Tomcat Rat Snap Trap, 1-Pack

I started using this rat trap about 2 weeks ago, and today I just trapped the first rat. Hopefully the first and last..!When I set the trap I wasn't 100% sure that we had rats, but I suspected either that or red squirrels were coming in through our old stone foundation....there were tunnels dug along the foundation and lots of holes and we could hear occasional scurrying in the walls. So I set the trap using peanut butter and it took a few days until I caught a mouse in it (I have mousetraps set too....and I use Tomcat mouse traps), which was okay.....at least it was catching SOMETHING. I put the peanut butter in the bait cup AND I also smear some peanut butter on the hinge device; in my experience an occasional mouse will eat the bait off of the cup and then go for the bait on the inner hinge and THEN the trap snaps.Anyway I set the trap along a wall like it suggests. A few days ago I was filling my birdfeeders (yes they attract rats, but whatever) and decided to try baiting my traps with woodpecker suet instead. It has nuts in it and seeds, good stuff to smear in the bait cup and along the inside back of the trap the way I like to. Well, first night baiting with suet, I caught a mouse in the rat trap and then "something" ate the mouse (up to it's head) in the trap trying to get through the mouse blocking the way to the suet. Gross, gross, gross. So I re-baited the trap with suet again and set it last night and today there was a lovely rat in it. So hence the five stars....it took a little while (I've read in other reviews that this is typical) but we have 1 less rat than we did before.I might also note that I like the way I can set this trap using my foot. I can bait it completely without having to open up the trap, put it on the floor and step on it. I only have 1 of these traps but I will get another one if I continue to trap more rats...I may be naive, but I don't think we have a major rat problem, so I will stick with one trap for now. And I will keep using suet !I was considering getting one of those electronic rat traps that electrocutes them, if this one didn't work....but it's working, so I can save big money not having to buy something more advanced.

I use the Tomcat Rat Snap Traps for chipmunks. No, I don't normally like kill traps. I tried using live traps, but got desperate when chipmunks took over; live traps are ineffective for large populations. Chipmunks were doing extensive damage to foundations and plantings. These traps work well in every way and are durable. Peanut butter works great as bait, and only a small dab is needed to fill the bait cup, which you twist in through the bottom, which means you don't have to reload with the trap open. Tips: One fill works for several uses. I have found it more effective to carefully smear some peanut butter on the trigger plate, this when I would occasionally find the bait gone in the morning. I discovered after trapping one that mice could go in under the trigger and clean out the bait cup without tripping the trap. Another thing I learned after losing two traps is to stake them down. The back of the trap has holes in the base. I attach an 8" piece of light picture frame wire through one hole, anchored to a long gutter spike or any handy pin that a raccoon couldn't pull out. I have lost none since. I have had only one leg-catch of a chipmunk and all the rest were quick kills. WARNINGS: Use caution with these traps, just as the packaging warns. They snap shut quickly and are extremely powerful!!! Keep them away from any place kids or pets could get at them, and watch your fingers if you ever work with them with trap jaws open. Carelessness may cost you a finger.

I put a little peanut butter in the removable tray that unscrews from bottom, put it in the backyard where the dog can't reach it, and it catches a rat. It's caught many rats and seems to be going strong. The trap is set by pushing down on the lever on the back of the trap, it locks open automatically, and is very easy and safe to maneuver even when the trap is set. You can remove the rat very similarly. Pick it up on the end away from the rat, lock it open and jiggle over the trash until the rat falls out. You never have to reach into the jaws to add bait since the bait tray unscrews from the bottom.I gave it 4 stars because occasionally the rat gets away. Sometimes the trap is sprung with no sign of a rat, and sometimes there's a rat arm inside the trap. It makes me feel a little sad to think of the rats with crutches and prosthetic legs. I assume, in their world, it's hard to get a job as a chef, lab rat, running in a rat race, or zodiac model with a missing front leg. Although, I hear the rats in this area have a strong union with excellent health care.

No trap is perfect. Having used these in the chicken coop where rats can get to them but the chickens can't, I expect the occasional mishap ranging from an empty trap to gruesome injuries (the rat's, not mine). I'd still opt for a trap over poison because I don't want my dogs or any other animal finding and eating a poisoned corpse. I discovered last week that these traps are not effective in the great outdoors. I placed two traps along the front deck of my house and piled some leafy branches around to hide them from birds. The first night, one trap caught one rat. I refilled and reset. After the next night, both traps disappeared. I leave the rest to your imagination. It appears that the traps need some sort of stake to keep them in the ground.