Discovering sneaky mice in your house is never a good feeling. Trapping them is the best way to get your life back to normal.

Start by selecting the right trap, snap traps are a classic, effective method, but there are alternatives to consider. Next, choose the best bait, with peanut butter being a top option. Then, set your trap where you have noticed mice activity and next to a wall or inside a hiding place. Finally, check your traps daily and dispose of mice carcasses until you stop seeing mice around.

I’ve helped many homeowners trap house mice in my years as a pest control professional. Keep reading for my detailed tips for doing the job right.

You may also be interested in reading these 2 related articles “How To Get Rid Of Moles“. and “How To Get Rid Of Ground Squirrels“.

Tips For Trapping Mice

Mice are curious and active animals that are fairly easy to trap. Using a few tried and true techniques will increase your success and stop your problem sooner, including:

• Wash mousetraps with ammonia and use gloves when setting them up. Mice have a strong sense of smell and will become wary of your trap if they detect your human scent.
• Set your mousetraps so they touch the walls. Mice travel by feeling along walls with their whiskers and are more likely to walk into a trap next to the wall.
• Use multiple mousetraps at the same time, spacing them two to ten feet apart. Even for one or two mice, setting many traps makes it more likely you will catch them because they aren’t 100% effective.
• Surprise the mice by going big the first night. Traps become less effective after the first night because the mice get afraid of them, so set lots of traps and catch as many as possible on your first attempt.
• Secure your traps to the ground with a nail, putty, or double-sided tape. Injured mice could pull the trap away and get lost or free themselves.

What’s The Best Bait For Mousetraps?

Overall, peanut butter is the best bait for mousetraps. Peanut butter has many advantages over other lures, including:

• Its odor and protein content are delicious to mice.
• It’s sticky, so a mouse can’t steal it without setting off the trap.
• Many people already have peanut butter in their pantries.

Contrary to what cartoons may have you believe, cheese isn’t an effective mouse bait. Some alternative foods that might work are:

• Meat
• Nut butter
• Oatmeal
• Chocolate

Sometimes, using a bait that isn’t normally available to the mice is most effective. For example, if the mice are sneaking into your pantry and eating peanuts, it could be more effective to use almond butter to catch them.

What Is The Best Mouse Trap?

Mouse traps come in many shapes and sizes. The best mouse trap depends on your needs and wants.

First, you might want to decide if you’d like to live trap or kill the mice in your house. There are a few points to consider about lethal or live trapping.

Is Killing House Mice Ok?

This is a personal question that depends on your beliefs, but for the most part, killing a mouse is ok. They are a pest that spreads disease and ruins stored food.

In the end, the decision about killing a house mouse being right or wrong is a philosophical one that you could debate forever. As long as you consider your options carefully, you will come to the best decision for you.

Should I Live Trap House Mice?

If you want to catch and release the mice in your house, you must be prepared to deal with the critters appropriately. In other words, live trapping is more work than lethal traps.

First, you need a plan for releasing the mice somewhere they won’t bother other people. Unfortunately, a house mouse that has lived near humans their entire lives might not survive long in the wilderness.

A shed or other outbuilding where the mice won’t bother you could be the best place to rehome them. Otherwise, you could take them to a forest and hope for the best.

DIY Live Trap For House Mice

You can find a catch-and-release mouse trap at a store, but making one is easy, and you probably have the materials to do it around your house. The materials you need to make this live trap include:

• Five-gallon bucket
• A board that will reach from the floor to the bucket’s rim at an angle
• Peanut butter or other bait

The steps to make and use this mouse trap are:

1. Smear a layer of peanut butter five or six inches below the bucket’s top and put more bait at the bottom.
2. Place the bucket near a wall where you have seen mouse activity.
3. Lean the board from the ground to the bucket rim, the mouse will climb this as a ramp, so make it at an angle that will be easy for them.
4. Leave the bucket overnight and mice will climb the ramp looking for food, but when they reach down for the bait they will fall in and won’t be able to climb out.
5. Check the bucket in the morning and dispose of the mice how you choose.
6. Continue setting the trap with fresh bait until it stops catching mice.

