Since ancient times, people have been experiencing problems with rodents, because they live wherever there is food for them - from fields to megacities. Naturally, people don’t like such a neighborhood, since mice not only make noise and harm products and furniture, but also carry various infectious diseases. And the fact of the presence of such unwanted neighbors is not a pleasure, and therefore, almost every person with the appearance of mice has a desire to get rid of them. The easiest way is to leave the poison on the products in the places where the mouse was seen. But if the house has small children or pets, then it is better not to risk it. It remains only to catch pests on their own, having outwitted them with the help of a trap. In addition to factory traps, there are many different ways to make a mousetrap with your own hands, which will work no less efficiently.
Varieties of makeshift traps
Over the centuries-old struggle with mice, humanity has come up with many ways to trap a rodent. Let us dwell on the most affordable fishing methods using the following materials:
- Banks and paper.
- Jars with a lid.
- Banks with a coin.
- Plastic bottle.
- Plastic bottle with a bucket.
- Plastic bottles and gravity.
- Trap from a plastic bottle.
- Bait in the form of a support.
- Buckets and planks.
Trap of cans and paper
The essence of this mousetrap is to get the mouse inside the jar, from which it can no longer get out. To do this, writing paper is pulled onto the neck of the can, which creates the appearance of a hard surface. A small piece of bait is suspended above the jar in such a way that it could only be pulled out from stretched paper. The mouse will surely try to get the bait, resting its front paws on the paper, and fail. You can also make a similar mousetrap from a bottle with your own hands. In order to prevent the rodent from grabbing the neck, it should be wide enough. Perhaps this is the only nuance of such a mousetrap.
Mousetrap of cans and lids
Making such a mousetrap with your own hands is simple, but it is suitable for catching one pest.
An ordinary can with a wide neck rolls a tin lid. After that, the surface of the lid is cut from the center along the sides of the edges in the form of a cake, and the sharp teeth are bent inside the can. The result should be a hole for the mouse to enter the jar, but with a diameter no larger than the size of the mouse. At the end of the can should be a bait. As such, it is better to use lard, sausage, seeds or wheat grains. The mouse will surely attract the smell of the bait, and it will climb inside the can. But sharp teeth directed inward will prevent her from getting out.
Mousetrap of cans and coins
One of the oldest, simplest and not very reliable home-made mousetraps with your own hands. For her, you only need a bank, a coin and a bait. On the inside of the jar you should apply a bait that exudes a strong odor (for example, lard or peanut butter). The neck should be placed on the edge of the coin, preferably large in size, so that the trap does not slam when the mouse enters under the can. Since the coin holds the jar very weakly on its edge, and the neck of the jar is not so large that you can freely bypass the coin, the mouse that arrives will probably hit it, and the jar will shut. The disadvantage of such a mousetrap is the possibility of its "operation" before the victim is under the bank.
DIY mousetrap from a plastic bottle
The traps of plastic bottles are diverse and practically do not require any investments and materials, except for the plastic bottle itself. At the same time, they fulfill their function very effectively. Therefore, one of the easiest and most affordable ways to catch a mouse is to make a mousetrap from a plastic bottle with your own hands. To do this, a two-liter plastic bottle is cut into 2 parts so that the upper part is one third of the bottle and the lower is two-thirds. It turns out the top of the bottle in the form of a watering can. After that, the bait is placed at the bottom of the bottom of the bottle, and the top is inserted into the bottom and fastened with a stapler at the edges.
The neck of the watering can is lubricated with sunflower oil from the inside to lower its resistance. As a result, the mouse tries to get to the bait, trying to crawl into the neck of the bottle. Oil helps her get into a trap, from where she is no longer able to get out.
Mousetrap with a bucket and a plastic bottle
Adding a bucket in this method is provided for mass fishing of mice and placing them in a separate container. You can pour water into a bucket if you want to kill them right away.
So, in order to make a do-it-yourself mousetrap from a plastic bottle in this way, you need to have:
- bucket;
- a long needle or other hard twig;
- plastic bottle;
- Scotch;
- the bait.
