Customer Reviews

Smart Mouse Trap - Humane Mousetrap

5 star:		(258)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(70)

 

 

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You'll read about various possible solutions and shortcomings of each - to include the sonic sound devices - the mice just get used to that sound and the device becomes ineffective over time. The trap is kind of expensive here so bought it at Abundant Earth dot com - you need at least two traps to be effective at eliminating the problem per the article and shipping was cheaper there too.

The trap works great - I used wheat germ mixed with a dab of honey to bind the grains down the end of the trap and caught seven mice over three day period. The 2nd day out the trap caught two mice in a single trapping and they had ample room in this trap to move about and turn around. They even sat up and cleaned their little paws while they waited for their drive to the local forest park.

The trap itself is a slender, hard plastic and I can see how it would be prone to cracking if you forced parts to go where they shouldn't. The instructions do encourage you check the trap frequently as these fellas can dehydrate to death if left in the trap for a few days.

Anyone purchasing this trap is likely concerned about the humane way of dealing with the little furry creatures - where mice will gnaw off their limbs if stuck to the glue paper and to consider resorting to drowning or other means are just cruel and unnecessary means of removing the creatures, this trap is a fast, safe and perfect solution. You only need to bait the trap with a wheat-based product and once caught, set the mice loose in a small patch of woods or field. I like the idea of someone putting them in an empty aquarium tank with a perforated lid and perhaps making a once/week trip out to the woods to let them go if you accumulate many mice in a short period or live far from a viable relocation site for the mice.

My problem seems to be solved after only three days of using the traps and capturing seven mice. It is now day five and no more critters have manifested. I feel good about having relocated the ones I caught back to nature where they will fall back into the eco-cycle to live as nature intended.

We are in awe over how well this device works! In just 24 hours we have already caught 3 mice, and they all have happy new homes in the woods. My children race to check the traps each morning, who would have thought catching mice could be so much fun? I researched humane traps thoroughly, save yourself some time and just buy this one!

I purchased 8 of these. See that little plastic hook that holds the entry door open? Well, older, angry mice just chew that off and then you can toss this unit right into trash. Unless you remove that mouse the minute it gets caught, it will eat the tip off. I must admit I caught many mice before they talked to each other and told them what to do. I now have orders in for metal units. The little grey cheapy units you can buy are too small. Mice can just back out of them after grabbing bait.

This mouse trap definitely works. I have a very smart and elusive mouse in my house and this trap caught him. We have watched him grow big and fat from eating all the food in our house. We originally purchased sticky traps, which we felt horrible about after catching a small mouse and decided to switch to the Smart Mouse trap. This is definitely a more humane way to catch a mouse. All that being said, YOU MUST BE CAREFUL if you decide to transfer the mouse to another container. As a previous hamster owner, I thought 'let's put the mouse in a big file keeper box until we can bring him (or her) to the woods'. It was as big as a tank where I used to keep my pet hamster. There was nothing in there for him to climb on to easily get out. Well, I dumped this mouse in the container and he jumped right out. It was as if he had a magic trampoline inside the box with him. It jumped so high that I screamed my head off and probably woke my entire neighborhood. I think I captured...and released...Mighty Mouse.

I also highly reccomend putting enough coins in the pressure part of the trap to just about set the trap off. Right after I set Mighty Mouse free, I reset the trap with extra peanut butter on a ritz cracker. A different tiny little mouse walked right into the trap and licked the peanut butter off the cracker through the little holes in the trap. He was so light that it didn't set off the trap. I put a quarter in the trap thinking the extra weight would set it off. He went right back in the trap and nothing happened. So, I kept adding pennies until I triggered the trap and was able to set the trap door again. The little guy just couldn't resist; went into the trap a third time and this time won himself a first-class ticket to the woods.

Because this isn't it. This trap does have some positive features, but also one very big drawback that more than outweighs the positive. The trap works well...the first time. As far as I can determine, it does as good a job of attracting and catching mice as any similar products on the market. It even does a better job than similar traps I have used at keeping mice in the trap. Perhaps one in ten mice I have caught in other humane traps have found a way out of those traps before I could secure and release them. The spring-loaded gate in this trap should, I beleive, defeat any efforts by mice to escape once they are in the trap. The body of the trap is also solidly constructed and easy to clean.