This trap was inspired by an excellent video. Check it out here:

Lethal Mousetraps

When you think of a mousetrap, you might think of movies, like Home Alone, where the bad guys get tricked into setting off the painful, snapping, little boards. Indeed, this classic snap mousetrap is one of the best you can use in your house.

Also, other options exist for you to consider. Besides snap traps, the commercial mousetraps available include:

• Electric Mousetraps
• Jaw Mousetraps
• Glue Mousetraps
• Poison Mousetraps

Using A Snap Trap

Snap traps have a spring-loaded bar and trigger that mice step on to activate. These traps can be tricky to set, so be careful not to get your finger snapped.

Snap traps are a good option because the dead mouse won’t get lost and stink up your house. With standard use, these traps have about a 37% catch rate.

The steps to set a snap trap are:

1. Bait the trap first because you risk setting it off if you bait it later.
2. Set the trap on the ground where you have noticed mice activity, perpendicular to the wall, with the baited end facing the wall.
3. Pull back the snap bar and hold one corner down with one hand.
4. Use your free hand to place the retaining rod over the snap bar into the slot on the trigger.
5. Slowly raise your hand off the snap bar, making sure the retaining rod holds onto the trigger, stopping the snap bar from going off.
6. If you must move the trap, only touch it by the sides of the wooden board, keeping your fingers away from the snapper.
7. Leave the trap overnight.
8. Check the trap and dispose of dead mice.
9. Repeat these steps until you stop catching mice.

Using two or more snap traps at the same time could be most effective. If you set groups of two traps, set them next to and parallel to the wall, with both baited ends facing out.

Electric Mousetraps

Electric mousetraps lure mice into a tunnel with bait, then deliver a high-voltage shock that kills them instantly. These traps could be a good idea if you don’t want to see or touch any mice because they can stay inside a disposable chamber.

Some brands may differ, so read and follow the instructions that come with the trap. In general, these are the steps for setting an electric mousetrap:

1. Turn off the trap and insert the batteries.
2. Open the kill chamber and load it with bait.
3. Set the device with the kill chamber beside and parallel to the wall where you have seen mice activity.
4. Leave the trap and let it catch mice.
5. Some electric mousetraps have an indicator light that flashes after a mouse is caught.
6. Remove the kill chamber. You can throw it away or empty it and reuse it.
7. Repeat these steps until you stop catching mice.

Jaw Mousetraps

Jaw mousetraps are made from plastic and are a little easier to set than classic snap traps. Simply bait these traps, pull back the trigger, and it’s ready to be put in place and catch mice.

Glue Mousetraps

These traps have a sticky surface that a mouse sticks to when it walks across them. Glue traps give the mouse a slow and inhumane death as they struggle for hours to escape.

Also, glue traps catch anything that walks over them and could kill a creature you don’t want to. All that considered, sticky mousetraps are more morally ambiguous than other traps.

If you choose glue traps, place them in mouse runways and check them often. There are a few more ways to make these traps more effective, including:

• Use sticky traps when temperatures are between 30-120 °F.
• Moisture, dirt and dust make glue pads ineffective.
• Add a piece of bait to the trap’s center to entice mice to walk on it.
• Secure the traps to the floor with double-sided tape to stop other mice from dragging them away.

Using Poison Mousetraps/Bait Stations

Poisons are the least effective way of killing mice because they have negative side effects. Some reasons not to use poisons to trap mice are:

• Mice will run away and die, possibly poisoning wildlife or pets. Also, their rotting carcass could stink up your house.
• Poisons could be eaten by other animals or children.
• Mice could learn to avoid bait stations.

If you decide to use poison baits for mice, place them in areas you have seen evidence of mice. Then, be on the lookout for mouse carcasses and throw them away if you see them.