An ‘esky’ with internal walls that a mouse can’t climb. After food has been in it, leave the lid open and place the ‘esky’ near a means for mice to reach the top. We discovered its (Kathmandu collapsible ‘esky’) usefulness while in a cabin in an area with a mouse plague.
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Simple and clever.
Welcome to the community @BegaBob.
How deep does the esky need to be?
Is it effective when there are few mice or do you think it requires mice to be in large numbers and not so observant of where they are going?
We use several types of passive traps to catch inspect and if required release those which are native fury woodland creatures. It seems they are all not so bright and will follow instinct into any opening if there is a hint of food or shelter.
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I have seen video footage of a design for plague conditions implemented another way.
It requires a workbench or similar structure. You strap a large (750ml) empty long neck beer bottle by the body to the bench top with wire or tape. The neck pokes out off the edge of the bench as far as possible while the body remains fastened. You glue or tie a bit of bacon rind or similar on top of the opening, oil the neck and place a tub or large bucket on the floor under the neck. The bucket has a few centimetres of water in it. In the video the mice were lining up to jump and the bucket held many victims. This may not be RSPCA approved.
Mice will smell the bait and climb from the bench out on the neck to get it. Little claws give no grip on oiled glass and they slip into the bucket - end of story. Unlike many traps this doesn’t need to be re-set or re-baited and can capture a great many before it becomes ineffective, you just bury the contents of the bucket each morning and replace the water.
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We have the RSPCA to thank for many improvements in the way we treat our pets and other animals.
For mouse plagues it’s best efforts. Rodent poisons are perhaps the least kind on their victims.
Whether the mice drown in the large bin or are terminated in some other way, the RSPCA appears to avoid offering suitable solutions to suit this situation. It simply requires a humane ending. Although there is advice that if it’s your pet, you can take it to the vet for some sensitive reassurance.
As a comparison nature in the wild is also cruel. If a mouse is lucky it will be a brown snake. Hanging live from the claws of a raptor high in the sky, perhaps not so much of a thrill.
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After discovering our chicken’s food being eaten over night, I thought that we had mice/rats.
I built a multi-mouse trap out in the yard using a large bucket that had a can perforated through the long axis by a piece of wire that went across the mouth of the bucket. Made sure that the can spun nicely, and spread peanut butter on it. I then built a wooden ramp up and just over the edge of the bucket. Finally I put about 10cm of water in the top of the bucket.
All set to go. Night after night the peanut butter kept disappearing, but no mice caught.
It turned out we had possums visiting.
That required a different sort of trap; but that’s another story.
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Our ‘esky’ walls are 27 cm high. When I woke with rustling (trying to scale the wall) there was one mouse. We knew more mice could be around so after I disposed of it I left the ‘esky’ open. Later in the night I woke to rustling and disposed of that one. Did not experience more than one at a time.
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