This has been a pursuit for inventors for years….to build a better mousetrap.  I’ve got numerous bait stations, strategically placed bait (where the dogs can’t get to it), traps and a well armed Duke that can shoot to kill at any mice or rats.  But the most effective mouse killing device on our place is a water tank.  It is nothing but a round plastic tank that was originally a plastic container for a protein tub.  I have 9 or 10 of these in use, but there is only one that consistently has a drowned mouse in it.  Four or 5 days a week, I have to dump this one tank to get rid of the drowned mouse.  It normally has one, but I have caught as many as 5 in one night (must have been a good rodent party).  I have even caught a rat–yeah, a big one.  The only thing that is different about this is the fill pipe from the hydrant comes out above it about 8 or 10 inches.  I guess these rodents crawl to the end of the pipe and then drop into the pool of death.