Slightly OT: DIY Electrocuting Rat Trap

[BYacey]

A cat would require more current than a mouse. :wink: :wink:

 

[thermionic]

I was just about to write a 3-word post, until I read Nat's.

Get a cat - problem solved.

My cat catches squirrels...and pigeons... She's a feisty one.


Justin

 

[guavatone]

[quote author="thermionic"]I was just about to write a 3-word post, until I read Nat's.

Get a cat - problem solved.

My cat catches squirrels...and pigeons... She's a feisty one.
[/quote]


Truly DIY, er DIC...

 

[rena rabbit]

hello
I found your posting and I know it was a long time ago but I would like to know if...
do you make it?
if you did, can you please explain to me how to make one also..
thanks

 

[pvision]

After a few days the stench was terrible & there was absolutely nothing you could do about it other than tear the wall down

Basing Street studios had a studio cat (called Dolby) who had free run of the place, with predictable results

When it was taken over & turned into Sarm West we sent a young skinny aircon guy down the ducts with a shovel and a bucket to gather up the "guano". Not a job I'd covet

£50 well spent!

Nick Froome

 

[JohnRoberts]

As I posted back in 2007 I have (had) a commercial electronic trap, and never caught a single mouse.  As I recall it would zap spiders and sit there blinking until I cleaned out the spider but no mice.

Good old mechanical snap-traps work well.

Sealing up their points of ingress with expanding foam, keeps the critters outside.

JR

 

[Dylan W]

As JR said, snap traps work well. Spent time last year in a Vermont cabin with a mouse problem, and caught around 20 mice in as many days using 4/$1 dollar store traps.

Two potentially obvious things that help:
1) Place the traps against a wall--perpendicularly, with the business end against the wall. Mice tend to run along the edges of a room, so this is the ideal spot.
2) Bait the traps with a little piece of cheese set in a small blob of peanut butter (the stickiness makes it tougher for the mouse to grab and go without triggering).

Found the snaptraps to be as humane as possible for a lethal trap--cause of death usually appeared to be a broken neck. Wound up using rinds from the local, outstanding Consider Bardwell cheese, so hopefully the poor guys got a nice last bite. Wouldn't consider glue traps (too cruel) or poison (as said before, they die in the walls and stink).

 

[Rob Flinn]

Always found chocolate was the best bait !

 

[panman]

I think the mice loving cheese is a myth with less to do with reality. Sure they would eat it, but if there is a better choise, they choose that. I have had good results using tuna or any stinking fish as bait. Cheese was not so good at all.

 

[shot]

How about something else - high freq. oscillator!
Something above our human hearing range, so we don't notice it.
I've know it's very efficient in repelling rodents since they find it irritating and stay away.
There are even some commercial solutions available

My father had a lot of problems with rats climbing the ropes and entering his yacht. And when they enter it, they were impossible to run out. They would crawl in somewhere deep and stay for days. He tried all types of traps and than he bought this device and it was the only real solution.

just my 5 cents...

Luka

 

[JohnRoberts]

I think the mice loving cheese is a myth with less to do with reality. Sure they would eat it, but if there is a better choise, they choose that. I have had good results using tuna or any stinking fish as bait. Cheese was not so good at all.

I've sent many mice to meet their maker using cheese for bait.

Maybe it's just Swiss mice or Swiss cheese.  ;D

JR

PS: But since sealing up all my holes around pipes etc, no mice for years.

 

[PRR]

Best bait ever was "pecan butter".

Try packing onto a scrap of paper towel, twist, and clip under the prong. They have to tug.

Do NOT touch traps with your hands! Humans smell dangerous.

I tried the ultrasound. Steady whine didn't do anything. I rigged a switch so when I heard tiny footsteps I could blast them. They ran but didn't stay away. Until the one time I hit it, heard scramble, then SNAP. He ran over a trap, got him!

 

[Whoops]

I live in an Apartment (modern building) and never had problems with mice. But I like the Topic

A lot of people like this mouse trap design, quite easy to do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF6xwUSkT1k

This is possibly even better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4PaGvAhV9I

 

[Whoops]

If you feel bad about killing the creatures, this is a good way to go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABffYDM9EwU


They seem to enjoy Peanuts and Peanut butter  a lot