Live Catch Mouse Trap Is Fun

Live Catch Mouse Trap Is Fun AG WORLD 32-1-23 Ed Schweder of Saint Joseph, Mo., makes live catch mousetraps out of Victor snap traps and tin cans. He says a 1-lb. ham can or coffee can will work well, and the Victor mouse trap is the only brand he's tried. "I stand the can up on its end, and pop rivet the trap to the can's base so that the striker bar extends out in front of the open can when the trap is set," he explains. "With thin copper wire, I connect a piece of hardware cloth to the striker bar. The hardware cloth needs to be about a half-inch bigger than the opening of the can. I replace the trigger with a thin piece of galvanized metal, making it longer and a little taller, so it sits about an inch right inside the can. " Schweder attaches a paper clip to the top back of the can, bent into a hook. He hangs his bait from the hook. Mice walk over the woven wire to the inside back of the can and jump up to get the bait, triggering the trap to close. The snapping action of the striker bar coming up 90 degrees knocks the can over backwards, and the hardware cloth closes the can's opening. "Kids just love these traps," Schweder says. "They're just something that I make to entertain myself. "It's an attention-getter that I take along with me to the threshing shows I attend with my home-made scale model antique stationary farm engines," he says. "I have people throw a quarter into the trap to set it off, and help pay for my gas." Schweder thinks he has "made a better mouse trap," as the saying goes, but it's just something he "plays with" to keep his mind busy. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ed Schweder, 19795 State Route Dd, Saint Joseph, Mo. 64505 (ph 816 232-4005).

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