We've covered many mouse traps over the years, but they all need to be reset once you've caught a mouse. This means if you have lots of furry intruders you'll need to have several traps or just build this version using a 5-gallon bucket, an aluminum beverage can, a small piece of wood, and a wooden dowel.


Bucket repurpose weblog 5-Gallon Ideas offers this design for a self-resetting mouse trap that can be either lethal or no-kill: Drill holes on opposite sides of the bucket and in the two flat sides of the can. Insert the dowel through the bucket and can holes. Bait the trap by adding peanut butter to the beverage can and add a ramp for the mice to climb to the edge of the bucket. You can also use a plastic lid from a tub of cream cheese or something similar, as shown in the video above.


If you want to kill the mice add a few inches of water at the bottom. If you don't add the water the live mice won't be able to climb out and you can relocate them at your leisure. Make sure you relocate them far, far away, since mice are pretty good at finding their way back.

Self-Resetting Mouse Trap | Five-Gallon Ideas