Best Bait For A Mouse Trap — Rapid Rodent Removal

THE MOST EFFECTIVE BAITS TO USE IN A MOUSE / RAT TRAP

There’s no need to spend more on specialty mouse baits just to catch mice. Just pick out any of these food baits in your kitchen to save more money:

1. PEANUT BUTTER & CHOCOLATE

Mice love eating seeds and nuts, which makes the flavor of peanut butter attractive for them. It also has high calorie and fat content that the mice need when living inside houses. Hazelnut spreads are also a good food bait if there’s no peanut butter at home.

When using peanut butter as food bait, avoid spreading too much peanut butter on the trap. Just put about a pea-sized amount of the peanut butter on the trap to attract mice. Chocolate is another high-calorie food that mice love. It also has a strong smell that attracts mice out of hiding. Since there are different varieties of chocolate, it’s important to find out which one works best when luring mice out of hiding. Most homeowners find that milk chocolate and regular chocolate do well in baiting mice. We prefer miniature recess peanut butter cups, or some piece of miniature chocolate candy similarly.

2. PET FOOD

Rats and Mice LOVE dog food, they love dog food so much they often eat dog feces. Many animals like dogs and cats are useful in keeping mice at bay because they are the natural predator of mice. Their strong senses allow them to detect mice presence around the house. However, the pet food left in their feeding station attracts mice and rats.

These opportunistic feeders like eating leftovers of pet food because it’s rich in nutrients that rodents need to survive inside the house. Although they prefer wet food, these rodents also eat dry pet food that’s scattered around the house.

If the cat in the house likes to leave out food after they eat, make sure to clean up after them. Other homeowners utilize this chance to catch mice. Instead of cleaning the leftover food, they place traps near the cat feeder instead.

3. SEEDS AND NUTS

Mice love eating seeds and nuts. These rodents wouldn’t pass up the chance to eat them if there are seeds and nuts in the house. When using seeds and nuts to attract mice, go for bird seeds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds.

4. MARSHMALLOWS AND GUMDROPS

Marshmallows and gumdrops are cheap options used as mouse baits. They work well in luring mice out because of their high sugar content. Just put a piece or two on the mousetrap and let it do its trick.

5. DELI MEAT

Mice are willing to risk their lives for a few slices of deli meat like bacon and sausages. It doesn’t matter if they’re raw or cooked – the rodents take any deli meat that’s open for the taking. Some homeowners even use the cooked bacon’s grease because its strong smell lures mice out.

However, the main problem with using deli meat is that they spoil easily at room temperature. When using this kind of bait, make sure to check and replace it regularly.

6. FRUIT JAM

Fruit jam is also effective in attracting mice for the same reasons as peanut butter and hazelnut spread – they’re sweet and sticky. Just make sure to only put the right amount of jam on the trap’s far end so that the mouse is forced to set off the device.

The downside in utilizing fruit jams as mousetrap bait is that it also attracts other pests like cockroaches and ants. Check the mousetrap frequently to make sure that the bait hasn’t been consumed by other pests.

7. SOFT CHEESE

Most kinds of cheese aren’t as effective in attracting mice as peanut butter is. But if you still want to use cheese as bait, it’s better to use soft cheese instead of cheddar blocks. Camembert, brie, and blue cheese have strong smells that effectively attract mice out of hiding.

WHAT TO DO WHEN THE BAIT ISN’T WORKING

There are situations when the mousetrap isn’t catching mice as you’d expect it to. There are several reasons why this happens, but here are a few tips to ensure that the traps work better next time:

Use a Different Bait – Mouse traps are only as good as the bait used. If the device hasn’t caught a single mouse for days, it’s time to replace the bait with a new one. Peanut butter and chocolate work best in luring them out, but nesting materials are also effective during the infestation’s early stages.

Put Less Bait and More Traps – If there’s too much bait on the trap, the rodent might take some of it without triggering the device. A pea-sized amount is enough to attract mice and let them set off the trap. It also helps to put more traps in strategic areas to ensure that more mice are caught.

Switch to a Different Trap – Mice are intelligent animals. Some of them might recognize what a trap looks like and try their best to remove the bait without triggering it. If the snap trap has been used for weeks but hasn’t caught a single mouse yet, try switching to a live trap instead.

Use Traps with Sensitive Sensors – Mice are small and lightweight creatures. Their weight might not be enough to set off snap traps, which is why it’s better to try out other kinds of traps. Electric mouse traps are great for catching smaller and lighter mice because they have more sensitive sensors.

Place the Trap in Strategic Places – Many homeowners make the mistake of setting up mouse traps in the wrong room. Before deciding where to place traps, inspect different areas in the home to find signs of mice activity. Place a few traps in these areas to catch more mice. Other places like the back of cabinets, underneath stoves, and along walls are also good areas to put a mousetrap in.

But before using bait for mouse traps, you have to keep in mind a few tips. First, never handle the bait with bare hands since it can contaminate the bait with a human scent. Mice view human smell as a predator scent, making the bait less appealing to mice and your trap less effective. Make sure to wear some gloves when handling the bait so you don’t compromise its scent.

Another tip is to place just the right amount of bait on the trap: a pea-size amount is enough. It’s important to remember that placing too much bait on a mouse trap allows the rodents to get some of the bait without triggering the trap. On the other hand, the mice might not be able to notice the bait when you place too little.

Lastly, remember to change the bait regularly to ensure its freshness. Rotten food may not be as enticing for mice so it might not work as effectively. You also need to keep in mind that if a certain bait isn’t working, it’s perfectly fine to switch up the bait and see which one works the best. With these tips in mind, here are some of the best bait you can use for your mouse traps:

Don’t Get in a Hurry to Catch Your Mice

A tiny, basically defenseless mouse will be very cautious about anything new in its environment. It’s best to put out bait without traps for a few days to help the mouse become accustomed to the intrusion. Putting out bait will also ensure that you are putting traps in the right place later. When bait starts disappearing on a regular basis, then put out your mouse traps (notice that’s mouse traps, plural).

Don’t put out just one trap. Put out a dozen or two dozen traps. A single female mouse can give birth to six or seven babies in just three weeks. If you don’t have lots of mice now, you will soon. Because they multiply so rapidly, you need to catch them all.

Place at least one trap every 18 inches (50 cm) or so along highly trafficked areas, and for best results, place traps 2 or 3 inches (5 to 7 cm) apart along the entire length of any “rodent runway” you have identified by mouse droppings, mouse urine (visible by black light), or that icky mouse sludge that tends to accumulate when lots of mice travel down the same path at night.