How can you build a humane mouse trap?

Answer 1

The "Tin Cat" is a pretty good one. There are small units and larger ones that will hold dozens of mice. It doesn't injure the mice. They just enter (attracted by bait) and can't get out. You can then pick up the box and carry it someplace, such as a field well away from your house, and release the mice. Very humane as long as you don't think about their little families and friends that they've left behind. The only thing is, if you forget to check on the trap frequently, you'll come back and find mice that have starved to death. Not necessarily more humane at all.

---- You can use a box of some sort with a door. The mouse enters the box to get some bait and as it picks it up it triggers a mechanism with closes the door. Mice have high metabolisms so if you don't want the mouse to starve to death you need to check it frequently. As far as actually making the trap goes you could start with a plastic box (they can chew through cardboard) roughly 10cm x 5cm x 5cm open at one end. Use a square piece of plastic to cover the open end, with some sort of stopper or hinge holding it open. There should be a piece of string attached to the door, running along the top of the box and through a hole down to some form of bait. If you set it up correctly the mouse will enter the trap, take the bait causing the tension of the string to slacken releasing the door trapping the mouse. As for bait, I would go for cheese just for the comedy value but in reality rats and mice eat more or less anything, bread could be a good choice. If you can't manage to build your own you could easily buy one in a hardware store or on the internet. They are not too expensive. You should probably bear in mind that the reason people usually choose deadly mouse traps over humane ones is that they prevent the mouse coming back, I had mice in my house for a little while and kept using humane mouse traps and releasing them only for them to find their way back. You could try taking the mouse several miles away in the car so it can't return. ---- Get one of those cheap plastic garbage cans with the lid that pushes down easily but doesn't flip back up. Put something tempting (like Oreos) into the bottom. The mouse will jump (they can jump!) onto the top, the top will let him land on the bottom of the can, get the cookie, but not be able to jump back out. Make sure you check it often after baiting as you don't want the mouse to get trapped without food and water (or provide a small dixie cup of water). Set him free somewhere. I did this with a cheap garbage can, about 3 feet high, that had a rotating top, but I had to weight the top to keep it down. A flip down should do the trick without modification.