Description and making of mousetraps with your own hands
If rodents are in the house or in the country, this is a real disaster. They not only spoil things and climb into stocks of edible food, but can be a source of the spread of diseases. For this, inexperienced people try to purchase a purchased trap. But one or two products don't solve the problem. In this case, it is better to use an integrated approach using homemade designs.
Description of mousetraps
An automatic mousetrap is a device designed to trap mice or other small rodents. In order for the animal to be included in the design of such a product, special baits are used. As a result of the rodent's attempt to get food, the position of the lever is violated. Then, with the help of specially organized weights, a support or an equipped trigger is overturned. The result is an animal trapped.
Additional Information! Moreover, it must be borne in mind that the animal, when caught, can be killed or simply caught.
Types of mousetraps
According to the method of production, the products are divided into:
- Homemade.
- Purchased.
Purchased ones are arranged according to a different principle of action:
- The classic one looks like a lever attached to a spring and an arc. when the mouse touches the bait, a locking device is triggered, which removes the internal organs of the animal. Sometimes the arc is equipped with teeth to enhance the effect. But, sometimes, nevertheless, the rodent manages to avoid mortal danger.
- The cage is, in essence, a locking product. Therefore, if you use it, then the animal is not killed, but only isolated.
- A burrow trap is a tunnel with a hole at the top and bait. Gnawing through the blocking thread, the animal itself tightens the noose.
- The glue trap has a surface with such a viscous substance in texture that the mouse simply sticks to it and becomes entangled.
- Based on the principle of deep capacity. A bridge leads to the hole in it, passing through which the animal enters the vessel. The only condition for the operability of such a structure is its sufficiently high volume, which is necessary so that the animal cannot get out.
- The trap is based on the principle of the jaw. At the base there is a lever, by pressing the paw on which, the mouse itself provokes the slamming of the trap. As a result, this action is fatal for the rodent.
- Electric mousetraps, the principle of which is based on electric shock to rodents entering the structure.
By the number of uses without recharging and installing again, two main trap designs can be distinguished:
- Reusable - in them, the platoon mechanism turns to its original position after the animal falls into the trap. In this case, the product is ready for repeated exposure. Thus, these options for devices can catch not one rodent, but several at once.
- Disposable - these are able to catch only one animal.
How to make a mousetrap with your own hands
Purchased traps are quite popular, although those who have at least once fought with rodents prefer to carry out such designs on their own. Moreover, you can use any material - since you can make a mousetrap of a different principle of action.
From a plastic bottle
Homemade mousetraps can be made from plastic bottles. This is one of the easiest options, since finding such material does not present any problems. In addition to a plastic 1.5 or 2 liter bottle, it is worth taking:
- A fairly thick rope, 1 m long.
- Scissors.
- Awl.
For manufacturing it is necessary:
- Cut off the neck so that the plastic bottle remains all of the same diameter.
- A hole is made at the top of the bottle, to which the end of the rope is attached with a knot.
- The other end is fixed to the table.
- A bait is placed inside the bottle at the very bottom.
- The bottle is fixed in such a way that part of it hangs over the edge of the table.
The principle of operation lies in the fact that when the animal gets inside the structure in order to eat the bait, the bottle overturns from the table under its weight. But the fixing rope prevents it from falling to the floor. Thus, the animal hangs in the air in a bottle. He cannot get back.
Such a plastic bottle mouse trap is humane, keeping it alive.
From a glass jar
Another extremely simple design is a three-liter glass jar. The trap is quite effective - the main thing is to arrange it correctly. This requires:
- Put bait inside, which gives off an intense smell.
- Tighten plain paper over the neck of the container with an elastic band.
- Then carefully cut it into a cross with a sharp knife.
- Put the jar on the bottom. Gently bring a small bar to the bank, which will be a kind of bridge.
Important! The principle of operation is that when the animal, feeling the smell, climbs over the bridge, it reaches the neck, tightened with paper, and falls under its own weight into the glass container.
Out of the bucket
A metal or plastic bucket can be used to make a reusable trap. She will work on the principle of a swing. And you can make it from any available materials:
- You need to take a thick enough wire and fix it across the bucket.
