Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

I had been hearing scurrying sounds in the pump house while I was working
on the backflow valve, so, even though I hate to hurt animals, they were
living inside the blue bladder and I just don't know what mischief they can
do there.

So I put two rat traps next to the opening where the water pipes go into
the blue bladder pressure tank.

Wouldn't you know it, TWO mice were caught, one in each trap, with all the
peanut button licked clean from the trap closest to the entrance.

I assume mouse #1 got caught in rat trap #1 and died instantly (these are
the standard spring-loaded six-inch-long rat traps, so they're overkill for
mice).

Then, I assume mouse #2 licked clean trap #1 and then proceeded to trap #2.

QUESTION:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

I mean, can't they "see" the dead mouse in trap #1?
Can't they make that connection?

It boggles my mind that they can't figure this one out ahead of time.

PS: I didn't want to waste the mice, so I left them outside in the open,
and within an hour or two, something took them away (coyote? fox?
vulture?).

"Danny D." wrote in :


[...]
QUESTION:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

I mean, can't they "see" the dead mouse in trap #1?

Because they're stupid.

Can't they make that connection?

Obviously not.

It boggles my mind that they can't figure this one out ahead of time.

Doesn't boggle mine. They're *mice*, for Pete's sake.

On 8/15/2016 5:26 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
"Danny D." wrote in :


[...]
QUESTION:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

I mean, can't they "see" the dead mouse in trap #1?

Because they're stupid.

Can't they make that connection?

Obviously not.

It boggles my mind that they can't figure this one out ahead of time.

Doesn't boggle mine. They're *mice*, for Pete's sake.



And they don't have to figure it out. Plenty more mice where they came
from.

On Monday, August 15, 2016 at 7:43:16 PM UTC-4, Danny D. wrote:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

I had been hearing scurrying sounds in the pump house while I was working
on the backflow valve, so, even though I hate to hurt animals, they were
living inside the blue bladder and I just don't know what mischief they can
do there.

So I put two rat traps next to the opening where the water pipes go into
the blue bladder pressure tank.

Wouldn't you know it, TWO mice were caught, one in each trap, with all the
peanut button licked clean from the trap closest to the entrance.

I assume mouse #1 got caught in rat trap #1 and died instantly (these are
the standard spring-loaded six-inch-long rat traps, so they're overkill for
mice).

Then, I assume mouse #2 licked clean trap #1 and then proceeded to trap #2.

QUESTION:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

I mean, can't they "see" the dead mouse in trap #1?
Can't they make that connection?

It boggles my mind that they can't figure this one out ahead of time.

PS: I didn't want to waste the mice, so I left them outside in the open,
and within an hour or two, something took them away (coyote? fox?
vulture?).

i use live traps for getting rid of mice. empty trap twice daily away from home

On Monday, August 15, 2016 at 6:35:48 PM UTC-7, bob haller wrote:
On Monday, August 15, 2016 at 7:43:16 PM UTC-4, Danny D. wrote:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

I had been hearing scurrying sounds in the pump house while I was working
on the backflow valve, so, even though I hate to hurt animals, they were
living inside the blue bladder and I just don't know what mischief they can
do there.

So I put two rat traps next to the opening where the water pipes go into
the blue bladder pressure tank.

Wouldn't you know it, TWO mice were caught, one in each trap, with all the
peanut button licked clean from the trap closest to the entrance.

I assume mouse #1 got caught in rat trap #1 and died instantly (these are
the standard spring-loaded six-inch-long rat traps, so they're overkill for
mice).

Then, I assume mouse #2 licked clean trap #1 and then proceeded to trap #2.

QUESTION:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

I mean, can't they "see" the dead mouse in trap #1?
Can't they make that connection?

It boggles my mind that they can't figure this one out ahead of time.

PS: I didn't want to waste the mice, so I left them outside in the open,
and within an hour or two, something took them away (coyote? fox?
vulture?).

i use live traps for getting rid of mice. empty trap twice daily away from home

because, they have all the sex they want,
so the next best thing is food

they simply can't help themselves...?

marc

Doug Miller wrote:
"Danny D." wrote in
:


[...]
QUESTION:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good
thing for them?

I mean, can't they "see" the dead mouse in trap #1?

Because they're stupid.

Can't they make that connection?

Obviously not.

