Jim Koepke
04-07-2016, 8:53 PM
If you have a greenhouse, chickens, livestock or other pets who are fed outdoors you likely have unwanted guests. I haven't bought new traps in years so this kind of slipped my mind.
All it took was one trap having the peanut butter bait licked away without triggering to refresh my memory.
Rat/mouse traps often come as a work in progress. The one that didn't spring had a slight binding at the trigger plate. The tail of it rubbed against the spring. A little work on the staple that holds it in place with long nosed pliers fixed that. The lever also got a bit too cozy in the trigger plate's catch. Adjusting the lever's staple and also changing the angle on the vertical face with the catch on the trigger plate made it a bit scary to set. Just the way I like 'em. Finally, a bit of peanut butter is spread where the lever catches the trigger plate. I think it acts like a lubricant, besides a mouse or rat wants every bit of the bait it can get. This morning the new traps were 100% on their jobs. I only trap at night to avoid catching birds and other curious animals that are not detrimental. If a trap goes untouched during the night, it is a good sign or it is time to move the trap. Either way, they are snapped with a stick so the cats, birds, chickens, chipmunks and squirrels are safe.
Maybe we have been feeding our cats too well. They are usually pretty good about catching more mice and rats than I can trap.
jtk
All it took was one trap having the peanut butter bait licked away without triggering to refresh my memory.
Rat/mouse traps often come as a work in progress. The one that didn't spring had a slight binding at the trigger plate. The tail of it rubbed against the spring. A little work on the staple that holds it in place with long nosed pliers fixed that. The lever also got a bit too cozy in the trigger plate's catch. Adjusting the lever's staple and also changing the angle on the vertical face with the catch on the trigger plate made it a bit scary to set. Just the way I like 'em. Finally, a bit of peanut butter is spread where the lever catches the trigger plate. I think it acts like a lubricant, besides a mouse or rat wants every bit of the bait it can get. This morning the new traps were 100% on their jobs. I only trap at night to avoid catching birds and other curious animals that are not detrimental. If a trap goes untouched during the night, it is a good sign or it is time to move the trap. Either way, they are snapped with a stick so the cats, birds, chickens, chipmunks and squirrels are safe.
Maybe we have been feeding our cats too well. They are usually pretty good about catching more mice and rats than I can trap.
jtk