By Glen Wunderlich
Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)
Our rescue cat named Goofy was found in a vacated lower apartment with no heat, because the natural gas supply was shut off by the utility company for non-payment. The disconnect subsequently caused the water pipes to burst and flood the first floor of an 8-unit building. After shutting of the main water supply to the building at 3am, I found some food and left it for him. The following day, I returned to begin the arduous task of locating the break and to begin the process of restoration. The owner of the cat had not returned to the scene, so I took Goofy home, where he was welcomed to join other house cats of ours.
Goofy became a great friend to me and quickly learned about our cat door to the wild world outdoors. He became adept at catching mice, and to show his affection, would bring live ones indoors and drop them to the floor. A feline free-for-all would commence, until the other cats got too fat to chase anything for their meals and the resulting experiences had me experimenting with myriad commercial traps. Dryer sheets were suggested but not effective in deterring them. The mice would laugh at my futility and ignorance and yank them out of spaces I’d cram them into.
I learned that the old fashioned inexpensive, wooden, spring-loaded variety produced too many “got-aways” and graduated to more costly and effective modern plastic death traps. Eventually, however, they’d break and had to be replaced. I also used them in my remote hunting blinds, because sharing my space with these rascals was more than a headache; it was downright unhealthy!
Their disgusting habit of urinating and defecating can cause all forms of diseases to humans – some even fatal by merely breathing the contaminated air. The list of sicknesses includes Hantavirus, Bubonic plague, Salmonellosis, rat bite fever, Murine typhus, Leptospirosis, and many more threats to one’s wellness.
However, the commercial traps were good for one mouse, until they were reset. If left for any length of time, other mice would eat away at the trap itself to consume the dead ones. And then, there was the mess of reusing the traps, if they were at all intact. A search of YouTube led me to a system – that no only satisfied my innate cheapness – but, solved the dilemma faced with locations not visited for extended time periods.
Here are the components of the trap and how to set one up: Necessary is a large, plastic bucket with a capacity of 2 gallons of water or more. Next is a dowel rod of ¼ inches or so, and some paint stirring sticks that can be taped together for length, and a plastic container about the size of a 12-ounce can, but it must have a lid. Finally, a bit of creamy peanut butter is used for enticement.
Assembly requires drilling two holes near the top of the bucket opposite to each other to accommodate the dowel rod, which is left protruding a few inches on each end. Then drill holes in the round can and put the rod through the can suspending it near the center and top of the bucket. Tape the paint sticks to the rod for a ladder. Also, use some tape as stops near both ends of the can to keep it from binding on the bucket’s interior. The can must spin freely. Use more tape on the dowel rod near the bucket’s walls – both inside and outside of the bucket. The rod doesn’t have to spin but the suspended can must rotate freely. Finally, pour enough water into the bucket to a depth of 2 inches or so and smear peanut butter on the rotating can and a trace on the ladder, as well.
I’ve caught as many as 11 mice with this system in a single night in my hunting shacks. There’s no need to come into contact with the dead mice; just pour them out. For me, that means repurposing them for crows in a spot they check daily for food scraps not discarded otherwise. That’s genuine recycling, while providing me with a reliable chumming site when crows are in season.