It boggles my mind that they can't figure this one out
ahead of time.

Doesn't boggle mine. They're *mice*, for Pete's sake.

As the saying goes " The second mouse gets the cheese"

On 08/15/2016 05:43 PM, Danny D. wrote:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

mice are like democrats, all they do is eat, **** and destroy stuff.

On 8/16/2016 5:01 AM, ko wrote:
On 08/15/2016 05:43 PM, Danny D. wrote:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

mice are like democrats, all they do is eat, **** and destroy stuff.

good analogy

On Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 6:22:50 AM UTC-5, Frank wrote:
On 8/16/2016 5:01 AM, ko wrote:
On 08/15/2016 05:43 PM, Danny D. wrote:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

mice are like democrats, all they do is eat, **** and destroy stuff.

good analogy

In some neighborhoods, a certain class of people will rob dead accident victims. Yea, climb over the body to see what they can find in the wrecked vehicle. o_O

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-te...an-5531076.php

[8~{} Uncle Wrecked Monster

"Danny D." wrote:

Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

Some mice figure it out.
As "Chairman" said further down in the thread,
"The second mouse gets the cheese."

You only catch the dumb mice in your traps.
Same as only the dumb criminals are in prison.

On Mon, 15 Aug 2016 23:43:12 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote in

So I put two rat traps next to the opening where the water pipes go into
the blue bladder pressure tank.

What knid of traps and how did you position them?
--
Web based forums are like subscribing to 10 different newspapers
and having to visit 10 different news stands to pickup each one.
Email list-server groups and USENET are like having all of those
newspapers delivered to your door every morning.

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 07:53:21 -0500, CRNG wrote:

What knid of traps and how did you position them?

They're standard rat traps positioned to each side of the pipe at the
entrance to the water bladder where they were living inside.

Like this:
http://i.cubeupload.com/UtVLEn.jpg

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 07:56:09 -0400, Gary wrote:

You only catch the dumb mice in your traps.

That's probably true!

After the first couple of sets, the smart ones seem to be leaving the
peanut butter alone!

http://i.cubeupload.com/8oAwWZ.jpg

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 07:56:09 -0400, Gary wrote:

You only catch the dumb mice in your traps.

That's probably true!

After the first couple of sets, the smart ones seem to be leaving the
peanut butter alone!

http://i.cubeupload.com/8oAwWZ.jpg

"Danny D." wrote:

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 07:56:09 -0400, Gary wrote:

You only catch the dumb mice in your traps.

That's probably true!

After the first couple of sets, the smart ones seem to be leaving the
peanut butter alone!

http://i.cubeupload.com/8oAwWZ.jpg

Bacon works good in mousetraps too. Try that.

"Danny D." wrote

| Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?
|

Why can't alcoholics figure out that drink is
bad for them? For that matter, what magical
spell causes so many people to return, again
and again, to fast food joints selling industrial
food-like products that make them sick? Why
do people stare at cellphones while walking into
traffic? Didn't they see the last tech-addict get
run over? Why do we get fat? Isn't that rather
dumb?

The difference between us and mice is mainly
that we're highly intelligent, so we can cook up
complex rationalizations to explain why we chose
to do what we couldn't help doing anyway. We
brilliantly maintain a veneer of plausible free will.

I've been having trouble with mice in the kitchen
lately. We were given a very good trap from
Switzerland. Despite droppings and scent left
behind by one mouse, the next one gets caught
the next night. I caught 4 in about 10 days. My
suspicion is that the scent may draw the next
mouse.

On the other hand, I don't kill them. The trap is
just a cage. I then take them out to nearby woods
and release them. So there's no scent of dead
mouse in the trap. I don't understand people who
take pleasure in killing innocent creatures. I suspect
they were beaten by a merciless father in their youth
and now find weakness and vulnerability enraging
and contemptible. But maybe they just have no
capacity for empathy. Or perhaps they just can't
figure out that hatred is not good for them? Whatever
the case, I don't see any need to kill mice.

In general I find mice to be highly intelligent and
wiseguys by nature. When I started blocking their
entrances one time in a cabin where I was staying
they began to run across my body, and pull otherwise
harassing stunts, when I went to bed. The message
was clear: You leave us alone and we'll leave you
alone. What impressed me was that they had to have
some kind of understanding of communication in order
to issue their warning to me. (But I couldn't sleep
with mice running over me. I ended up catching them
by hand in the middle of the night, until I had them
all (3) trapped. Oddly, they seemed to almost give
up when I took that approach. They didn't seem to
try very hard to avoid capture.)

