If you're going to use peanut butter...use Crunchy. I find smooth is too easy for the mice to eat without tripping the wire of death. The best bait I've found so far for the old school traps is a bit of Tootsie Roll.
Chew on it for a minute or two to soften it, and apply. It sticks well and the mice love it.
I just read that somewheres else here recently, I was wondering if it worked. My humble abode sits literally IN the woods, so each year I am inundated with the little critters. Hate is probably a gross understatement for my feelings about the little pests. Somehow, they manage to get INTO my walls, behind the pine boards, tear out insulation and head to build their little nests throughout the house, mostly in the ceiling above my loft.
My cat will kill them, but she is overwhelmed, there are just too many. It is ridiculous. Occasionally I will get a whiff of that all-to-familiar odor of mouse urine, and have nightmares of contracting the Hantavirus or Plague.
It infuriates me just thinking about it, like an ongoing home invasion; little illegal aliens pouring into my home, unchecked.
I have tried traditional Tomcat traps, but little to nothing seems to interest them when it comes to bait. I have tried Peanut Butter (though not crunchy,) raisins, that TomCat brand bait gel, nothing seems to really 'draw them in' aside from the occasional one here and there. I can't use poison on account of the dogs and the cat, and I have never tried the 'bucket trap,' though I have heard good things. Perhaps I will try a few old school traps using my daughters bag of Tootsie Rolls. Hopefully my success rate will elevate.
I am thankful to the OP for starting this thread, oftentimes, I feel alone in my battle against mice. It is a strangely comforting feeling knowing that I am not alone.
