Non Lethal Homemade Mouse Trap

I often have an uninvited guest in my room. He is very fast and come and go even with the door closed. hence I try to figure out a way of catching this visitor alive. So I made a trap out of that will not hurt the poor guy. It is a mouse trap made out of available parts nearby. Materials used in this project are mostly available at home. If you are lucky, you don't need to buy any of the parts.

Materials Needed (see pictures of materials)

• 2 pieces 200 ml empty plastic bottles with cap ( I found this two identical plastic bottles while walking). This is where the mouse goes.
• 1 piece 1/2" x 8" x 10" (12 mm x 200 mm x 250 mm) scrap plywood. (It is the base of the trap so, if it happened you have a bigger piece no need to cut to exact dimension )
• 1 piece wire cloth hanger
• 2 pieces plastic bottle caps
• 8 pieces 3 mm x 8 mm wood screws from an old cupboard
• 1 piece concealed hinge also from an old cupboard
• 1 piece perforated metal strip
• 2 pieces 1/4" X 2" x 6" (6 mm x 50 mm x 150 mm)

Tools (see picture of tools needed)

• Multi purpose tool (pliers, knife, screw driver combination)
• hacksaw blade
• spoon
• sand paper

1. Wash the empty juice bottle;
2. Cut a hole in the cap of one of the bottle using the knife or the hacksaw blade. Be careful in doing this it. The hole should be large enough for a mouse to go inside the bottle. See picture
3. Using the hack saw or the knife, cut a similar size hole at one end of the PVC strip.
4. Drill a small holes at the center of the two PVC strips using the screws as bit. See picture
5. Assemble the parts using the screws. See picture of the assembly

• The purpose of the stopper or lock is to prevent the mouse from escaping once trap.
• it made of two plastic caps from plastic water bottle.
• Screw the plastic cap together as shown in the picture.
• Fabricate the slide and the guide using wire cloth hanger as shown in the picture

1. Bend the two of perforated strip as shown and fix it with screw in the relative center on the 1/2' plywood as shown.
2. Screw the brace as well to stiffened the protruding part of the perforated strip.

1. Fabricate a pin from a cloth hanger. the length of which depends on the actual dimension of the width of base.
2. Fix the assembled cage on the base by the fabricated pin

The purpose of the blocker is to close the opening once the mouse is inside the plastic bottle.

1. Bend the old concealed hinge to turn it into a cleat. This will facilitate fixing the blocker to the base using screw.
2. On a flat surface like table top, attach the cleat to the blocker using screw.
3. Fix the blocker to the base. To make sure that there is correct gap between the cage and the blocker surface, insert a paper between the cap and the blocker. Too large gap may cause the mouse to escape, while no gap means failure of the trap to catch a mouse.

1. Position the cage in ready position that is the plastic bottle with the open cap is not hidden from the blocker. Mouse can go inside the trap at this position. Install the stopper assembly as shown.
2. Test the trap to check if the stopper is working. Adjust the location to suit.

1. Sand off any burs to clean the trap using sand paper.
2. Wash the trap and wipe to dry.
3. Put bait inside (I use choco spread) using the spoon.
4. Set the trap where you see often see a mouse.