Steve wrote:


I use "the bucket method."

For a long time, that was the only method. I haven't tried it but think
may still be the best.

In 1880, Luchs, a German company, began selling the Capito Original
mouse trap. It was in production until 1920. Many were sold in Britain
and America. That seemed to usher in the Age of Mousetraps.

It seems to be consumer appeal more than efficacy that sells mouse
traps. The appeal to the Capito was that it was a Rube Goldberg
contraption. In the vestibule, a seesaw would trip a latch, letting the
door fall. Then the mouse would clime in a vertical tube and go out on
another seesaw, which would drop him into a drowning tank while raising
the door to admit the next mouse. The design was so popular that
several American knockoffs were patented. The latest was in 1990.

The snap trap, invented in 1894, took over the trap market. What it
lacks in efficacy it makes up for in consumer appeal.

The electrocuting mouse trap was invented in 1909.

At one time I had a Victor Tin Cat. It's about the size of a cigar box
and holds mice for disposal. It could trap several at once. One
disadvantage was that even if I picked it up to look through the vents,
a mouse inside could be invisible. Nowadays I think they have
transparent covers. Eaton makes one for a much lower price.

I also had Kness Tip Traps. It's a rectangular plastic tube big enough
to hold a hot dog. You could see from across the room if there was a
mouse in it.