Rolling Log Trap For Mice

David Trammel's picture

I've been considering mice (and other pests).

Since I'm planning a sizable garden, an expanded pantry, and an indoor seed starting closet, I have to assume that I will get animals that I don't want visiting. Inside I'm hoping that having two cats will avoid any problems but outside will have to be dealt with.

I'm opposed to poisons since I have a mated pair of owls who nest in one of my trees. Poison hurts the animals that feed on mice. Its indiscriminate and goes against what I believe in as a Green Wizard. I have looked at a pneumatic guillotine trap, but that's expensive. I may still get one for larger vermin like rats though.

This trap for mice looks interesting.

"Catching 26 Mice In 1 Night With Rolling Log. My Top 2 Favorite Mouse Trap. Mousetrap Monday."

Basically, its a bucket, a rolling pin and a ramp. You bait the center of the rolling pin with something tasty like peanut butter. Mice climb up the ramp, then walk out on the rolling pin which then spins from their weight depositing them in the bottom of the trap. Typically you would fill the bottom of the trap with enough water that the mice drown but Youtube flagged the previous version of this video for cruelty, so its not shown in this one.

From watching the video one important thing is the pin must not roll too easy. If it does, the mice sense its movement when they first try and walk out on it, and then don't. You'd need to fine tune the spin.

I found the end part interesting too. The vblogger places the dead mice out in his field, so that some of the other wild life, in this case a opossum, can have a snack.

You could also set out a pan of water and some dry kibble for the neighborhood feral cats.
You've probably got a local group that does Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) so the colony doesn't grow.

If you see a stray cat with one ear clipped off or notched, you've seen a TNR cat. The ear-tipping is a signal that the cat's already been neutered.