Filipino Mousetrap

There has been a war at my house lately.  A war against mice and rats. The ever reliable glue trap has been a key to success in this war. Three dead rats and many smaller mice have been the toll so far.  However the remaining rats had become too smart. They had learned how to evade the glue traps.  I needed something bigger.  Something deadlier actually but with all the dogs laying out poison is not the best option. Hiring someone costs 3,500 pesos plus more for maintenance so that is also not an option. I wanted to try a trap. A spring trap which would crush the rat's head as soon as he took the bait. I was told someone could make us a trap.  A big trap.  I was very leery of this idea since I could go downtown and buy any number of traps which are guaranteed to work but I forked over some money for mesh wire, which was all he said he needed since had other parts lying about, and at the end of the day I had a new trap and the beginning of a new phase of the war on rodents.

Day 1

Here it is.  The glorious new mousetrap.

My first thoughts on seeing this contraption were not very pleasant. How is this a trap? The rat will get in and then crawl right back out. There is no device to trap the rat. I was told not to worry because the rat would not dare crawl back out since the pointed edges on the metal tunnel bar his exit. He would end up hurting himself and so he would remain in the cage.

Well that's just fine and dandy but I didn't belive it nor was this scenario acceptable to me. I did not want to catch the rat alive. I did not want a pet. I wanted the creature dead and I did not want to have to kill it myself by drowning or stabbing. A rat stuck on a glue trap I could simply through away was the best scenario. There was no spring device to crush the fellow's neck and I did not have any poison to place in the cage. In fact you can't put anything in the cage because the bottom is mesh!

When they said mesh I thought for sure the screen would be the kind with tiny holes. Not big holes which the rat could easily chew through. Without placing a bowl or a solid surface in the cage I could not lay out any food. So I placed a small amount of food on a napkin. Rising early in the morning I went to have a look at the traps and I saw that the rat did not touch this food so I added a few more bits.

A few hours later there was nothing. No sign of the rat.  He did not take the bait.

Day 2

I did say concern for the dogs made poison not a great option but even though this is "Day 2" this is actually more like "Day 5 or 6." It is only "Day 2" in regards to this new iron trap. By this time the rat had caused a lot of trouble gnawing through the dog food container and leaving droppings everywhere and being at my wit's end I resolved upon poison as the final solution. 

I also resolved to keep using the ever faithful glue trap.  You can see from the picture below that one of these traps is very dirty.  That is a testament to its effectiveness.  How many mice I have pried from that trap I will never know. Too many. The hair and faeces stuck in the glue are all that remain of those small creatures. The rat liked to dig around in the garbage can which is why I have the can surrounded by the traps. If the steel cages don't work surely the glue trap will.

After setting up the glue trap I went to bed, leaving the administration of the poison to others. Confident in their abilities I took my repose hoping to happily lay my eyes upon the rat's dead corpse upon inspection early in the morning. But lo and behold I saw a much worse sight than I could have wished!

Somebody moved all my glue traps.  And they put cornflakes in the middle of each one! Cornflakes!! Now I did tell my helper that I wanted the trashcan out of the kitchen at night because the rat had been digging through it so it is understandable that perhaps my intentions as to the ring around the can were not clear. But who thought it proper to place food in the glue trap?  I never place food in the glue traps and I have caught countless rodents. Sometimes just a few minutes after placing the traps and turning out the lights!

But then my eyes turned to an even more horrible and stupider sight.

The rat ate the poisoned food and escaped!! Is this not what I surmised would happen upon seeing the trap for the first time? That there is nothing to keep the rat in the trap? That he could easily escape? This was totally unacceptable. Now somewhere there was a dead or dying rat. Likely in a hidden nook or cranny not easily accessed. The only way to know would be the inevitable stench emanating from a secret place. A search was undertaken in hopes that his corpse would be found.

Thankfully he did not go far.  Only into the drainage ditch. 

Day 3

The traps were sent back and returned modified.

The original entrance tunnels were sealed and a new entrance, propped open by a tiny piece of metal wire which the rat must necessarily trip thereby trapping him, was opened. The bottom was still not solid which meant placing bait was still a chore requiring extra tools like a tiny bowl or a piece of cardboard.  

Again the traps were set with poison and again I set out my glue traps with explicit instructions to not touch them and not to place any cornflakes on them. Again I went to sleep expectantly. Again I awoke to more tomfoolery.

Who put onion rings in the trap!? Does "don't put any cornflakes in the trap" mean it's ok to put anything else in the trap as long as it's not cornflakes?  I am sure I was very explicit and said "Do not touch the traps." There were ants all over the place on this trap because some of the onion rings were not sufficiently in the glue and away from the edge.  I had to kick it aside and kill all of them before I could start on anything else.  A complete waste of my time.

Neither of the traps with the poisoned food were touched but oddly enough the food was crawling with ants! Ants must be very hardy creatures to be impervious to zinc phosphide.

Aside from not touching the food there was also no other signs rats had been in the kitchen. No droppings scattered about or boxes chewed through. Absolutely no signs of rats.

The last few days have been absent of any rodent activity proving that the rats are dead and the war is over. For now.