On Mon, 15 Aug 2016 23:43:12 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

They already have...

https://tinyurl.com/h3yptn9

https://tinyurl.com/ztmhug7

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:35:32 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

After the first couple of sets, the smart ones seem to be leaving the
peanut butter alone!

http://i.cubeupload.com/8oAwWZ.jpg

Those traps are nasty -- not an appealing meal.

The first couple / few kills, traps are less effective. Wash (soak)
them in a container of water and bleach dilute. Bottom up, floating.
Rinse and dry in the sun. It washes cooties off. Buy yourself some
new traps. The critters don't like your presentation

(where are the rattlesnakes when you need them)

On 08/16/2016 06:56 AM, Gary wrote:

[snip]

You only catch the dumb mice in your traps.
Same as only the dumb criminals are in prison.


And innocent people, since those aren't good at thinking like a criminal.

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 10:00:41 -0400, "Mayayana"
wrote:

On the other hand, I don't kill them. The trap is
just a cage. I then take them out to nearby woods
and release them. So there's no scent of dead
mouse in the trap. I don't understand people who
take pleasure in killing innocent creatures. I suspect
they were beaten by a merciless father in their youth
and now find weakness and vulnerability enraging
and contemptible. But maybe they just have no
capacity for empathy. Or perhaps they just can't
figure out that hatred is not good for them? Whatever
the case, I don't see any need to kill mice.

I'm an animal lover, but mice are NOT on my list of animals to love. I
dont take pleasure in killing them, but I do it because they are
destructive pests. If you release them, they will just come back or go
to another home to do damage. The most humane thing you can do is to
kill them quickly. The best method is to feed them to a hungry cat.
Killing mice and rats, or flys, mosquitoes has nothing to do with
hatred, and rodents are far from innocent, when they destroy your
clothing or do damage to your home.

On Mon, 15 Aug 2016 23:43:12 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:


QUESTION:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

I mean, can't they "see" the dead mouse in trap #1?
Can't they make that connection?

It boggles my mind that they can't figure this one out ahead of time.

PS: I didn't want to waste the mice, so I left them outside in the open,
and within an hour or two, something took them away (coyote? fox?
vulture?).

Same reason that some people drink excessive alcohol, get sick, lose
their drivers license, lose their jobs, become homeless, and still go
back and drink again.... and again.....

On 8/16/16 4:38 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 6:22:50 AM UTC-5, Frank wrote:
On 8/16/2016 5:01 AM, ko wrote:
On 08/15/2016 05:43 PM, Danny D. wrote:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

mice are like democrats, all they do is eat, **** and destroy stuff.

good analogy

In some neighborhoods, a certain class of people will rob dead accident victims. Yea, climb over

the body to see what they can find in the wrecked vehicle. o_O

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-te...eal-groceries-

from-woman-5531076.php

[8~{} Uncle Wrecked Monster


in other neighborhoods they just rig their new cars so it looks like it
will pass smog laws, or they might just butcher diseased cows for human
consumption, but I've always liked the ones that allow residential areas
to be built next to dangerous facilities

On Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 1:15:55 PM UTC-5, ZZyXX wrote:
On 8/16/16 4:38 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 6:22:50 AM UTC-5, Frank wrote:
On 8/16/2016 5:01 AM, ko wrote:
On 08/15/2016 05:43 PM, Danny D. wrote:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

mice are like democrats, all they do is eat, **** and destroy stuff.

good analogy

In some neighborhoods, a certain class of people will rob dead accident victims. Yea, climb over

the body to see what they can find in the wrecked vehicle. o_O

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-te...eal-groceries-

from-woman-5531076.php

[8~{} Uncle Wrecked Monster

in other neighborhoods they just rig their new cars so it looks like it
will pass smog laws, or they might just butcher diseased cows for human
consumption, but I've always liked the ones that allow residential areas
to be built next to dangerous facilities

Off you anti insane diatribe medications again I see. It's OK, I'm friends with a lot of crazy people and I don't hate them because of their political affiliation. Perhaps one day, you can be healed and look back at your life and wonder why you behaved as you did? I do have sympathy for you. O_o

[8~{} Uncle Sympathetic Monster

On Monday, August 15, 2016 at 7:43:16 PM UTC-4, Danny D. wrote:
Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

A mouse's brain is about 0.4 gram. (For comparison, the contents of
a packet of Sweet-n-Low (that pink packet) is about 1 gram.)

