Imagup General Magazine 2024
Why make the process of choosing the best mousetrap for your home complicated when it can be made easy? Here are three steps to do so.
Mice may be small but the trouble they bring can be big, and it isn’t just in terms of the property damage but also the illnesses they can bring; these rodents can carry the salmonella bacteria and hantavirus that can be fatal for humans. Indeed, even if you’re an ardent animal lover, you should take the necessary measures to remove mice from your home!
But what’s the best way to do so? Well, mousetraps, of course! This begs another question: What kind of mousetrap? Such a question must be asked considering that there are hundreds of different designs of commercial mousetraps.
Yes, confusion is common when you’re being faced with these choices. The good news is that we can turn your confusion into a decision with these three steps.
First Step: Pick Your Favored Approach
Mousetraps come in two major types, namely, the kill traps and the no-kill traps. Your choice will boil down to which type you’re most comfortable with considering that each type has its specific methods of trapping and disposing of the mice. You have to consider your squeamishness, for example, in handling either a live mouse or a dead one.
The no-kill mouse traps are becoming very popular these days and you can find many resources online (like this one) that go over which traps have the highest catch success rate.
On one hand, kill traps obviously kill the mice at the time of their capture, usually by trapping them between clamps that may or may not have sharp edges. These eliminate the need for the manual handling and release of live mice into the woods or other outdoor areas, a plus point for people who don’t want to handle them in the first place.
Note: There are humane kill traps that swiftly kills trapped mice that they don’t have to suffer from their injuries or from dehydration and starvation. But keep in mind that their design means that the mice will be killed within a short period, if not instantaneously.
On the other hand, no-kill traps capture mice and leaves them alive so there’s the option of releasing them into the wild. These traps usually have a cage-like design where the mice can be contained while awaiting release; the bait serves as their food for the meantime while the trap’s design allows for air circulation.
But while no-kill traps are considered as more humane than kill traps, these can be less humane than intended when these aren’t checked regularly for trapped mice. When left for too long inside no-kill traps, mice will eventually die from stress, starvation and/or dehydration, even if injury as they strive to get out.
There’s also the need for physical handling of the mice upon their release as well as the risk of them returning when they are released too near your house. You must consider these two aspects of no-kill traps although we must also say that you can let others handle the release and choose the release site.
Second Step: Decide Whether Your Tolerance Level of Mice Sighting
Not everybody can handle the sight of mice, rats, and other rodents because these make them squeamish, even scream and cry when surprised. You must then determine whether you can handle the sight of mice or not, a decision that will influence your decision between open and closed traps.
Open traps allow for a clear sight into the interior of the traps, usually through the use of clear plastic or metal grills. The design allows for easy monitoring of trapped mice – again, there’s a need for regular monitoring of both kill and no-kill traps to ensure that dead mice can be immediately disposed of and live mice can be immediately released, respectively.
Closed traps have opaque walls or shells that either partially or fully hide trapped mice from view. You should choose closed traps with opaque covers and/or doors if you’re squeamish about the sight of mice. But if you aren’t so squeamish about it, you can choose from among the many closed traps with tinted covers and/or doors that allow for some visibility into the traps’ interior.
In both cases, you should always take the necessary precautions to protect yourself from direct contact with live or dead mice. You must wear disposable gloves, for one thing, since mice can carry deadly bacteria.
Third Step: Choose the Trap
Now that you’ve decided between kill and no-kill traps as well as between open and closed traps, it’s time to make your final choice. You will find that, indeed, there are dozens of choices in physical and virtual stores but choosing becomes easier when you have a general idea of what you need in mousetraps.
For example, if you want a no-kill mousetrap because it’s the more humane method and you’re squeamish about the sight of mice, then a no-kill mousetrap with opaque walls and door is a great choice. You will find plenty of these traps so your next decision will be the price and number of mousetraps you will need for your home.
But take your time, too, in choosing mousetraps! Think of them as investments in the safety of your home and family so making the right choice, preferably one that’s humane, effective and durable, is a must.
