The Flip N Slide Bucket Lid Trap has to be one of the most effective mouse traps to have been invented in the past century without the use of poisonous chemicals. The Design, created by a United States inventor, may seem extremely simple upon first glance; but no one said a trap needs to be overly complicated for it to work amazingly!
Still wondering how this trap could possibly be so much better that it even has well known mouse trap youtubers raving about it’s effectiveness? Then stick around to find out more as we go through the setup, functions and catch rate of this stellar trap!
You may even be surprised at how effective this trap is! Granted, you haven’t already watched or seen other reviews on it.
How to set-up your Bucket Lid Trap
Like we’ve mentioned time and time again, this trap is super straightforward to set-up. The product itself only consists of 4 parts in total if you break them apart; but again, simple design does not equal an ineffective trap. Let’s go through this step by step shall we?
Step 1: Buy a bucket
We’d like to put emphasis on the fact this product is named Bucket LID Trap, and yes, we only do provide the Lid Trap part. However, as the Bucket Lid Trap is designed with standard bucket size in mind, you shouldn’t have a problem finding a gallon bucket that fits it in your local Home Depot or hardware store.
You may even have a bucket already lying around that’s just the right size! Now, whether you purchase an opaque or transparent bucket is completely up to you. However, do remember that mice and rats do have eyes and as annoying as they can be, they aren’t the dullest critters out there. So don’t underestimate them when picking out your bucket!
Step 2: Bait the underside of the yellow lid
This is one of the most important steps in setting up your trap. It’s the part that makes or breaks it in fact! We strongly advise you don’t put any of your bait on the flipping part of the trap as the flip chute is designed to be perfectly balanced as is; so setting any bait on that part will disrupt the way it rests, likely giving away the trap’s nature before tempting any mice to fall for it.
Instead, we highly recommend using a sticky form of bait, such as peanut butter, and spreading a liberal amount on the underside of the concave part of the Lid Trap (this is the area shielding the trap flap, think of it as an entrance of sorts). You can stick additional bait into the peanut butter, such as nuts, seeds, or whatever foods you find your mice most tempted by.
Step 3: Place the baited Lid onto your chosen bucket
If you look closely at the Lid, you’ll probably have noticed 4 hook-like structures that protrude from the edges. These will be used to click the lid into place atop your bucket so the trap doesn’t fall off. While this doesn’t prevent the lid from rotating when clicked in place, it’ll surely stop any mice from being able to pop the lid off or escape once trapped inside.
Step 4: Add the drop flap
Currently, your Bucket Lid Trap probably has a giant hole where the flap should rest. I’m sure we don’t need to tell you how to slot the flap in place; but just in case, simply line it up so the surface (the part you see once it’s clicked in place) rests flat with the rest of the bucket. And there you have it, the flap trap part of the lid is now in place!
You can try testing the flap during this stage to make sure it actually tips and the flip mechanism doesn’t feel too stiff.
Step 5: Add the ramp
Last but not least, in terms of building the trap anyways, you need to set-up the ramp so mice have an easier time getting up to the bait trap. This isn’t saying it’ll be impossible for mice to reach the trap without a ramp, but if you want to be able to catch most mice, giving them an easy access ramp will only benefit you.
The ramp itself should’ve come in two pieces when it’s shipped to you. All you have to do is click the two pieces together so they fit, then find the end with the hook structures so you can securely attach it to the lid.
And there you have it, a functioning Flip N Slide Bucket Lid Trap in its standard trap design.
Different ways of setting the trap
One of the things that make this mouse trap such a game changer, is that you can set it up to be a kill trap or live trap and both ways work just as effectively as each other! The main difference between making it a humane live trap or kill trap, is what you put inside the bucket.
So if you’re looking to set up a kill trap to get rid of the mice without having to deal with living ones later; all you need to do is fill it about half way full of water. This will essentially drown the mice that fall into the trap as they’re stuck in there with no way out.
For a humane live trap, you can just leave it empty, or pad the bottom with some sort of soft material/ cushion if you’re worried about them injuring themselves during the initial shock of the drop. You can even add a bit of food inside the bucket to keep them a bit more calm and possibly even attract more mice with the potential feast laying in wait at the bottom of the bucket.
How you set it up is completely up to you! Just make sure if you're catching them live that you’re checking whether the mice you catch are native or invasive mice (there is a difference). If they’re native mice, you’re more than welcome to release them elsewhere, perhaps a nearby forest trail or creek. Otherwise if they’re an invasive species, it’s recommended you don’t release them and actually kill them in most cases (as unfortunate as that may seem).
How to safely transport mice if caught alive
Assuming you set-up the trap to catch the mice without killing them, you’ll now be tasked with disposing of them somewhere safely and hopefully far enough away so they don’t end up wandering their way back to your place.
The best way we’ve found to transport them is to keep them in the bucket itself, but place a plastic bag large enough to engulf the whole bucket while you carry it in your car (or wherever you place it). Just be sure that if you’re buckling in for a long ride, you poke some holes into the bag to avoid accidentally suffocating the poor things on the ride.
The plastic Bag also ensures that should the bucket tip or the flap become askew and any mice manage to jump out, they don’t end up running loose in your vehicle. Once you’ve arrived at a safe destination you think would be a good release point, then just take the bucket out of the bag, peel off the lid and let them go!
Be aware though, that some mice can jump a lot higher than you may expect, you be sure to point the bucket away from yourself as you peel off the lid so you don’t end up getting jump scared by them!
Shortcomings of the Trap
While the lid design is very effective at catching both mice and rats, it’s only really effective on smaller rodents. Large rats could still potentially fall in should they walk far enough in, but they’ll likely have already started to feel the tipping long before they’re deep enough and retreat to safety before they set off the trap.
So for smaller rats and mice, this trap is perfect! But if you’ve got behemoth sized rats you’re looking to catch, you might need to find something larger to be effective.
Interested in trying out the trap for yourself? Then Click Here to get yourself one today!
