Make a humane mousetrap for your kitchen

Most homeowners, farmers, and tenants have had at least one uncomfortable encounter with beady eyes and a tuft of gray fur. Mice look so cute when they are outside, but less so when they're snacking in your cupboard or leaving smelly black droppings in their wake. To solve this problem without the help of expensive pest control or brutal death traps, you can construct this humane living mousetrap.

You'll need:

  • Wooden slat, 17 inches long
  • Wire hanger
  • 2 liter plastic bottle
  • 3 Screws
  • 3 Washers
  • Laundry pegs or paper clips

Here's how to do it:

Cut off a 2½ in long piece of the wood.

YouTube/Chris Notap

Then use pliers to cut a 9½ inch piece and a 5 inch piece from the straight section of the wire hanger.

YouTube/Chris Notap

Bend both pieces into the shapes shown below. Bend the longer piece at a 90-degree angle with a hook on one end, and the shorter piece at a 90-degree angle with a hook on both ends.

YouTube/Chris Notap

Remove any label from the bottle and mark its balance point. You can find this by placing the bottle on a pencil and moving it until you notice it is balanced.

YouTube/Chris Notap

About half a quarter of an inch away from the first point, towards the bottle neck,  mark a second one. Then mark the same points on the other side of the bottle.

YouTube/Chris Notap

Drill a hole at the second point through the entire bottle.

YouTube/Chris Notap

Next, attach the longer piece of the wire hanger to the longer piece of wood. The wire should be between the wood and a washer. Don't tighten the screw completely. You should still be able to move the wire to make adjustments.

YouTube/Chris Notap

Poke the straight piece of wire through the holes you drilled through the bottle. Make sure the bottle isn't touching the wood, otherwise the trap won't work.

YouTube/Chris Notap

Attach the shorter piece of wire to the small piece of wood as shown. Again, place the wire between the wood and a washer, and don't fully tighten the screw yet.

YouTube/Chris Notap

Now you can attach the small piece of wood onto the longer one in front of the open bottle.

YouTube/Chris Notap

All that is left is a bit of fine adjusting to make sure there isn't a big gap between the wood and the bottleneck when it is tilted down. This way the mouse will stay inside the bottle once it has entered.

YouTube/Chris Notap

You can fasten the bottle with a clothes peg or paper clip so it doesn't slip off the wire.

YouTube/Chris Notap

A touch of something like jelly or peanut butter in the neck of the bottle works great as tempting bait.

YouTube/Chris Notap

Once the mouse smells the food, it'll find its way into the bottle...

YouTube/Chris Notap

...and won't be able to get back out. Don't forget to check your trap daily. If you let the little guy starve to death, all that work will have been for nothing. To release your captive, just remove the bottle from the wire and set it on the ground.

YouTube/Chris Notap

This mousetrap is the perfect solution for man and beast. You don't have to touch the mouse or be afraid of it nipping you and the little pests get to live happy lives outside of your cupboard.

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