skeletonbow: I caught a mouse with a homemade mouse trap made out of a steel toolbox, some butcher's string, a peanut, a bit of peanut butter and a chair.

First, I took about 8 feet of butchers string to have an extra long length, then made a hangman's noose in one end of it (search Youtube for how to make a hangman's noose if need be). The toolbox is one of those old red steel 1980s style toolboxes that has a single steel tray on the top that lifts out when you open it. I took the tray out and on the rails where the tray rests there is a small hole about 3/16" in diameter in the steel. I passed the tip of the noose through the hole and slid half of a peanut half way through then tightened the noose. This acts as both the bait and the trigger mechanism that sets off the trap. The peanut prevents the string from pulling back through the hole it is passed through, so if a mouse eats either the peanut or the string, it will release through the hole and set off the trap. Next, I coated the peanut and noose with fresh homemade peanut butter, a nice aroma to attract mice. Then, holding the string taught but not pulling too hard (don't want to snap the peanut), it goes out of the toolbox and up over the top of a chair. The lid of the toolbox is laid down on top of the string to leave a gap for the mouse to enter, and the string tied to the chair top in a way that's easy to undo later. Adjust the position of the chair/toolbox and put some kind of ramp to make it easy for them to find their way to the nice little treat.

Well, it worked like a charm. I had experimented with various homemade mouse traps previously and they all had one flaw or another. Basically if there is a mouse trap on Youtube of any kind - I made it. Any homemade mouse trap anyone reading this might think of - tried it already. Had good results with some designs but they all seem to have their flaws. One that worked well was plastic pop/juice bottle traps that are spring loaded with elastic bands - but only if I was awake and present when the trap went off. If you catch mice in a live trap that is made out of plastic they will chew their way out of it while you're sleeping/away. Pail traps with water in them work well sometimes and can catch multiple mice potentially without needing a reset, but the downside is that once a mouse has died in the pail sometimes other mice presumably can smell the death and will avoid the pail so it turned out to be one that kind of worked well when it worked, but it's not flawless as some on Youtube like to present them to be.

The store bought traps in my experience all suck, and for those animal lovers out there, the traps that are sold as being the "most humane" are generally the exact opposite. For proof of that, look up your favourite humane mouse trap on Youtube and watch video camera feeds of mice getting caught in them. Sometimes mice suffer for hours or even a day or more in the humane sticky traps, and those standard victor neck snappers often leave the mice alive for 20 minutes or more with broken bones flapping around in pain.

Did my research well, and concluded the best thing for me would be homemade live traps, then dumping them in the toilet. Mice drown very quickly, much less suffering than any of the common mouse traps from my observation of Youtube videos on the topic. My experience with homemade traps made out of plastic or wood or other soft materials was that mice chew through just about anything. They can even chew through aluminum cans! But... they can't chew through steel, so for me... steel it is.

-- Skeleton 'steel toolbox mouse trap maker' Bow
:)