How to Set a Mousetrap The Fast and Easy Way

Mice and rats can be a huge nuisance around the house. These pests eat any food that is not properly covered, chew their way into everything, and leave their droppings everywhere. They can also be a potential disease risk. Many people are reluctant to set traps to catch mice, though, as setting the trap can be a nerve wracking process. One wrong move and the trap can snap shut on your fingers. The steps below will show you how to set a mousetrap easily and safely.

First, get a small piece of bread to bait the trap, and wet it. Then knead the wet bread into a sticky paste. Wet the tongue of the mousetrap, and then stick the bread onto the mousetrap tongue so that it is firmly attached, and the prongs on the tongue stick into the bread. The bread will dry to a hard mass that the mouse will need to use force to remove – increasing the chance of it setting off the trap.

Find an old knife or spatula. Anything long, thin, and flat will do. This should be something that you don’t mind getting dirty, as it will come into contact with the tongue of the mousetrap and may pick up some germs from it.

Place the trap on a flat stable surface where you can work with it easily.

Flip the hold-down bar over so that it is pointing away from the trap. This gets it out of your way until you need it.

Hold down the trap with one hand, and flip the spring-loaded rectangular wire hammer over to the other side of the trap.

Hold down the hammer with the hand that you used to flip it over to the other side. With your other hand, flip the hold-down bar over the top of the hammer, and then use the hand that you used to flip over the hold-down bar to hold down the hammer, and also to hold the hold-down bar so that it is pointing towards the short upright section of the tongue. The upright section will have a hole cut into it. You can use your middle finger to hold down the hammer, while your thumb and index finger hold the hold-down bar in place.

With your other hand, insert the knife under the tongue of the trap. Use the knife to lift the tongue so that the end of the hold-down bar goes into the hole in the upright section of the tongue.

Lift the knife slightly so that the tongue end of the trap is somewhat supported by the knife. Release your hand from the hammer slowly, while taking care that the end of the hold-down bar is caught in the holein the upright section of the tongue, and that the knife is continuing to apply upward pressure to the tongue. Once you have removed the hand that was holding down the hammer, then you can remove the knife from under the tongue of the trap.

The mouse trap should now be set and ready for placement. Pick it up carefully, holding it by the edges on the opposite end to the tongue. Carefully place it where you want it to go. Any mice that decide to make a pest of themselves should now quickly find themselves caught in the mouse trap, and ready for easy disposal.