Videos

How To

Statistics

Topple bottle how to

You need:

• a plastic bottle, of minimum height ~30cm
• a box
• a counterweight
• adhesive tape
• a bait
• books...
• ~ 5 min.

1. if necessary cut the bottleneck so that the expected mouse can enter the bottle (> 3 cm diameter)

2. tape the counterweight close to the bottleneck

3. put the bait into the bottle

4. build up stairs with the books up the box's height

5. place the bottle horizontally, slightly off-balance on the edge of the box, which acts as a pivot point. Let the counterweight at the entrance rest on the stairs to stabilize the assembly. An additional book in front of the entrance makes it easier for the mouse.

Notes:

• Make sure the bottle can topple into the box once the mouse passes the pivot point. Use a box wide enough for the bottle to fall inside, but sufficiently narrow for it to stay vertically after the mouse releases the toppling movement.
• A cubic-like counterweight (as seen in the pictures above) stabilizes left-right rolling movements of the bottle. Besides, a ~bottle-wide cut in the box's edge at the pivot point assures a better bottle-box connection for a more definite toppling movement.
• Adjust the position of the bottle on the box's edge so that the bottleneck must lay (though only softly) on the stairs. Choose a counterweight not too light so that the mouse has to pass the pivot point to reach the bait.

Alternative:

Instead of using a box, you might try to hang the bottle with a string to, e.g., a chair. The point where the string binds to the bottle then defines your pivot point.

One-way wheel how to

You need:

• a wheel (e.g. multiCD-box)
• an axis (e.g. a pen)
• something to fix the axis horizontally (e.g. two folders)
• a piece of cardboard taped on a thin book
• a bait
• a closed space: the trap (e.g. a box, a secured area in your kitchen...)
• ~ 30 min, depending on your building skills...

1. cut a ladder-like structure on the rolling band of the wheel and prepare the axis.

2. at the entrance of the trap (any closed space), mount the wheel on its horizontal axis so that it can turn freely slightly above the ground

3. place the cardboard piece underneath the wheel on the trap side to make it one-way.

Notes:

• Here we only show how to build the entrance mechanism of the trap. Use your imagination to build the part of the trap where the mouse is kept after it has entered via the one-way wheel.
• The purpose of the ladder-like structure in the wheel is twofold. It helps the mouse climbing to the top of the wheel and it is part of the mechanism that makes the wheel turn only in one direction.
• A multiCD-box and the height of folders' holes have well-fitting sizes, in our country of residence at least (Switzerland).
• If you suspect a lazy mouse you might want to construct a gentle accessing ramp (e.g. stairs with books) to the top of the wheel (on the free space side of course).