Will mice go after peanut butter?

They used to say, “build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” Maybe they said that because mice seem to do such a great job of evading mousetraps. One of the most popular types of trap is a baited mousetrap. The trapper puts bait — such as cheese or peanut butter — on a spring-loaded mechanism. When the mouse eats the bait, it lessens the weight enough on the mechanism to spring the trap.

However, it’s not uncommon for people to complain that their peanut butter mousetrap is not working. They may say the mouse is eating bait without springing the trap. Naturally, if the mouse keeps eating bait off the trap without springing it, it’s not a very effective method of mouse control. Why does this happen? How can you stop a mouse stealing peanut butter from a trap, and is this really the kind of trap you should be using?

How to Deal With Mousetrap Bait

If your mice aren’t biting, the problem could be that your bait smells bad. If you smear the peanut butter on with your bare hands, the mouse might smell you on the bait and stay away. However, if they’re simply getting the peanut butter without activating the trap, there are a couple of solutions. One is to put less peanut butter on the trap. If you put a big glob on, the mouse can grab some off the top while leaving plenty of weight on the trap to prevent it from springing. A pea-size amount should do the trick.

Another possibility is not using food as bait at all. Mice need material like twine to make their nests, so if you bait your trap with dental floss or yarn, tying it around the trigger so it will pull the trap mechanism when the mouse goes for it, you might have better results.

Alternatives to Mousetraps

While mousetraps can work, they are often more trouble than they’re worth. Mice can avoid them, and they can quickly breed, so even if they work, you may end up with more mice than the traps can handle. On top of all this, those sprung mousetraps don’t just disappear. You’ll still have a bunch of unpleasant broken mouse bodies to deal with. Other types of traps, like poison or glue traps, are considered by many to be inhumane, and humane mousetraps often don’t work.

If you live in the Cape Cod area, a much more effective solution is to call Cape Cod Pest Pros for mice control. We can find the places in your home that mice live and nest and clear them out, taking steps to make sure they don’t return for a long time. It’s easy, efficient and you don’t have to do anything but let us go to work.

There is a very common question frequently asked in pest control. “What works better as bait for getting rid of mice, peanut butter or cheese?”

Peanut butter and cheese can be a good choice as bait for getting rid of mice

Stereotypes of mice would make cheese the best option. However, in reality it isn’t the best choice. Cheese can have the tendency of drying out when left in mouse traps. If the cheese gets hard and stale, mice may not eat it.

Peanut butter can be a better option with its high protein content. Also, peanut butter stays fresh longer. This will give you a higher chance of catching the mouse in your trap. Also, peanut butter tends to stay in place at odd angles. This way you can place the mouse traps in unique spots to catch mice more effectively.

Cheese and peanut butter might not always be the best choice

Peanut butter or cheese could be effective as bait for mice. Finding out what they are currently feeding on is usually a better option.

If you are having a rodent issue, be sure to pay attention to what they are getting into and eating around your home or business. These pests are habitual creatures and if they are currently eating out of your pantry they are very likely to return there.

If they were getting into your cereal boxes, bait your mouse traps with that cereal. You already know they like it, so give them what they want.

Pay close attention to where the mice and rodents are seen; most often they are feeding off of some convenient thing. If you place the traps there, you will have a higher chance of getting rid of mice and rodents with your bait traps.

Both peanut butter and cheese can be effective for bait in traps to get rid of rodents. The food they are already accustomed to eating will work best.

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