I doubt there's any room in there for cause-and-effect analysis.

Cindy Hamilton

On Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 9:46:37 AM UTC-4, Gary wrote:
"Danny D." wrote:

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 07:56:09 -0400, Gary wrote:

You only catch the dumb mice in your traps.

That's probably true!

After the first couple of sets, the smart ones seem to be leaving the
peanut butter alone!

http://i.cubeupload.com/8oAwWZ.jpg

Bacon works good in mousetraps too. Try that.

Why would anyone waste bacon on a mouse. Good grief...it's *bacon*.

On Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 10:01:38 AM UTC-4, Mayayana wrote:
"Danny D." wrote

| Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?
|

Why can't alcoholics figure out that drink is
bad for them?

Millions of alcoholics have figured it out. That's why they don't drink
anymore.

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 09:19:35 -0700, Oren wrote:

Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

They already have...

https://tinyurl.com/h3yptn9

https://tinyurl.com/ztmhug7

Those are the *smart* ones!

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:52:48 -0400, wrote:

I'm an animal lover, but mice are NOT on my list of animals to love. I
dont take pleasure in killing them

I don't take any pleasure in killing them either.
None whatsoever.

I don't mind letting them go at the small overhang where I dump the live
rattlers - but that means a dozen humane traps first.

And, I guess, it's not humane unless you constantly *check* the traps, as I
don't generally travel to the pumphouse (except when the backflow valve is
acting up - and - well - thanks to you guys - that backflow valve won't be
acting up anymore).

The traps are in the crawl space of the house, so, humane traps are
problematic in inaccessible areas (they'd just be starvation traps - which
doesn't sound all that humane).

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 10:00:41 -0400, Mayayana wrote:

Why can't alcoholics figure out that drink is
bad for them?

I guess it's the same.
Why alcoholics ... gamblers ... druggies ... etc., can't stop what is
clearly harmful.

It does seem similar.

On the other hand, I don't kill them. The trap is
just a cage. I then take them out to nearby woods
and release them.

I should get some of those as I already have a spot I throw all the
rattlers I catch so I may as well throw mice there so that the rattlers can
play with them.

What humane traps that I can get at Ace/HomeDepot/Lowes do you recommend?
(I'll need about a dozen or so.)

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 09:56:43 -0700, Oren wrote:

http://i.cubeupload.com/8oAwWZ.jpg

Those traps are nasty -- not an appealing meal.

The first couple / few kills, traps are less effective. Wash (soak)
them in a container of water and bleach dilute. Bottom up, floating.
Rinse and dry in the sun. It washes cooties off. Buy yourself some
new traps. The critters don't like your presentation

(where are the rattlesnakes when you need them)

The rattlers are NOT doing their job!
I agree with you.

I do have some new rat traps, but they're inside the house.
These nasties are for outside.

They seem to have caught two sets of 'dumb' mice but the smart ones may
have figured 'em out by now.

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 09:47:22 -0400, Gary wrote:

Bacon works good in mousetraps too. Try that.

I keep a jar of peanut butter that my sister's kids made a mess of where
it's all over the walls but most of it is gone.

After the kids are done with the peanut butter, it can catch rats for a
couple of years sitting on my garage shelf with the rest of the oils and
greases and chemicals.

On 8/16/2016 3:00 PM, Danny D. wrote:
On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 10:00:41 -0400, Mayayana wrote:

Why can't alcoholics figure out that drink is
bad for them?

I guess it's the same.
Why alcoholics ... gamblers ... druggies ... etc., can't stop what is
clearly harmful.

It does seem similar.

On the other hand, I don't kill them. The trap is
just a cage. I then take them out to nearby woods
and release them.

I should get some of those as I already have a spot I throw all the
rattlers I catch so I may as well throw mice there so that the rattlers can
play with them.

What humane traps that I can get at Ace/HomeDepot/Lowes do you recommend?
(I'll need about a dozen or so.)