- A narrow wooden block must be fixed to the iron wire. It can be replaced with a thick cardboard strip. But it must be borne in mind that the length of this element should be slightly less than the diameter of the bucket at the top.
- One end should be on the rim of the container. Whereas the other does not reach him.
- In order for the structure to work correctly, it is necessary to achieve such a position of a wooden block or cardboard, in which the element will always be in a horizontal position with its plane.
The principle of operation is based on the fact that the animal will climb to the edge of the bucket along the attached bridge. Then, seeing the bait, which is located directly in the middle of the wooden block, the mouse will climb on it from the side where it does not reach the rim. And as the structure turns over, the rodent will simply slide into the bucket. For such a homemade product, it is important to install it correctly so that there is no access from the fixed end.
Wooden
From a wooden box, you can easily make a trap trap. Its scheme of work is based on the following principle:
- You need to put bait in a box made of wood or some other material.It is advisable to use one that emits an intense odor.
- Then make a round hole in one of the walls. For mice, it should be made no more than 5 cm. Whereas if the trap is designed for rats, then the hole can be increased to 7 cm in diameter. Please note that the hole should be located at a height of no more than 5 cm from the floor level.
- Attach iron wires along the entire diameter to the hole from the inside. They should be about 5-8 cm long, depending on which rodent they are designed for.
- The installation of such a trap is carried out directly on the floor in those places where animals were seen, both inside the house and on the house territory outside the premises.
Additional Information! When the animal crawls through the hole and stands on the wires, it will fall through them inward and will no longer be able to get out.
Metal
Another design is based on the principle of rotation. For manufacturing it is necessary in stages:
- Take a metal or plastic bucket with a volume of at least 5 liters.
- Put a can of beer on the wire. To do this, make a hole in the bottom and pull the material through it.
- Then pull the wire across the top of the bucket in a cross direction.
- On the central part of the jar, they spread bait or fix small pieces of bacon (preferably smoked).
Important! This tool is very effective as a mousetrap. Plus, you can use it many times.
In order for the manufacture of such a trap to be crowned with success, it is necessary to attach a wooden strip at the right angle to the edge of the bucket. Moreover, take into account that in length it was such that the mouse, having reached its edge, could reach for the bank and try to go down on it. This free rotating part will tip the rodent into the bucket. Therefore, this type of construct can be attributed to humanely affecting mice.
Electric
Electronic or electrical traps are designed to kill rodents. You need to use them according to the instructions. Of all the products that destroy animals, and not those that only catch them, these are an alternative to quick killing, which does not make the animals suffer. Provided with a powerful charge of the order of 1000 volts, causing instant death.
Since the product operates from an outlet or from a battery, it is necessary to provide for a connection to the network or a method for charging the structure. Since such a mousetrap can stand for a long time, one must not forget about the charge level. After all, after a certain time, the product simply ceases to function.
How to make a humane mousetrap
Do-it-yourself mousetraps can be either killing animals or fixing them in a certain position or space.
Those that dump animals into a container (organized according to the principle of a swing or blocking its exit from the structure) are quite sparing and humane. Since in this case, the animals are simply carried away from the house and released.
How to charge and install a mousetrap
But, not everyone wants to use humane counterparts. And such people can also be understood, because rodents do not decrease in number, but continue to live. And there is no guarantee that they will not return to the same housing, and even in greater numbers.
Note! Therefore, they use structures that are arranged according to the principle of a trap. In order to properly load the mousetrap, you must carefully read the instructions for it.
After the trap device has been retracted, a piece of bait should be fixed simultaneously with this manipulation. Cocking must be done carefully so as not to touch the bait and not pinch your hand, since the intensity of the capture is strong enough.
Video: How to load a mousetrap?
The most effective mousetraps
It should be borne in mind that the most effective traps are those that can function repeatedly or catch several rodents at once. Therefore, in order to decide which design is best suited, you should make a rating and understand how large a colony of rodents inhabits a particular room.
So, in the case of a large number of mice, I will show only those products that can simultaneously catch many animals, for example, organized according to the principle of a hive or those based on gravitational action.
You can choose any design from the presented variety. And making them with your own hands will significantly speed up the process of getting rid of such misfortunes in the house as mice.