The Best Mousetrap | Reviews By Wirecutter - The New York Times

Top pick

A better mousetrap

Tomcat Press ’N Set Mouse Trap

Effective, inexpensive, and easier to bait, set, and discharge than most competitors, the Tomcat stands out as the proverbial “better” mousetrap.

$6 from Amazon$6 from The Home Depot(pack of two)$6 from Lowe's(pack of two)

With a powerful snap, a sensitive trigger, and mouse-grabbing teeth that remind us of the Monster Book of Monsters in Harry Potter, this simple, inexpensive trap did its mouse-killing job just as well as more traditionally designed traps. It’s small, discreet, and inexpensive, yet it’s just as effective as bulkier gadgets that cost far more money.

Runner-up

A great alternative

Victor M393 Power-Kill Mouse Traps

The Power-Kill has a strong snap and sets easily. It’s very similar to the Tomcat except that the dead mouse (and the accompanying gore) is a little more visible.

$6 from Lowe's(pack of three)$12 from Walmart(pack of two)

If the Tomcat Press ’N Set is not available, we also like the Victor M393 Power-Kill Mouse Trap. In many ways, the two traps are alike. They both have a sensitive trigger, a very simple setting mechanism, and an easy cleanup. We like that the Victor has a very strong snap, but it’s not as discreet as the Tomcat, meaning that after a kill, the brutal results are on full display. With the Tomcat, the snapping portion of the trap is large enough to block some of that nastiness from view. But there is no question that this is an effective trap and for effectiveness we put it on the same footing as the Tomcat.

Best for...

Best for when you need a LOT of mouse traps

Victor Easy Set Mouse Trap

This iconic trap isn’t as easy to set up or clean out as our pick, but it’s effective and inexpensive enough to buy in bulk and toss after a catch.

$8 from Amazon(pack of four)$2 from Lowe's(pack of four)$1 from Target(pack of two)

The Victor Easy Set Mouse Trap does a fine job of killing mice but is trickier to set up than our top pick and doesn’t make it as easy to discharge a dead mouse without touching the body. That means it isn’t as easily reusable, but it’s also cheap enough to throw away along with a dead rodent—and that adds up to some savings when you need to buy a lot of them.

Best for...

Best for the biggest infestations

RinneTraps Flip N Slide Bucket Lid Mouse Trap

The Rinne model self-resets after each capture, so it can trap mice all night long. But it’s bulky, and we recommend it only for large infestations or outbuildings.

$20 from AmazonBuy from Lowe's

If you want a low-maintenance way to catch a lot of mice at once (and we mean a lot of mice), it’s hard to beat the RinneTraps Flip N Slide Bucket Lid Mouse Trap. The Rinne trap attaches to a 5-gallon bucket and lures mice onto a trap door that is weighted to reset itself. Once a mouse falls through and into the bucket, the trap is immediately ready again and will continually catch mice with no human intervention. With an empty bucket, the mice are trapped alive, so they can be released. The other option is to fill the bucket with a few inches of water, which drowns them. In our testing, the Rinne was so successful and trapped so many mice that we needed to remove it from the test area (an old barn) in order to catch mice with the other traps we were looking at. With four different styles of traps set up, the RinneTrap caught 10 mice over a two-night period, while the other traps caught zero. The Rinne is a bulky trap, and if you don’t want to deal with either a bucket of live mice or a bucket of drowned mice, it’s not a fit for you. Some people will call a pro before getting to the point of needing the RinneTrap, but for those willing to take on a large mouse infestation themselves, this trap will assist quite a bit.