Their vermin that destroy stuff and can spread disease. Why worry if
the traps are humane?

--
Maggie

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 12:11:44 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton wrote:

A mouse's brain is about 0.4 gram. (For comparison, the contents of
a packet of Sweet-n-Low (that pink packet) is about 1 gram.)

I doubt there's any room in there for cause-and-effect analysis.

I guess that makes sense, but where I live, we have mountain lions and
foxes and coyotes, and all of them have figured out that humans are
dangerous, so they stay away from us (for the most part).

Also, animals must figure out what plants are poisonous, right?
Or what animals to run away from, right?

So, they must figure out *some* stuff.
But not mousetraps.

On 8/16/2016 12:52 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 10:00:41 -0400, "Mayayana"
wrote:

On the other hand, I don't kill them. The trap is
just a cage. I then take them out to nearby woods
and release them. So there's no scent of dead
mouse in the trap. I don't understand people who
take pleasure in killing innocent creatures. I suspect
they were beaten by a merciless father in their youth
and now find weakness and vulnerability enraging
and contemptible. But maybe they just have no
capacity for empathy. Or perhaps they just can't
figure out that hatred is not good for them? Whatever
the case, I don't see any need to kill mice.

I'm an animal lover, but mice are NOT on my list of animals to love. I
dont take pleasure in killing them, but I do it because they are
destructive pests. If you release them, they will just come back or go
to another home to do damage. The most humane thing you can do is to
kill them quickly. The best method is to feed them to a hungry cat.
Killing mice and rats, or flys, mosquitoes has nothing to do with
hatred, and rodents are far from innocent, when they destroy your
clothing or do damage to your home.


They aren't pets, and killing them shouldn't be a problem, imo.

--
Maggie

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 20:00:36 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 09:56:43 -0700, Oren wrote:

http://i.cubeupload.com/8oAwWZ.jpg

[...]

They seem to have caught two sets of 'dumb' mice but the smart ones may
have figured 'em out by now.

Looks like animal skat. Lower left corner. Coons and 'Possum ****
make the mice hesitant

On 2016-08-15, Danny D. wrote:

Why can't mice figure out that the trap is not a good thing for them?

Why can't you figure out this topic is not what this group is about?

nb

"Danny D." wrote

| What humane traps that I can get at Ace/HomeDepot/Lowes do you recommend?
| (I'll need about a dozen or so.)

I'm no expert. We had a basic trap. I think it's
have-a-heart. But our neoghbor's from Switzerland
have something that seems to work better. Same
idea. It's just a cage attached to a small board,
with a spring-loaded trap door.

On Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 4:34:38 PM UTC-4, Danny D. wrote:
On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 12:11:44 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton wrote:

A mouse's brain is about 0.4 gram. (For comparison, the contents of
a packet of Sweet-n-Low (that pink packet) is about 1 gram.)

I doubt there's any room in there for cause-and-effect analysis.

I guess that makes sense, but where I live, we have mountain lions and
foxes and coyotes, and all of them have figured out that humans are
dangerous, so they stay away from us (for the most part).

Also, animals must figure out what plants are poisonous, right?

Not necessarily. As some other poster said, there are always more
where that came from.-

Or what animals to run away from, right?

So, they must figure out *some* stuff.
But not mousetraps.

Practically every animal is wired to be afraid of demonstrably
bigger and more aggressive animals. Not so much for a piece of
wood and wire. They just don't look or smell dangerous. They're
just part of the scenery.

I've seen squirrels scamper over a dead squirrel to get to birdseed
on the ground.

Cindy Hamilton

On Wed, 17 Aug 2016 09:50:53 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton wrote:

I've seen squirrels scamper over a dead squirrel to get to birdseed
on the ground.

I "I" saw a dead squirrel with birdseed all around, I'd wonder about that
birdseed ...

On Wednesday, August 17, 2016 at 1:59:28 PM UTC-4, Danny D. wrote:
On Wed, 17 Aug 2016 09:50:53 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton wrote:

I've seen squirrels scamper over a dead squirrel to get to birdseed
on the ground.

I "I" saw a dead squirrel with birdseed all around, I'd wonder about that
birdseed ...

No sympathy for the dead squirrel? You are one cold sum bitch. :-)