To make such a trap is simple: a needle is passed along the bottle in the center of the upper and lower parts. This is necessary in order to ensure free rotation of the bottle without an advantage. The bottle is in the middle relative to the edges of the knitting needle. Now you need to fix the bait with tape along its perimeter. It is enough to “walk” once in the middle of the bottle. In order for the bait to produce more odor, do not completely cover it with tape. Next, the spoke with the bottle lies on the edges of the bucket. If you want to catch a lot of mice, then for greater reliability of the structure, it is worth punching holes along the edges of the bucket to thread the edges of the knitting needle. The latter with the bottle should rotate freely. Finally, one or two slats are installed on both sides of the bucket so that the mouse can get to the bottle with the bait.
The principle of operation of such a trap is that the mouse climbs onto the bottle behind the bait, since it is attached in the middle of the bottle. Leaning on the bottle, the rodent inevitably falls into the bucket, because the bottle scrolls under its weight.
Gravity Mousetrap
The next simple way with which you can make a mousetrap with your own hands based on a plastic bottle is to use it with gravity:
- The upper part of the plastic bottle is cut off to get a hole sufficient for the mouse to freely enter the bottle.
- A rope is attached to the edge of the bottle.
- Bait is placed at the bottom of the bottle, and the bottle is placed on the edge of a table or other surface on a hill. Part of the bait bottle should be located beyond the edge of the surface, but it should not fall.
- The other side of the rope is attached to the surface. The rope should be so long that when dropped, the bottle sags completely under the edge of the surface and does not fall to the floor.
As a result, the mouse enters the bottle to get to the bait, and falls under its own weight along with the bottle from the edge of the surface. At the same time, the bottle is held on the rope along with the prey until it is removed.
Plastic bottle trap
A very effective way that you can quickly catch a rodent in a do-it-yourself mousetrap. Moreover, such a trap does not require anything but a plastic bottle.
So, half the plastic bottle is cut off. The edges should remain flat. Over the entire diameter, you need to cut the petals with sharp edges a little longer than the radius of the bottle. The length of the petals is also very important to observe. You do not need to make them too narrow, since they will have to hold the mouse in the trap. The resulting petals are bent inward and squeezed slightly, forming a hole for mouse penetration. Thus, it will not be difficult for a rodent to get into the bottle from the outside, but sharp petals will not allow him to get out.
Mousetrap with a bait in the form of a support
Among the do-it-yourself mousetrap at home, this is the most common. Any capacity is taken in the form of a bowl or bowl of a small volume, sufficient to hold the mouse. It turns upside down, and bait is placed under it. It should be sized so that it can raise the tank to a height sufficient to penetrate the inside of the mouse. You can also use two sticks that will be held together by a bait. Thus, when a mouse eats a treat, it simultaneously destroys the support that holds the container above it. As a result, the plate covers the rodent. The photo below shows the principle of operation of such a trap.
Trap with a bucket and strap
This method is also focused on the mass capture of mice. It’s not difficult to build such a mousetrap with your own hands. Only a bar, a bucket, a spoke and a bait are required.
First of all, you need to prepare a bar slightly longer than the radius of the upper part of the bucket. It is mounted on a knitting needle or other rigid rod, which, in turn, is installed along the edges of the bucket. To this edge, it is necessary to ensure the approach of mice by laying a plank or placing a bucket next to a similar hill. A bait is placed on the edge of the bar, upon reaching which the rodent should fall into the bucket, since the trap should tip down under the weight of the mouse. Therefore, the spoke must be attached in such a part of the bar so that the bait does not outweigh it, but tilts only when the mouse crosses the point of no return. Such is the place of attachment of the spokes on the bar. As a strip, you can use polystyrene foam, which is quite capable of withstanding a mouse. He also very easily breaks his knitting needle and cuts.
The photo below shows another version of such a trap, where the strap runs along the entire diameter of the bucket and is mounted in the middle.
Instead of the strap in this design, a smaller diameter lid is also used. You just need to fix the needle in the center of the lid and put it in the middle of the bucket. The bait should also be in the center. The main thing is that the lid after installation can independently be in a horizontal position. The effect will be the same as with the bar.
Of course, you can not design a mousetrap with your own hands, but just buy it. But the effectiveness of most of the traps invented by the people is proven in practice and does not require costs. They are used much more often than factory traps, glue-based traps or ultrasound repellers.