To trap the mouse, you must understand the mouse, and to understand the mouse, you need to know what the bugger eats. Well, you also need to understand how he gets into your house (your heater vents are a safe guess), but if you’re setting up mousetraps to get rid of a mouse, then you need the right foods to bait the mouse in with. Mice are carnivorous little beasts, so if you can fork up some ham or bacon, you’re going in a right direction. But they love their seeds as well, those nasty little foragers.
To bait a mouse properly, forget the cheese. This will likely bring in a hungry mouse, but what really works are foods with a great odor. I remember one time when a whole slew of mice ate the muffins I had baked and were letting cool down in the oven- I opened the oven door and a black mass just disappeared like a swarm of bees and I was left with a naked pan. That’s right: a mouse loves nothing more than your freshly baked goods. Load up a mousetrap with fresh, hot pieces of bread, muffin, a danish, even a slice of toast, and that mouse will come calling.
Peanut butter is a tried-and-true favorite. Since a mouse has to actually grab and bite at peanut butter to actually get a taste (and they really want a taste) if you are using any type of mousetrap that needs to be triggered, the mouse will certainly do so with peanut butter. Use peanut butter to glue down a piece of bread or muffin with so you can ensure that not only your bait will draw that mouse in, but that you will catch that critter for good.
If meat is your thing and you really want to catch that mouse (and if all else fails) bacon is your best bet. it’s the smelliest of meats, smelling fresher, longer, than other meats, like chicken or beef. Who doesn’t come running when they smell fresh bacon? A mouse is no different; if you bait a mousetrap with fresh bacon you will likely get more than one mouse. No bacon? Try canned pet food- that stuff stinks to high heaven, but a mouse will love it.
If you want to bait a mouse and catch him in a mousetrap, follow his trail. Place all your mousetraps in your heater vents and don’t turn on your heater for a day. You’ll hear the tell-tale snap! all day long as you catch those mice in their hunger travels. If you are using a live mousetrap, bait it with peanut butter (it won’t rot) and place the mousetrap under the kitchen sink or behind the dryer, other common mouse entries and exits.
Bait that won’t really get you your mouse is cheese, unfortunately. Unless it’s the spray kind of cheese, the cheese will go stale too quickly, and nobody likes hard cheese. Likewise for fruit or veggies, that don’t really draw the mouse in. Stick to your fresh bread (even old bread will catch mice) and pastries (try a donut) and definitely go with your ham or bacon. You’ll catch that mouse in no time.
Sources:
personal experience in owning pet rats (and what they love to eat)
http://tipnut.com/mouse-repellents/
