How to Build an Electric Mouse Trap

Manual spring-loaded traps pale in comparison to the effectiveness of an electric trap.

Pet mice can be cute, but wild mice can be destructive to your home and office. While there are natural ways to deter mice from your residence, sometimes those pests are too much of a nuisance. If poison seems extreme, you might want to use an electric mouse trap, which delivers a powerful electric shock that kills the rodent. Creating one can be challenging, requiring a bit of know-how in electricity.

Things You'll Need

• High voltage batteries (9 to12 volts)
• Two metal plates
• Chicken wire/poultry netting
• Two pieces of wood
• Soldering gun
• Wires

Instructions

1. Place the two metal plates flat on the wood piece (like doormats) one inch apart. It should be far enough that the rat will step on both plates while feeding. The wood should be wide enough that the metal rests on it fully, but narrow enough so that the mouse can't avoid the metal floor by walking on the wood.

2. Solder the wires to the metal pieces. This is the most challenging step, so be sure to wear gloves that won't conduct electricity. Each plate should have a wire soldered on to it. The front plate will be the negative charge and the back plate the positive.

3. Build the cage out of chicken wire, making it tubular and narrow, or square. Avoid making the cage large, as cats could enter. Leave one side of the cage unobstructed. The cage will keep animals and humans from accidental shock, as well as house the electrified metal pieces.

4. Place bait on the second metal plate (the one farthest from the opening). Dry pet food and peanut butter are standard rodent baits.

5. Connect the battery and wires carefully.

6. Once a mouse has been exterminated, unplug the wires carefully and remove the rodent, and reconnect the trap. The trap works because the mouse, after stepping on both plates, connects the positive and negative charges. The mouse's body serves as the electricity conductor, and the shock is severe enough to kill the rodent.

Tips & Warnings

• Electric rodent traps are useful, but can only kill one at a time, requiring you to monitor the pest problems and dispose of the remains in a timely manner.

• Make sure the batteries are always working, as a half-power charge could leave a mouse injured but alive.

References

• Electric Rat Exterminator