Mascall Mill
First batch coming soon
The mousetrap that resets itself.
In 1590 Leonard Mascall published a trap built like a little mill: bait on the vanes, a bucket below. We rebuilt it with ball bearings and a clamp that fits a standard 5-gallon bucket. It catches mouse after mouse, and you never have to reset it.
Get an email when the first batch ships.
One email when it ships, a few after. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy
How it works
Balance is the whole trick.
No springs, no triggers. Just a mill that turns whenever a mouse puts its weight off the axle. This is the real design, in 3D. Drag it around.
Drag to turn
-
1
Walk out
The ramp leads up to the rim and a walkway reaches out over the bucket. Nothing moves yet.
-
2
Reach
The bait sits near the far end of the vanes, out of reach from the walkway. To get it, the mouse has to step onto the mill.
-
3
Drop
Any weight off the axle turns the mill on its ball bearings. The mouse drops into the bucket, and the mill settles, ready for the next one.
Why a mill
Set it once. Check the bucket.
Snap traps catch one mouse and wait for you. A careful mouse can lick the bait off a rolling log from the end, where it’s steady. On the mill, the bait sits where a mouse can only reach it by stepping onto the vanes.
| Feature | Mascall Mill | Snap trap | Rolling-log bucket trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catches more than one | ● | ○ | ● |
| Nothing to reset between catches | ● | ○ | ● |
| Bait out of reach from a safe spot | ● | ○ | ○ |
| Live catch possible | ● | ○ | ● |
| You never touch a caught mouse | ● | ○ | ● |
1590
The oldest self-resetting mousetrap we know of.
“Apparently the earliest known example of an ever-set multi-catch mouse trap.”
David C. Drummond, on Mascall’s mill, Proceedings of the 15th Vertebrate Pest Conference, 1992
Leonard Mascall was clerk of the kitchen to the Archbishop of Canterbury. His book of “engines and traps” came out in 1590, the year after he died. Of its 34 traps, most were forgotten. The mill deserved better.
Read the story →In the box
Everything but the bucket.
Sets up in minutes, with no tools.
You’ll need: a standard 5-gallon bucket and a spoonful of peanut butter.
-
The mill
Four-vane rotor with bait wells, turning on two 608 ball bearings
-
Axle and walkway
Stays fixed. It reaches in from the rim and holds the mill over the middle of the bucket
-
Bar clamp
Tool-free sliding jaw and thumbscrew. Grips a standard 5-gallon bucket rim in seconds
-
Two-piece ramp
Slides together and leads from the floor up to the rim
-
Live-catch ring (Live-Catch Kit)
Clip-on segments with an inward lip, so a dry bucket keeps mice in until you release them
Questions
What bucket do I need?
Any standard 5-gallon bucket, the kind hardware stores sell for about $5. The clamp fits rims up to about 18 mm thick. The bucket isn’t included.
Water or no water?
Your choice. A few inches of water makes it a lethal trap. Leave it dry and add the live-catch ring to catch mice alive; the smooth wall and inward lip keep them in. Check a live-catch bucket at least once a day, and release mice at least a mile from home.
What bait works best?
Peanut butter, pressed into the bait wells near the back disc. Mascall used butter, oatmeal and sugar in 1590, and that still works too.
Is it safe around kids and pets?
There’s nothing to snap. The trap itself is safe to touch. But a bucket with water in it is a drowning hazard for small children and small pets, so set it up where they can’t reach it, like a garage, shed, barn or basement.
Does it work on rats?
It’s sized for mice. Rats are too big and heavy for it to work reliably.
How many mice can it catch?
It keeps working until you empty the bucket. There’s nothing to reset.
What is it made of?
Tough PETG plastic, 3D-printed in Bellingham, Washington, with steel ball bearings.
When does it ship?
We’re getting the first batch ready now. Join the list and you’ll hear the day it ships. We’ll only ever sell what we can ship promptly.
Be first in line for the first batch.
We print these in small batches. People on the list hear first, before we announce it anywhere else.