Mouse Bait

I've been doing some cleaning and organizing in the barn. I keep turning up piles of chewed up acorns from the resident mice.

I figured if they are dragging them in to eat, why not bait a trap with one? I drilled a hole through one and wired it to the trigger. I set it last night and had one in the trap tonight. It will be interesting to see how many I can get with one baiting. I usually use cheese jammed into the hook on the trigger, but it dries up in a few days and I'm not real good at keeping it fresh.

Just wonder if that is a desperate food? Acorns usually are a little bitter tasting. Interesting type of bait to use.

We have been using peanut butter for years with good results.

(quoted from post at 18:16:20 10/06/18) Just wonder if that is a desperate food? Acorns usually are a little bitter tasting. Interesting type of bait to use.

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I think acorns are a staple for wild mice. What is bitter to us may be just right to a rodent. Don't think they eat cheese or peanut butter in the wild. I think the acorn is a great idea, I'm going to bait a few traps with them. They sure won't dry out.

I like to use peanut butter. I don't have acorns. I like to see a good fast kill. I don't like seeing a mouse caught by a leg, or tail. Stan

I have pretty good luck with peanut butter and honey mixed together.

I have good luck with the victor traps with the big yellow plastic trigger. I don't put anything on them and they work I don't know what attracts the mice but they do work and no bait to dry out and need changing.

I use cashews, just jam in pieces or mash up then stuff as much as I can in the bait holder of the victor snap traps. I'll also leave a few small crumbs to lead them in. It can go a couple months and still work. My traps outside the house have come up clean for weeks and the ones inside months now it seems. Every so often I just re-bait them all, takes 15 minutes. Just glad the darned things have been kept in check, I have nailed some fat females that would have had litters. That made a huge difference as if I did not keep my traps up outside by the front door, I can be assured to get 2 dozen of them at any given time. Have to keep the traps current. Darned things had been going up the brick for years to the trim and ledge over the front door, there is a square hole on either side where they can go in above the soffit. With no traffic, I can now block them off. Last time I did, something pushed out the hardware cloth I had jammed in there, was afraid I'd trap one and it would try and chew its way out somewhere. Darned things are a persistent pain in the @ss around here. You can easily find their elevated nests in the wild too. I found one on a ladder to a tree stand, had young too. She hears me and hides in a ladder rung with her tail hanging out. Little one bumbling out, could have easily caught both by hand, but that's where they belong, low end of the food chain, in the WILD.

I have had real good results using beef jerky.
Rip off about a 1/8 inch strip and wet it, then you can thread it through the bait holder and tie a knot in it, lasts and lasts as they can not steal the bait.

If you unintentionally leave some fishing bait (minnows) in a bailing bucket half full of water in your boat and park it in a warm garage for a few days you will catch mice you didn't even know were there.
How they climbed the wheels and up the side of an aluminum boat I have no idea but there was close to a dozen of them in the bucket.
Doesn't smell too pretty when you find it but it sure attracts them.

The crickets have been licking my peanut butter baited traps dry in the polebarn.

Well what works best for me is to park an old truck or tractor that I need running, preferably one with good wiring and lots of places they can hide somewhere with just enough shelter to keep the elements off the machine but not completely cold enough to kill the mice. Trust me, you'll attract dozens of mice in no time, they won't be able to resist it.

Baiting a trap with cashews would catch me! One of my favorites....