What are the Different Types of Mouse Traps?

If you have a mouse in your house, you have two major options for trapping it. Mouse traps can be classified as kill traps or live traps. The most common of all mouse traps, a snap trap, may be familiar to you from movies or Tom and Jerry cartoons. This trap consists of a wooden board with a spring loaded metal bar or toothed trap. After baiting the trap with cheese or another tempting food, you set the trap to respond to the mouse's movement. When a mouse tries to eat the bait, the trap is released and captures the mouse.

Another type of kill trap is the glue trap, or glue board. These mouse traps are similar in concept to a fly strip. Edible bait can be placed onto the trap to lure the mouse. When the mouse steps onto the sticky surface of the glue trap, it becomes permanently stuck.

A third type of kill trap is an electronic trap, which uses battery power to electrocute rodents. This trap looks like a large box. Food bait is placed near the rear of the trap. The electronic trap can sense when a mouse enters and immediately administers a lethal electric shock. A light on the outside of the box will let you know if any rodents have been caught. Electronic mouse traps can be emptied and used again.

If you prefer a more humane approach to your mouse problem, you can opt for a live trap. Live mouse traps can sometimes malfunction and kill the mouse if they are wound too tight, but the mouse survives a great majority of the time. If you use a live trap, you can later release the mouse outside.

Live mouse traps are all variations of a box which allows the mouse to enter but prevents it from escaping. Like the kill traps, live mouse traps are most effective with the use of bait. Some live traps accommodate only a single mouse, while some can trap up to thirty mice before needing to be emptied. Live mouse traps can also be used repeatedly.