Sounds good so far, but the drawback is significant. When the trap is set the gate is held open by a tiny plastic latch built into the fulcrum platform on the floor of the trap. Entering the trap, and moving to the opposite end to access the bait, the mouse's weight moves to the far side of the fulcrum and triggers the trap. The gate closes. But if you don't happen to notice that you have a mouse within an hour or so- say, perhaps, you have some not-so-rare nocturnal mice and you happen to be asleep- you end up with an annoyed or bored mouse looking at that tiny plastic latch protruding up in the center of the trap. It doesn't take more than a little gnawing on the latch and there's not enough left to secure the gate when you try to reset the trap and use it again.

I don't know how this defect got past quality control, but it did. A little common sense, coupled with a little knowledge of rodent behavior, might have suggested that the latch be beefed up a bit (maybe thicken the top end of the gate quite a bit to allow for a notch down the width of the gate to engage the fulcrum platform). Failing this, you might think the problem would be caught during product testing. The 'booklet' that comes with this product claims that "Hundreds of mice have been caught with no need for trap repairs" (but I'm guessing that "hundreds" of traps were used). The manufacturer might have even pulled the product off the market once customers alerted them to the defect, but they only added a little slip on yellow paper to unsold product stock advising that customers can "avoid trap chewing" by checking the trap frequently. (I'm not a very good customer. I sleep nights.)

All of this might not be such a big deal if the product wasn't so expensive. We have a company that is manufacturing a product for about $1.50 (that's right, labor costs are down because this American company outsources the labor VA to Mexico), must be aware that it isn't all that great a product, and is still trying to sell it for $13.50 (compared to similar all-plastic products for $2.50 to $8.00) I paid $27.00 for two of these traps and have two badly damaged latches and three captured mice to show for it (one of my mice apparently had some sort of plastic food allergy and didn't gnaw). I suppose I will try to follow the manufacturer's suggestion and use some tape to extend that latch for resetting, but I really don't see why, at this price, I should have to purchase products for a mouse-trap-repair kit and challenge my manual dexterity every time I want to reset this trap.

In the meanwhile, I think I'll also invest in a couple of the $22.00 all-metal live release traps. After all, as my father always told me, 'you get what you pay for'. And sometimes you don't even get that. Good job, Seabright Laboratories.

And it works great. Others in my family have used these, and caught mice on the first night. I've never actually caught mice with other live traps, including the big, well-known one, and the little cheapos from hardware stores, nor has anyone I know.

Nuff said?!

Nope, one more thing. Be sure to check it every morning after you set it. If you have any mice in the house, you are likely to catch one, and you don't want it dying in there just because you forgot to look. Put a reminder in your calendar!

I purchased this trap because we had a mouse for a month or so scampering around on our kitchen counters, and I just didn't have the heart to use a trap that would kill it. My husband was dubious this product would work, but I set it up in the afternoon (sometimes the mouse would come out during the day) - by that evening, when it got dark, the mouse came out and I heard a "pop!" Sure enough, he was trapped. I released him to a nearby park and I am happy that we didn't kill him. I purchased from this seller (Greenfeet) because they had a much cheaper price than other sellers on Amazon. Item shipped quickly and worked like a charm.

This is a great trap, works very well. It's great to be able to see through it. Put it somewhere dark, in a corner, or along a wall.

As far as bait, please DO NOT use peanut butter. Peanut butter is very sticky and can get caught in the mouse or rats throat. Rodents are not able to vomit or burp and when peanut butter is eaten it often sticks. This can cause them to choke and then die. If we are humane and catch to release, we don't wan't to kill them with our bait.

Good bait choices include graham crackers, cinnamon or honey, peanuts, cookies (not chocolate), sunflower seeds and even bird seed.

Its great to see so many people choose to be humane! This trap is a good choice.

