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92 of 95 found the following review helpful:
 Efficient, Long Lasting, HumaneSep 26, 2007
By pinxet
"pinxet"
About 15 years ago, our apartment building began having occassional mouse problems, with my own apartment receiving 2 or 3 visits from a stray little fellow each year. I was truly appalled to see some of the more modern solutions in the stores -- I'd always had a problem with the idea of the traditional spring traps and poisons, but the houses containing sticky-bottomed floors seemed unduly cruel. I don't want to kill the little SOBs, let alone torture them; I just don't want them as roommates.
The Havahart live trap is a good, humane, cost effective solution to it all. The mechanism is a simple bait-table connected to a set of two thick and sturdy exterior wires which -- on a new trap -- trips very easily (a bit of delicate, deft handling of the exterior wires is needed to get the trap to not spring closed during setup -- those with large fingers will have a difficult time with it I would think). Following capture and release, a good cleaning in a bucket of bleach, well rinsed, and the trap is ready to go again.
For the more romatically inclined, there's a good feeling to be had in preparing a Wine & Cheese Platter (actually, I use toilet tissue and peanut butter) in my attempts to be a good host to the occasional visit from Mr. Mouse. The trap works well enough that normally I see no evidence of a mouse in my kitchen prior to him appearing in the trap -- over the years, I've come to regard the visitors less as disease-ridden destructive vermin, and more as a cute if unkempt old friend who gives me a good excuse to swab the kitchen in bleach.
I normally replace traps every five or six years, and not because they break or become non-functional-- Over time, the trap tends to get a funky dark tarnished patina which is simply too unattractive to my eye. With reasonable care, these traps can be a one-time purchase which need no replacement.
Aesthetic loss aside, after a year or so of use, it helps to oil the moving parts of the trap -- without this, it's possible for the mouse to enter the trap, steal the bait, and leave without tripping the mechanism. Be careful also of too heavy-handed handling of the trap when cleaning -- although sturdy enough, the walls of the cage can be bent with a bit of pressure, which will prevent easy movement of the doors and bait-table.
This is, to my mind, one of those superior products which one always returns to. Whoever crafted the phrase "build a better mousetrap" never saw one of these. It's cheap, it's permanent, it works.
UPDATE: 10/13/11
Many of the reviews for this product justifiably criticise the hair-trigger action of this trap, and the difficulty in setting it up without having it spring.
Since I wrote this review, my workaround for the problem has been to wrap a small swatch of transparent scotch tape around either of the external trip-wires (connecting to either the bait table, or to the bent wire leading to the door). The objective is to make one of the two thin trip-wires slightly thicker so the they can balance more comfortably on each other. I generally don't need to continue this after the trap has some use/cleaning/light banging around or is otherwise not new from the box.
Hope this helps.
60 of 62 found the following review helpful:
 great trapFeb 09, 2008
By J. Lemmerman
(NOTE: this product rates a 5 if modified as suggested below. Without the simple modification, it can become lethal to the mice.)
________________
I am catching a mouse a day in our school. We name the mice like hurricanes, and we have gone thru the alphabet twice in 6 months! (We collect the mice in a hamster cage and release each Friday, using a DEEP painter's bucket and toilet paper cores for transfer, in case you're interested).
I love this thing (actually I bought two).
I had to make one minor modification - the lower edge of the trap door is very sharp - the mice try to push under and cut their noses - I added a piece of clear tape across the lower edge of each trap door to cover the edge and -- SHAZAM--, its now perfect.
Advice for the novice - when you release the mice (far from home or into a DEEP bucket), hold the door closest to you closed - the first time I unlocked both doors and the mouse instinctively ran out the upper door and up my arm. LOL
32 of 35 found the following review helpful:
 Moved to China - now a piece of junk (and I own a dozen old ones)!Oct 13, 2010
By wandern
"wandern"
It's quite a shame that I have to write this review- I have many Havahart traps and have used them for many years. I've always found them to be well constructed, durable, and reliable traps.
I recently ordered a number of new Havahart traps to augment some older ones between a few years and a decade old. I was stunned to find the traps non-functional - they were welded out of square. They also reeked of machine oil and were greasy to the touch. Finally, I found them to be made of a much weaker metal- although they appear to be the same gauge steel, even the slightest touch deforms the trigger wires.
I finally took a look at the box and found that they are now "Made in China" (contrary to the description on the website which states that they're made in the USA, as they were for so many years).
I am extremely dissatisfied, and will be sending the traps back to Amazon for a refund. I'm also greatly disappointed that a great trap made by a great company has been turned to garbage, probably just to make a few extra cents.
65 of 76 found the following review helpful:
Falsely advertised as a Rat TrapApr 30, 2009
By F. Whitby
The Havahart 1020 is advertised here as a Mouse and Rat trap. This incorrectly suggests that this trap is large enough to trap rats. As the written instructions for the product clearly state, this is a mouse trap and the next larger size (1025) is a rat trap. My rats are happy to crawl in, reach all the way to the back of the cage (in one-door mode) and eat the bait and wriggle out again because they are large enough to keep the door propped open the entire time. This trap is not useful for trapping rats. This product (1020) is a MOUSE trap, NOT a rat trap. My rat trapping is thus delayed in waiting for what turns out to be an inappropriate trap.
12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Catch 'em liveMar 01, 2007
By J. M.
"Mice in the Attic"
We love this trap. We've used it for years, and it was a fantastic investment. (Much cheaper than a hundred snap traps!) It's a little tricky to prop the metal where it bends, and if you set it "hard" it apparently doesn't release the hinge -- we have lost mice that took the bait but didn't spring the doors. But lordie we've caught many. We usually leave just one door open. I like that it is roomy and airy enough for the caught mouse to finish their final meal and wait for me to release them, rather than being stressed in a tiny plastic chamber. Bait tip: best stuff we've found is pine nuts, which they adore.
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based on 198 reviews
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