# And the Mice come marching in ...



## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

The annual wave of basement invaders. Enter at your own risk.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsPNDjMyHAU[/media]


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## daniel3507 (Jul 31, 2018)

That was way more creepy than it needed to be. Very nicely done!


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

@daniel3507

Learning what works ...

[media]https://youtu.be/5PBLt7d-kuU[/media]


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## stogie1020 (Sep 10, 2019)

As gruesome as this is, I enjoy watching these videos!


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## desirous (Dec 15, 2017)

@TommyTester, have you tried the cheap single-use mouse traps, like this one: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Victor-Metal-Pedal-Mouse-Trap-M154W/203736586 I've had good luck with them, your traps look too fancy...

Also, if you are going for gruesome, film some open-face glue plates...


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

@desirous Yes, they work well but also sometimes do not trigger. The mice can lick them clean. That is why I switched to the "black" plastic ones with the bait cup, forcing them to step on the trigger plate, but clearly these also sometimes don't trigger.

The style below seems to work pretty well, are easy to set, and can be cleaned and reused many times. Caught this guy this morning. This style doesn't draw blood which I think leaves a scent that deters future diners. 

Based on my surveillance of these critters, I have some mouse trap ideas of my own I plan to test. :bandit:


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## Easyluck (Feb 5, 2019)

Have you figured out how the mice are getting inside?


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

@Easyluck ... They can get in through holes the size of a pencil eraser. If there is no hole, they make one, mainly through the backside of the wood siding as it meets the foundation. I do patch the ones I find with steel wool, but some get in regardless as winter approaches. All the neighbors have the same problem as we live next to woods. As long as I stay ahead of them, they don't get into the living portion of the house.

By doing videos this time, I'm able to learn their behavior, with the goal to improve trapping.

Here's this morning's episode. Just one research assistant this time ... :mrgreen:

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTDYQ_bPNlY[/media]


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

Experiments ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpViA-uOoW8


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

A new concept and test.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkQU3L9xXvo[/media]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWK2gVxb_Ws[/media]


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

Success. 2 for 2 tonight. I win. :bandit:

Beats any snap trap you can buy. Traps them *instantly*.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQSITt7WDqs[/media]


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## mtroo (Jul 31, 2018)

What's with the creepy mannequin? Love the trap idea.


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

mtroo said:


> What's with the creepy mannequin? Love the trap idea.


@mtroo Actually, it had a scientific purpose. :nod:

I heard mice love to climb in hair/fur, perhaps from a history of digging through dead animals for food and bedding material. So far, no mice have shown interest in her plastic hair so she's been pulled from the project. :lol:

My balsa wood trap proved the concept works. Here are my Plexiglas prototype traps with 2 different side guard heights. I set them out last night but no mice came by.


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

And 8 days later .... they're back.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U12q-VXNmio[/media]


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

I think I've figured out all their tricks. :bandit:

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9um5wIkFQY[/media]


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Cool thread and awesome videography.

I really feel for anyone with these pest problems, especially anything even approaching these numbers (I used to care take a retired farm, lived in a 20+ yoa double-wide NEXT TO A CORN FIELD (    !!! ) and the populations in these videos are OVER the top, man!

In my situation, as soon as the first frost hit the surrounding cornfields you could practically see the vermin coming IN WAVES, heading for the warmth of the trailer-home and the crawlspace under in it :?

Anyhoo, this was decades ago and all I had were glue traps with what appeared to be hemp seeds in the middle. Those glue traps were EFFECTIVE! I just had to get em up before the mice live-cannibalized one another (sometimes, within an hour of a mouse getting caught on a glue trap, other mice would begin gnawing on whichever of the caught mouse's rear haunches were most exposed. Talk about gruesome ...)

Fascinating videos (thank you!) :thumbup:


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

440mag said:


> I really feel for anyone with these pest problems.


We don't get many, a few per week this time of year. For 30+ years I just used regular Victor snap traps, and have seen it all including 1/2 eaten caught mice, bloody messes, and traps that disappear that I still haven't found  .

Only since filming them have I seen how they behave and how they defeat many traps. I'm on track to develop one that is simple and can't be defeated. :bandit:

This one piece prototype #3 design is awaiting lab participants as we speak. :mrgreen:


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

Finally, after a long wait, another candidate came in for an interview as a Lab Assistant last night. He made history. :thumbup:

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKUuBFT64SU[/media]


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

Sorry Mickey. Actually not.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRMVGeyxQY4[/media]


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Oh geez, am I ever glad I sub'ed to this thread "Tommy;" last weekend I found a fresh mouse on a glue-"tray"-type-trap in the semi-finished basement for the first time EVER since 2014, when we moved in this now 10-year old mountain lake home, surrounded by deep woods ... the wife is like, "This means War!" :evil: :evil: :evil:

Funny (?) thing is, I put these particular glue-"tray"-type-traps down way back in '14 or '15 along the base boards behind boxes and pallets where I store reloading components and such. VERY glad I left them and that the glue stayed effective. I surmise the sub-bsmt / crawlspace below the semi-finished basement is where it came from. I may have really screwed up as for the first time ever I left a opened (but clipped closed) 50-lb bag of "Winning Colors" TTTF grass seed up in the bed of a power cart and not in the metal trash can where I normally store seed, etc. (needed that darn meta can for firewood kindling this season, may prove to be my big mistake....) You know what they say, "_*When you see one mouse (or roach or rat or pest) you can count on there being a dozen to a score more that you're not seeing!*_" :shock:

I had an exterminator come last week and I suspect his going into nooks and crannies and banging on joists and headers and footers and studs, etc. in the sub-bsmt drove that one little mouse up into the living area of the house .... 

The wife ran out to the store and I dropped 16 more of those glue-"tray"-type-traps along baseboards of the semi-finished basement - 3 days so far and no new catches - and I'm going out today to get another dozen or so to place in the unfinished sub-bsmt before we close the hacienda up and leave for the holidays ...

D*mmit. As if I don't have enough going on already, ha-ha ....


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

440mag said:


> Oh geez, am I ever glad I sub'ed to this thread "Tommy;" last weekend I found a fresh mouse on a glue-"tray"-type-trap in the semi-finished basement for the first time EVER since 2014, when we moved in this now 10-year old mountain lake home, surrounded by deep woods ... the wife is like, "This means War!" :evil: :evil: :evil


Quite a story. Mice are smart though, and they soon learn to avoid traps that they see did-in their pals.


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