Oh, my word! This trap actually works! I don't write reviews very often, but this product deserves another good one. I've had a mouse in my kitchen for over a month. The first week, he went into a humane trap I bought - and fought his way out of it overnight. After that, he was wary of the five or six different I types I bought and set around. I was ready to call in the exterminators and deal with the poison, but I saw this trap and decided it would be my (and the mouse's) last chance. He went into it right off the bat! And because the trap is clear plastic, unlike all the other ones I had around, I was able to tell he was actually in there (a big fella!). It has a better design, too, in that the mouse can't actually get the treat you put in until you open the "escape hatch" on the end and he can chew his way out through the treat. That buys you some time to get away while he scampers out. Very cool. I've used humane traps before and had success, but it was always a little dodgy trying to release the mouse and not have it - and me - get a little freaked out when he sprinted out of the trap. If you're at your wits' end, give this trap a go. It works! Just make sure you release him a ways from your house - apparently, they have a pretty large travel span, and will come right back if they're nearby.

Why Opt for Non-lethal Methods of Rodent Control?

Traditional methods of rodent control, including rodenticides and traps, are lethal to mice and largely unsafe for humans. Rodenticides are pesticides that are designed to kill rodents. However, when ingested, they can also prove deadly to companion animals, as well as other wildlife and even children. Nor are they good for the environment; Americans are so fond of pesticides that they can now be found in our surface and ground water and soil. In fact, pesticides even find their way into the food chain! Moreover, the cumulative toxicity of pesticides is such a concern that the Environmental Protection Agency discourages homeowners from using pesticides before trying preventative strategies.

Lethal traps, while not harmful to humans, prove to be a torturous, barbaric death for those mice unlucky enough to find themselves caught in one. Mice trapped on "glue boards" usually starve to death - or may actually gnaw off a limb in order to escape. Likewise, those mice caught in "box" or "multiple" traps will suffer a slow death due to starvation - assuming that the trap isn't baited with poisons, of course. "Snap" or "spring" traps don't necessarily provide for a quick death and may merely injure Mickey.

The Smartest Mouse House on the Market

After having a highly unsuccessful and frustrating run with the Victor Live Catch Mouse Traps - which are less expensive than the Smart Mouse Trap model, but also less effective - I caved in and shelled out over $100 for a dozen of the pricier humane traps. They quickly proved to be worth the extra money, and then some: Unlike the solid grey plastic Victor traps, they're easy to set, don't slam shut at random, and are made of semi-transparent green plastic, so you can easily glance inside in order to gauge your success. That first year, I caught dozens of little guys, all of which I released back into the fields (I've always wondered whether I trapped the same mouse twice!). Although I still get out the trusty Smart Traps every winter, the guests all seem to have departed.

When setting the traps, you must take the mice's behavior into consideration. Place the traps alongside walls, in storage areas, and next to objects. Leaving them in the middle of a large room would prove pointless, as mice will rarely travel across wide, open spaces. Leave the traps in areas where you've noticed a large concentration of droppings or chew marks. Mice rarely travel more than 30 feet from their nests, so concentrate your efforts in the areas where there appears to be activity. Place several traps together for maximum effectiveness. Remember, the more traps, the better - so buy in bulk! You can bait them with any number of food or nesting materials, such as peanut butter, chocolate chips, cereal, nuts, or cotton balls. (However, you should avoid chocolate if you have canine companions - caffeine and theobtomine, both present in chocolate, can prove fatal to dogs.)

Of course, you must be able to check the traps daily; "catch-and-release" traps left unattended are just as lethal as regular box traps! Make the rounds at least once (if not, twice) a day. Establish a schedule and record the location of each trap, if necessary. If you do happen upon an unwitting inmate, either release him outside as soon as possible, or - if the temperatures are dangerously low - keep him a thick plastic box (one with high "walls" and sans lid, naturally!) until it's safe outside. I find that a medium-sized plastic Tupperware storage box, lined with rags and stocked with cereal and water, works well.

Happy catch-and-releasing!

(Note: The "Smart Mouse Traps" are also referred to as "Humane Mouse Traps" or "Smart Mouse Houses"; though the name differs, they all have a distinct "house" shape and are constructed of semi-transparent green plastic.)