Traps are a tried and tested way to get rid of mice. Whether you use snap traps, glue traps, electric tunnels, or catch-and-release traps, you have to use them effectively if you want to see results. Here are a few tips for setting up rodent traps in your home.

Choose Your Traps

Wood and metal or plastic snap traps are the least expensive, and they are effective too. Just be sure to choose the right size. If you have rats, a small mouse trap won't do much good. One of the drawbacks to snap traps is disposing of the dead or injured mouse. If you are squeamish, you can throw out the whole trap since they are inexpensive. If you prefer to kill the mice humanely, you can put out electric traps instead. They kill mice and rats instantly, but they are expensive, so you probably couldn't buy as many of them as you could snap traps. If you can't bear to kill the mice at all, then buy a trap that captures them for later release. Just be sure to let the mice loose far from your home or they will come right back.

Place Traps Against The Wall

Mice usually move through your home by hugging the walls. Once rodents have a path established, they usually follow it all the time. If you find dropping or rubbings along a baseboard, that's a sign of a rodent pathway. Place traps along the wall lengthwise so the opening or food is in the mouse's path. That way the mice will find the trap and be tempted by the food and may even stumble into the trap accidentally.

Use Several Traps

You'll get the best results if you use multiple traps. You may even want to place two traps next to each other. A mouse may try to avoid a trap by jumping over it, and if another trap is nearby, the mouse may land on it. You may want to leave bait on the traps for a couple of days before setting them so the mice get used to eating from them and walking on them without getting injured. When you're ready to turn the traps on or set the springs, then set up as many as you can. You're more likely to get a big kill on the first night than you will on the following nights. The traps pick up the smell of blood or dead mice, and the rodents learn quickly to avoid the traps even if they offer a good meal.

While rodent traps are effective, they are gruesome to work with. However, they are a better choice than poison because you don't want dead mice behind your walls or in your attic where you can't find them. If you can't bring yourself to handle the traps or bodies, then call a pest control company, like Environmental Services Pest Control, to do the job for you. Don't put it off or the mice will multiply. When the infestation of mice is bad, the mice will destroy your belongings and give your home a bad odor. You want to get rid of the invaders as quickly as possible, and traps are one of the best ways to do it.