Simple, Fool-Proof "Mouse Traps"

Simple, Fool-Proof "Mouse Traps" MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Pest Animals 23-3-33 I've had great success with these simple, foolproof "mouse traps". I use them in tractors, combines and trucks and around granaries and hay storage areas. Take any size bucket and use a yardstick or paint stick to make a ramp to the top of it, securing it to the lip of the container with nails. Then hang a gob of peanut butter contained in a 3 or 4-in. sq. of window screening from a chain at the end of the ramp. I pour a few inches of recycled antifreeze into the bucket, filling it to within a few inches of the bait. Then I cover the top of the antifreeze with 1/8 to 1/4 in. of Styrofoam beads like those used to stuff "bean bag" chairs. I place the traps anywhere mice are a problem. Mice climb up the ramp and jump down onto the beads, thinking it's a solid floor they can stand on to get the bait. Of course, the beads part, the mouse drops into the antifreeze and drowns, and the beads close up, "reset" for the next mouse. I had a 5-gal. trap outside one of my granaries last year and ended up with a 2-in. layer of dead mice and two dead rats in the bottom. Work great and cost nothing to make. (Darrell Hoovestol, 9151 Desert Rd., Bismarck, N. Dak. 58504-4234; ph 701 222-1535)

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