Where do you place mouse traps?

"If you’ve spotted mice, where do you put mouse traps?"

Placing traps in the right places matters more than the bait you use. Here are the best places for mouse traps: 

• Along walls and baseboards: Mice tend to run along the edges of rooms, so set traps perpendicular to the wall, with the trigger end against the wall. 
• Near signs of activity: Place traps close to fresh droppings, rub marks, gnawing, and nesting materials.
• Behind and under appliances: Refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, laundry machines, and water heaters offer cover and warmth.
• Entry points: Target gaps around utility lines, under doors, crawlspace hatches, attic accesses, and garage-to-house doors.
• Every few feet in active areas: Use several traps two to three feet apart to improve your chances.
• Tight spaces: Corners, behind boxes, and along shelving are often runways for mice.

Some of these places can be hard to reach; our technicians know where to place traps and combine trapping with a range of other control methods.

How to set traps for better results

Mice are intelligent creatures and they can get wise to your efforts to catch them. If you’re not careful, they’ll learn to avoid traps entirely.

• Wear gloves to limit human scent, and place traps at night when mice are most active.
• Pre-bait for one night without setting the trap, then set it once feeding starts.
• Anchor or stabilize traps so mice can’t drag them away.
• If nothing happens after 48 hours, move traps to new hotspots.
• Keep traps away from children and pets, and never on food-prep surfaces.

DIY trapping can reduce activity, but it’s often a short-term step. To protect your home and address the source of a mouse infestation, combine trapping with sealing entry points, reducing food and water, and ongoing monitoring.

If traps aren’t solving the problem, Ehrlich can help with a full inspection, entry-point sealing, targeted trapping, and monitoring to help manage mice problems.