice wouldn't bother me if they didn't transmit disease, and make a mess everywhere out of everything. But they do, so its all out war in my mind. I don't have much sympathy for them, but also don't think drowning in alcohol is that bad of a way to go.
FishHog
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neb
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# Posted: 26 Jun 2015 06:14pm
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Update>>>I did build a bucket type trap with a walk up and have had it out a couple weeks now and no activity yet. That is a good thing! I have never seen a mouse which always has surprised me so I may not have to many around the way it looks.
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Cisco
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# Posted: 6 Jul 2015 11:51pm
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The best mice/rat control, my big girl, Emmy.
She works tirelessly and relentlessly to catch any and all. It's like she has a personal vendetta against all vermin!
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offgridjunkie
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# Posted: 7 Jul 2015 07:30pm
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Does the bucket trap work for Chipmunks and Squirrels? I do not have a mouse problem (at this time) but the squirrels and chipmunks are making a mess of my cabin.
Last summer I would set snap traps before I left, when i would come back they were strum about my drive way empty. I put up a game camera to see what was going on, found my resident coyote was emptying the traps for me. Now if I could just train him to reset the traps for me.
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 5 Sep 2015 04:10pm - Edited by: silverwaterlady
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Update as promised:
I bought four electronic shock (runs on four aa batteries) Victor mouse traps from Amazon. Used them in my cabin this summer and they worked. We had a few no catch,they got away but caught nine mice. I've used every trap out there with the exception of glue and the bucket and think these traps are the best.
The best thing about these traps is there is no mouse getting a leg caught and dragging the trap around and no mess. There is a door you open on the top to dump the mouse. When a mouse is caught there is a blinking green light for 24 hours.
Edit to add: this is a great trap to use while you are at the cabin. Read the comments on Amazon with helpful tips on the use of the trap.
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neb
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# Posted: 5 Sep 2015 09:05pm
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I yet to catch a mouse with the bucket trap I made. That is a good thing and I always thought I might not many in the first place. I have not seen one mouse or sign of one. I hope I never catch one. Lol
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