Intruder 30442 The Better Mousetrap, 6-Pack

MY ORIGINAL REVIEW (Update follows): After making myself crazy trying to use the old original traps with the wood base, I read reviews for this one (The Intruder 30442 6-Pack) and decided to try 'em. WOW! What a difference! Success every time. I can't believe how easy they are to set. And VERY easy to empty and rinse off. Never messy, but I rinse it anyway. I just spray it with a couple of shots of Simple Green, my "Go To" cleaner and rinse.Stupidly, I fought with the old style trap from the hardware/grocery store for weeks. I used them all my adult life when the need arose (The joys of rural living) but over the years the quality has finally deteriorated to the point where they weren't worth squat! I had a horrible time just trying to set that bad boy and keep it set until I could put it down in the right spot. I'd move just an inch or two and BAM! Or, if I was lucky enough after maybe a dozen attempts to get the trigger to stay put, in the morning, I would find the trap sprung, the bait gone and not a mouse in sight! Absolutely useless. VERY frustrating.Not a problem with this little gem. As a plus it snapped on my finger once and it didn't hurt much at all! At that point, I wasn't feeling very confident that it would do its job. But it did, every single time. Such a simple design, but it works - effortlessly. I'm sure that in time the spring will weaken and the trap will be tossed. That's why I bought six. I only used three so far and in less than a week, I no longer hear the pitter patter of tiny little feet. I caught a total of six mice, since I started using these traps, the cat got only one. What does that say about the effectiveness of "The Intruder"? I'm sold.I suggest using peanut butter, because it is easier to rinse off "after" than cheese. The cheese sticks to the little ridges on the paddle as it dries. It can be rinsed off, but the p-butter is much easier.My only regret is that I didn't try these little gems sooner. What a fool I was.UPDATE 5/17/2015: Yup! My review above is SO spot on! It's now 10 days later and I STILL LOVE THESE TRAPS! They have not sprung for about a week now. The pnut butter bait is still there. And not a single sign of mousies - no visual sightings, no audible sounds of tiny tap dancing feet, and no telltale mini tootsie rolls.However, the last mouse in my house was interesting. About a week ago, as I was sleeping in the middle of the night, in the dark, I awoke to hear some weird scratching, scuffling sounds. They seemed to be coming from the far corner of the room where I had stored a few boxes and packing materials. Since my screens don't fit tightly, moths get in and as I crawled down under the covers, I convinced myself that a moth or moths (some of those suckers are BIG) were fluttering around in the packing paper. I was not brave enough to get out of bed and investigate. (Shudder) After all, it was dark and it could have been the boogeyman. (We all know he can't get us if we stay under the covers!) Long story short, I kept hearing the noises from the same spot all night. Eventually, it dawned on me that the last mousie in my housie had fallen/jumped into one of the larger boxes and was struggling to get out, an impossible task for a guy his size. When morning (and daylight) finally arrived, my suspicions were confirmed. I took the box out to the far corner of my property and released the little one. He took off toward the nearest tree a couple of feet away and scurried under a large piece of fallen tree bark where he promptly started hammering and sawing to put the finishing touches on his new home. He was a smart one. After all, he was the only mousie to find a way out of my house alive! The only one who outsmarted the Intruder 30442 Mousetrap!

Best mouse trap ever!!! Easy to set and easy to dispose of catch. If you have an issue with mass… They better pack their bags! I have ordered these for everyone I know. I hate mice.

These are the Better Mouse Traps than others on the market that we had to buy when we couldn't find these. Have used these for decades. Others were finicky with getting them to set open. Just put peanut butter towards the back of the trap. I'm guessing that may be why some said that they didn't always catch the mouse. Always works for us within a day, but usually works within several hours! Always traps the mouse. Occasionally they are still alive. I just pick up the trap with the mouse still in it and release the trap outside. So easy and no mess to deal with like with the really old ones with the catch stick to hold them open. You will need to wipe out the remaining peanut butter. Once it gets stale, the mice won't go for it. These are terrific mouse catchers.

I wish I didn't have expertise here, but I do. The house we've lived in for nearly 30 years had D-con in the attic when we bought it. Should have been a clue. We catch over a dozen a year despite contractors sealing up apparent cracks and crevices.Let's start with the basic throw away wood thingies. First, despite the fact that they'll break your finger with the slightest misstep, a clever and lightweight mousie can easily clean off one of these and move on unscathed to more foraging. Probably because we secure them so they won't accidentally break our fingers. When they do work, there's often a bloody corpus left. Or it catches them but doesn't kill them right away, and you hear the flopping and rattling before the end finally comes. I hate them!An exterminator advised me that D-con is bad because when the mouse ingests the stuff, while most think they head outside to die, they actually are heading home for their final moments. The exterminator said that if it's a second or third generation mouse, your house is his house and he'll die in your walls or other crannies. Not a pleasant olfactory occurrence. We experienced this right after we moved in and D-con was still in the attic. A little critter apparently passed away in our bathroom exhaust vent while exiting to SOME place of comfort. It took days of scrubbing the bathroom in vain to realize that when the exhaust fan was running we didn't smell anything. Uggh. It was 28 years ago and I can still remember it.Next are the sticky traps. While these are effective at nabbing mice, they don't KILL them. The thought of them living for days until trash collection, plotting their escape or gnawing at the trap to escape was unacceptable. My exterminator adviser said, "Why, you just bop em on the head!" We chose instead drowning them in a giant plastic container that we filled for such occasions, That worked until one time when the mouse still had one foot off the trap. The trap landed in the water right side up and the mousie gracefully paddled his way around the container in circles. Sort of like Venice.Then I discovered The Better Mouse Trap by Intruder.The name pulled me in. In dozens and dozens of entrapments, I've NEVER had the bait cleaned off with the mouse escaping. Only once did the trap even move from its location by the mouse's final thrashings. Setting the trap is simple as pie--just push the rear tab down--and I don't fear broken fingers. Apparently the trap smothers the mouse instead of breaking its neck or back, so no bloody body. And just pinch the tab again to release the dead mouse--no need to get even close to touching it. They are easy to rinse off and use again (apparently mice can smell their deceased colleagues on the trap). Both the plastic and stainless steel spring are very sturdy so they last for years.I've shared these with friends and family and everyone has been as happy as we've been. This brand is hard to find in the stores so Amazon's the way to go. I once settled for a knockoff from Walmart, and the half-trapped critter pulled the trap off the counter onto the floor and would NOT die. I got up from my deep sleep and threw bowl over the little fellow figuring he'd be gone by the morning. Apparently they don't need much oxygen, because he was still alive when I woke up. ONLY USE THE AUTHENTIC BETTER MOUSE TRAP!Also--all this fuss about cheese vs. peanut butter as bait. Another tip from the exterminator: mice love candy and sweets! So I mix Nutella or chocolate sauce with the peanut butter. Seems to do the trick.