Electric Mouse Trap?

[Jim Koepke]

My bandsaw sits unplugged when the blade tension is released. Imagine my surprise when going to set up the bandsaw yesterday and seeing this:

445241

This is the third time a mouse has been found this way. For some reason they crawl in and on their way out their foot is on the hot side connection as they squeeze past the mounting hardware which is internally connected to ground.

When removing the an insulated glove is worn and a pair of pliers with insulated handles is used to remove them.

jtk

[Michael Weber]

Yuck. At least it’s not rats. If you get bored YouTube Shawn Woods mousetrap Monday.

[Lee Schierer]

Unless you want to continue catching mice that way an outlet cover would stop them.. :)

[Jim Koepke]

Unless you want to continue catching mice that way an outlet cover would stop them.. :)

Whoever installed the outlets didn't consider the wall covering. They are mounted flush with the studs making it difficult to install a cover.

Some of the mice around here seem to be wise to regular mousetraps.

This reminds me the other uncovered wall outlets should be examined. Though so far this is the only one with easy mouse access.

jtk

[Jim Becker]

Whoever installed the outlets didn't consider the wall covering. They are mounted flush with the studs making it difficult to install a cover.

Some of the mice around here seem to be wise to regular mousetraps.

This reminds me the other uncovered wall outlets should be examined. Though so far this is the only one with easy mouse access.

jtk

You can trim the edge of a nylon cover with your bandsaw to provide clearance for that stud in the photo. I had to do that for the outlet near my shop door because some idiot (err....me) installed trim that was a little too wide... :D

BTW, we actually use electric mouse/rat traps quite successfully. They even tell us when they have, um...dispatched...an invader. There were actually two in one trap the other day when Professor Dr. SWMBO was called to action by the little beeping sound...

[Bill Dufour]

buy a mud ring or box extension.
I thought this would be about the "Rat Zapper.com" I used to hear ads for on the radio. It would send a text when triggered, etc, etc.
Bill D

[Al Launier]

Looks like it's time for a re-do of the box installation & others if applicable - very easy, or by a contractor! Any children exposure? Hard to imagine an electrical contractor installing a box like that, perhaps the previous owner?

[Jim Koepke]

Looks like it's time for a re-do of the box installation & others if applicable - very easy, or by a contractor! Any children exposure? Hard to imagine an electrical contractor installing a box like that, perhaps the previous owner?

No children exposure.

My guess is a previous owner did this since there are more questionable practices involved with other items in the shop.

jtk

[Mike Soaper]

Great Stuff, of canned spray foam fame, makes a grey" "Pestblock" Insulating foam sealant "

Don't know how it compares to other foams besides color, or how quickly a critter might chew thru it. But it might be a temp fix until you can make a more permeant fix.

edit. i would not put the foam in the box, just between the wall and the box.

[Rob Luter]

He has a very surprised look on his face.

I dispatched one in the night last night the old fashioned way. The little b*stard had found his way into the linen closest and chewed a wool blanket. Turns out he liked peanut butter too. For a brief moment.....

https://images.victorpest.com/is/image/woodstream/vp_us_M325_1a

[Lee Schierer]

Whoever installed the outlets didn't consider the wall covering. They are mounted flush with the studs making it difficult to install a cover.

Some of the mice around here seem to be wise to regular mousetraps.

This reminds me the other uncovered wall outlets should be examined. Though so far this is the only one with easy mouse access.

jtk

There are box extenders that can extend your existing box flush to the wall. https://www.lowes.com/pl/Box-extender--Electrical-boxes-Electrical-boxes-covers-Electrical/4294653959?refinement=4294410318

[Ron Selzer]

I would leave it alone due to it is killing mice for you
Now if kids are around then yes cut a cover to fit
Ron

[Jim Becker]

I would leave it alone due to it is killing mice for you
Now if kids are around then yes cut a cover to fit
Ron
It's a potential fire hazard, unfortunately...120v could easily get that crispy critter burning. ;)

[Myk Rian]

Whoever installed the outlets didn't consider the wall covering. They are mounted flush with the studs making it difficult to install a cover.
Trim a plastic cover with the bandsaw?


Some of the mice around here seem to be wise to regular mousetraps.
I lay the plain old Tomcat traps, with no bait, up against the walls. Trigger side to the wall.
Mice are wall runners, and will go right over it. Snap.
It also works for rats, voles, other rodents.

[Tom M King]

A small mouse found a similar end in my shop. There was a cord that wasn't plugged all the way into a receptacle, and it contacted both the hot plug prong, and the neutral one. I didn't take a picture.

Our best mouse trap in the barn is an empty, tall kitchen trash can, with a little smelly stuff in the bottom, placed against something that they can get on. They go in, but don't can't get out.

[Frank Pratt]

I found an unfortunate, desiccated mouse lying across the line terminals of an 800A, 480V circuit breaker once. No idea how long he'd been there.

[Bill Dufour]

One outlet box in my house was buried below an added on masonite paneling job. The box was at an angle so the mud ring would not work, too high on one end. So i took a plastic box and used the bandsaw to make a mud ring with the correct angle. I just drilled the screw holes for clearance and used extra long screws to mount the switch.
It was easy to mark I just set it inside out on the old box and used a sharpie to mark how deep it should be.
Bill D

[Jim Becker]

Our best mouse trap in the barn is an empty, tall kitchen trash can, with a little smelly stuff in the bottom, placed against something that they can get on. They go in, but don't can't get out.

I can say with experience this is true, even when unplanned...'found a couple of them last winter in the plastic can I use at the back of my slider for "trash" off-cuts. It was kinda like that saying "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"...they succumbed to a lonely end in what clearly was a cheap hotel without room service. :)

[Ronald Blue]

A small mouse found a similar end in my shop. There was a cord that wasn't plugged all the way into a receptacle, and it contacted both the hot plug prong, and the neutral one. I didn't take a picture.

Our best mouse trap in the barn is an empty, tall kitchen trash can, with a little smelly stuff in the bottom, placed against something that they can get on. They go in, but don't can't get out.

Like the "Hotel California where you check in and check out anytime you want but you can never leave"?

Years ago when I had a corn burning stove and a gravity wagon of corn in the shed, I used a storage tote to run shelled corn into for filling buckets. When the corn level was a foot or so down in the tote I'd find mice who got in and couldn't get out.

[Frank Pratt]

Like the "Hotel California where you check in and check out anytime you want but you can never leave"?

Years ago when I had a corn burning stove and a gravity wagon of corn in the shed, I used a storage tote to run shelled corn into for filling buckets. When the corn level was a foot or so down in the tote I'd find mice who got in and couldn't get out.

I bet they were well fed though.

[Rod Sheridan]

My bandsaw sits unplugged when the blade tension is released. Imagine my surprise when going to set up the bandsaw yesterday and seeing this:

445241

This is the third time a mouse has been found this way. For some reason they crawl in and on their way out their foot is on the hot side connection as they squeeze past the mounting hardware which is internally connected to ground.

When removing the an insulated glove is worn and a pair of pliers with insulated handles is used to remove them.

jtk

Third time Jim and you still don't have a cover on that receptacle?

That's a fire hazard I wouldn't risk in a wood working shop...........Rod.

[Bill Dufour]

Maybe a shot of fireblock foam.
Bill

[Jim Becker]

Maybe a shot of fireblock foam.
Bill

You're really not suppose to put stuff in an outlet box other than the wires and the outlet. The simple solution here is a cover which can be modified to fit by cutting off the edge on the "stud" side based on the photo provided by the OP.