The Complete Guide to Traps for Rodents

Rodent traps come in variations to ultimately control mice and rat issues in and around your home. Choosing the right type of rodent trap depends on your intention to capture the rodent alive, or to kill it on-site.

In order to encourage the rodent to fall into the trap, a lure is required to do so. Products such as glue traps stop rodents in their tracks using a peanut butter-like formula that entices rodents to interact with the glue. Other rodent traps require you to place food or an alternative attractant gel applicant for mice and rats inside the trap to lure rodents over.

How do Traps Work?

Unlike rodent bait stations that take up to 48 hours to kill mice and rats, rodent traps designed to kill mice and rats instantly. Traps are more commonly used for smaller rodent incidents and work best when trying to remove a few rodents. Should you need to remove a colony of rodents, bait stations work better in those situations.

Rodent traps come in a variety of trap types to provide you with different ways to solve rodent issues in and around your home. Depending on your preferred means of getting rid of mice and rats, there are trap types to suit the removal process of your choice.

Types Of Traps

Spin Traps

• Spin traps for mice are designed with a lever trigger that spins back when touched by a mouse and kills the rodent inside of the trap before it can reach the bait.
• They offer users a mess-free way to kill mice without ever seeing the mouse itself.

Wooden Traps

• These spring-loaded woodentraps are available for mice , as well as wooden traps for rats and involve placing food or an alternative type of bait onto a platform that when touched in the slightest manner, snaps a u-shaped metal trap back onto the body of a rodent once it gets close enough to the bait.
• They are good for single use and need to be disposed of in the garbage after catching a single rodent.

Snap Traps

• There are plastic snap traps for mice as well as plastic snap traps for rats as well.
• Snap traps can be looked at as an evolution of the wooden traps as it requires bait to be placed on a platform that will trigger the spring-loaded trap to snap and close on the rodent’s body, killing it instantly.
• These traps can be disposed of in the garbage after successfully catching a single mouse or rat.

Glue Traps

• There are glue traps for mice and glue traps for rats which differ in size to effectively catch these rodents right in their tracks.
• Glue traps kill rodents by being placed in an area of high traffic amongst rodents as they instantly stick to the glue trap when attempting to run across the sticky sheet of pesticide-free glue.
• Glue traps are commonly coated with a luring scent to entice rodents to enter the trap.
• This luring scent is also effective in catching other pests, such as cockroaches and other insects.

Humane Traps

• Humane traps are also known as “catch and release traps” as they allow you to capture rodents and release them back into the wild when you decide to do so, without having to physically touch the rodent itself.
• Also available are humane traps that catch up to 10 mice at a time.

When to Use Traps

Deciding to use rodent traps instead of rodent bait stations involves assessing the rodent situation in your home and ensuring that it is not an infestation of more than one mouse or rat. Traps are more suitable for instances where you are combating fewer rodents than when using bait stations. All rodent trap types are ideal when removing one, to a few rodents at a time due to many of the trap types only catching and killing one rodent at a time.

To be sure that you find the right rodent trap specific to your situation, see how each trap solves rodent issues compared to other traps and bait stations for rodent removal:

How to Set Traps

Effectively setting traps up varies by trap type. Whether you decide to use a glue trap, a humane trap, or a mechanical trap, it is important to always follow the instructions on the packaging to ensure that you are safely setting the traps up for success. Follow these quick steps to effectively set up each different rodent trap type:

Spin Traps (Mechanical)

1. Remove the bait cap from the bottom of the trap.
2. Add bait or attractant gel.
3. Apply the bait cap back into the bottom of the trap. When done properly, the cap will “click” back into place.
4. Prepare the entrance slot of the trap by simply pulling it away from the trap.
5. Place the spin trap in an area of your home that you suspect is frequented by mice or rats.
6. Check on the spin trap often to see if any activity occurs.
7. Once the spin trap has caught a rodent, dispose of the trap in the garbage.

Go to our article to learn more about how to set spin traps and other mechanical traps effectively.

Wooden Traps (Mechanical)

1. Add a bait of your choice or an attractant gel to the base of the bait holder on the trap.
2. Carefully pull the U-shaped metal bar in the opposite direction of its placement to load the spring of the trap and hold it in place with one hand. With your other hand, place the metal pin over the U-shaped bar and insert the curved section into the open slot on the side of the metal trigger.
3. Without accidentally triggering the trap, carefully place the trap in an area that you suspect rodents to frequent.
4. Once you have noticed that a rodent has been trapped, use gloves to carefully pick up the wooden trap and immediately dispose of it in the garbage.

Go to our article to learn more about how to set wooden traps and other mechanical traps effectively.

Snap Traps (Mechanical)

1. Remove the bait cap which can be accessed from the bottom of the trap.
2. Add a sufficient amount of bait or attractant gel to the bait cap and reinstall the cap to the trap.
3. While the trap is in its dormant state, firmly and carefully open the mouth of the trap until you hear it “click”. Once clicked into place, the trap is now live and active.
4. Place the active snap trap in an area that rodents frequent.
5. Once the trap has caught a rodent, use gloves to immediately dispose of the trap in the garbage.

Go to our article to learn more about how to set snap traps and other mechanical traps effectively.

Glue Traps

1. Once removed from the product packaging, you’ll notice that two glue traps are initially stuck to each other. Carefully separate the two glue traps from each other.
2. Once separated, decide where to place the two glue traps. Areas that you suspect rodents to frequent are the most ideal places for the traps.
3. NOTE: To catch rats, the glue traps should be placed 3-4.5 m (10-15 ft) apart from each other. To catch mice, the glue traps should be placed 1.5–2.5 m (5-8 ft) apart from each other.
4. While it’s possible for glue traps to catch more than one rodent to a single trap, it is best recommended to dispose of a glue trap as soon as you have caught one to maintain a healthy environment in your home.

Go to our article to learn more about how to set glue traps effectively.

Single Catch & Release Traps

1. Remove the bait box of the trap by separating it from the opposite end of the rodent entrance.
2. Apply a bait of your choice or an attractant gel to the bait box and reattach it to the humane trap.
3. Lift the door of the entrance to the trap.
4. Once the entrance is open, place the catch & release trap in an area that rodents frequent.

Go to our article to learn how to set single catch & release traps effectively.

Multi-Catch & Release Traps

1. Simply place the trap in an area that rodents frequent.
2. Since this trap can catch up to 10 mice, frequently check on the trap and decide when it is time to release the rodents from the trap outdoors.
3. Slide the top of the trap to release rodents back into the wild.

Go to our article to learn how to set catch & release traps effectively.

Handling a Trap With Care

Unlike rodent bait stations, traps are designed to kill rodents instantly and leave the rodent caught in the trap for you to dispose of. Open exposure of the caught rodent and the trap itself leaves potential for contamination and also injury from the rodent traps. Remembering where you’ve left traps in your home and immediately disposing of used traps is good practice to avoid any issues regarding hazardous waste and injury.