10 Best Mouse Traps 2024 in the United States

A mouse might appear to be a cute little animal, but it can also be quite a nuisance and a pest. Depending on where you live, a single mouse might have wandered in from the outdoors--but it can also be a sign of a much greater infestation. They can reproduce in as little as 21 days, with litters of anywhere from 3 to 14 baby mice! Mice are opportunistic eaters and burrowers--so, even if you manage to keep food away from them, they can chew up wood, books, or other things you wouldn’t otherwise think are edible. They also can squeeze into holes no bigger than a dime! And once they’re in your house, you have to deal with their droppings and urinating everywhere.

Fortunately, there are a number of mouse trap designs. Traps are a big plus, especially if you have house pets or children, and you would rather not use poisons. Mouse traps can be spring-activated contraptions that kill mice. And there are sticky, glue traps that can surprisingly capture quite a few mice alive. Then there are humane traps that capture the mouse alive. There are also electric traps, which deliver a shock to the mouse, either capturing or killing it. It’s worth studying the advantages of each type.

We’ve composed this buyer’s guide to help you make the right decision when selecting a mouse trap.  It'll help you:

• Choose the right type of mouse trap,

• See useful tips about the particular types of mouse traps,

• Read reviews of some of the best mouse traps, and what customers are saying,

• Select the right brand of a mouse trap, and

• Compare prices and find the best deals.

• Mechanical Mouse Traps: These come in several forms. There are “snap traps” using the old-fashioned spring-loaded design. But these have the risk of a child or pet getting trapped instead, if they should get a bit inquisitive!

More recent innovations have the snapping mechanism covered so that you don’t get your fingers trapped instead. An example is the d-Con Reusable Covered Mouse Snap Trap. You load the trap by pulling back a lever, after loading bait inside the trap.

d-Con Reusable Covered Mouse Snap Trap

• Bucket trap: A number of mouse traps trick the mouse into falling into a deep bucket. You can fill the bucket with water, so that the mouse drowns, or just get a bucket that is deep enough so that the critter can’t jump out. An example is the “rolling log” mouse trap. It consists of a “log” consisting of several spools or a metal rod suspended over a bucket. The spools revolve as the mouse steps onto the rod to get to the bait, placed on the middle of the rod, and the mouse loses its balance and falls into the bucket. (This design isn’t effective on rats since they are large enough to keep their grip and not fall.)

Rolling Log Mouse Trap

• Glue Traps: These consist of a styrofoam sheet with glue inside. A mouse that walks inside will get stuck in the adhesive. An example is Scotts Tomcat 12-pack Mouse Glue Trap. There are also glue boards, that can be folded into a glue box.

Tomcat Glue Trap and Glue Board

• Electric Mouse Traps: These deliver an electric shock to the mouse, and are good for an occasional infestation. An example is the Rat Zapper Classic, which runs on batteries, but will provide a lethal shock even to rats. It has a kill indicator light so that you’ll know that a mouse has been captured.

Rat Zapper Rat and Mouse Trap

• Live-capture (Catch & Release) Mouse Traps: These allow you to capture a mouse or mice, and release them into the wild. They are more humane, and also spare you the risk of a dead mouse decaying and leaving behind a stench. An example is the Ketch-All Multiple Catch Mouse Trap or the Catcha 2-piece Humane Smart Mouse Trap.

Ketch-All Multiple Catch Mouse Trap, and the Catcha 2-piece Humane Smart Mouse Trap

• Using the rolling log bucket trap: People who use the rolling log bucket trap suggest suspending the log over a deep, 5-gallon bucket. Put 4” to 6” of water in the bottom of the bucket, put peanut butter on the center of the log, and smear or spray vegetable oil on the log, to make it more slippery. People prefer the bucket trap without trying to drown the captured mice--that way, they can feed the mice to their cat or dog!

• Mice chew through the trap: Humane traps and glue traps capture the mouse alive, where you can release them later. However, some customers notice that the mice can chew their way out of a glue trap. And the humane traps, such as the Catcha 2-Piece Humane Smart Mouse Trap, unfortunately, give the mouse enough time to gnaw at the plastic parts of the trap, making it unusable. So it’s better to release the mice outdoors quickly.

• Capacity of the trap: The capacity of a mouse trap is how many mice can the trap contain. A glue mouse trap such as the Kness Pest Defense Mouse Trap can actually hold up to four mice! (The fact that there are mice already in the trap surprisingly doesn’t discourage other mice from walking inside.) Mechanical, spring mouse traps can only catch one mouse at a time before you have to empty it out and reload the spring.

• Indoor or outdoor use: Certain mouse traps are not suitable for outdoor use, while others can be used both indoors and outdoors. For example, the bucket trap should be suitable outdoors as well (but there might be a problem of the water in the bucket freezing if the outdoor temperature is too cold). Electric traps and glue traps are suitable only indoors.

• Bait: Peanut butter is a popular bait for catching mice--more popular than cheese!--because a mouse’s diet is primarily nuts and seeds. Also, mice are drawn to the distinctive smell of peanuts. Some companies, such as Tomcat, make an attractant gel that supposedly is even more effective than peanut butter. Poison baits are not recommended since there is the risk of housepets consuming the mouse and ingesting the poison as well. And make sure that you don’t touch the bait with your hands. Use gloves instead, so as not to leave a human scent.

• Placing the mouse traps: It’s recommended to place the mouse traps along baseboards, with the opening of the trap facing the wall (that gives the mouse an impression that it’s a secure hiding place--heh heh!).

• Set many traps: It’s recommended to set several traps in high traffic areas, where you suspect mouse activity. Placing a mouse trap every 2-3 feet along the wall is probably best.

• Disposing of the dead mouse: One of the problems of a mousetrap is that you don’t want to have to touch the dead mouse with your hands. Fortunately, there are mechanical mouse traps that allow you to pick up the trap and dispose of the mouse without actually touching it. An example is the Tomcat’s Kill and Contain Mouse Trap. You can pick up the trap by a special tab, and release the dead mouse so that you can reuse the trap.

Tomcat Kill and Contain Mouse Trap

Ketch-All, located in San Luis Obispo, California, are makers of animal traps and tongs, as well as carrying cages for pet animals. They have been in the business since 1952, and make a number of humane ways of capturing animals, which are approved of by animal rights groups.

D-Con is a manufacturer of poisons and traps against mice, rats, and other common rodent pests.

Tomcat is a brand of the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. Tomcat was founded in 2002, and makes a wide range of pest control products for the yard and garden. They make baits, traps, and repellents that are effective against mice, rats, moles, deer, and many more rodents and mammals. They make special refillable bait stations that are safe to use around other pets and children.