Rat Zapper

[C-2]

Which one works, what can you recommend? Some of them look gimmicky, others look legit, and reviews are both good and bad, leaving me not knowing what to believe.

I need to get rid of some bastards and I've always used snap traps, but looking for something easier.

 

[Taboma]

Which one works, what can you recommend? Some of them look gimmicky, others look legit, and reviews are both good and bad, leaving me not knowing what to believe.

I need to get rid of some bastards and I've always used snap traps, but looking for something easier.

Indoors or outdoors or both ?

I've used the large indoor version Victor Rat zapper for years with great success using peanut butter for an attractant. But it won't work well outdoors if there's much humidity, it will trip itself.
The one I more recently purchased is the Victor Rat Zapper Max (If I recall), it's much longer with entrances on both ends, very easy to clean --- the original is a pain in the ass --- and it works awesome outdoors. But it's like $ 90 bucks, so a bunch more dollars.

Because we have avocados, and other fruit trees we get some large rats and a lot of field mice. None indoors, because I'm good about not leaving my garage door open and my man door has a screen.

I bait the zapper Max with peanut butter and pieces of pecans, been very successful on the rats, the same ones that seemed to chow on my poison baits with impunity. Last week I got two mice with it, both dead inside.

 

[C-2]

Thanks

Indoors/attic.

The snap traps work on the ghetto rats, but I think we now have the kangaroo rats which are in between the size of a mouse and a regular rat, so the snap traps do not always work.

 

[Taboma]

The other style I picked up for giggles was this Homer Bucket lid mouse swim exerciser.
I've got more field mice with this silly bucket lid thing than any previous traps.
Got 6 just last week. Previously I was feeding them blue poison blocks by the truck load, almost never finding a body.
I've never caught a rat in it, I've read that due to it's design, a rat will sense it to begin to tilt and they'll back up --- not the mice, once it starts to tilt, they're goners.
For the rats you'd probably have to rig it with a magnetic release, so they'd be way past the "To late to turn back" point before it released.

 

[RiverDave]

I’ve always wanted to try the bucket with the rotating platform deal.. that looks like a way to catch multiples nightly.

 

[Taboma]

I’ve always wanted to try the bucket with the rotating platform deal.. that looks like a way to catch multiples nightly.

Years ago I made one using a discarded water bottle spinning on a piece of ceiling wire over a bucket. I built a crude ramp, and I'd bait two opposite sides with Peanut butter. They'd walk out onto the bottle, it would spin and send them swimming. In the beginning I was getting multiples per night, gave a lot of mice swimming lessons. Then one morning I found it torn to shit, destroyed, I figured a coyote decided he wanted the peanut butter.

The six mice I fished out were all in pairs. I made a special net using stiff galv 1/4" mesh, with a long handle, then I can just chuck em into the grove. Have videos of the coyotes picking them up that night and munching on them --- yum.

 

[havasujeeper]

Just a reminder, that if your house has PEX water pipes installed, do not use rat poison in your attic. It dries them out and they will chew thru the tubing.

 

[DWC]

I’ve always wanted to try the bucket with the rotating platform deal.. that looks like a way to catch multiples nightly.

Bought that damn thing months ago. Nothing yet. Going with the Zapper max

 

[rrrr]

Indoors or outdoors or both ?

I've used the large indoor version Victor Rat zapper for years with great success using peanut butter for an attractant. But it won't work well outdoors if there's much humidity, it will trip itself.
The one I more recently purchased is the Victor Rat Zapper Max (If I recall), it's much longer with entrances on both ends, very easy to clean --- the original is a pain in the ass --- and it works awesome outdoors. But it's like $ 90 bucks, so a bunch more dollars.

Because we have avocados, and other fruit trees we get some large rats and a lot of field mice. None indoors, because I'm good about not leaving my garage door open and my man door has a screen.

I bait the zapper Max with peanut butter and pieces of pecans, been very successful on the rats, the same ones that seemed to chow on my poison baits with impunity. Last week I got two mice with it, both dead inside.

View attachment 1081299

View attachment 1081300

Nice! I like the idea of rat electrical execution, it's gotta be more fun than a snap trap.

 

[hman442]

The other style I picked up for giggles was this Homer Bucket lid mouse swim exerciser.
I've got more field mice with this silly bucket lid thing than any previous traps.
Got 6 just last week. Previously I was feeding them blue poison blocks by the truck load, almost never finding a body.
I've never caught a rat in it, I've read that due to it's design, a rat will sense it to begin to tilt and they'll back up --- not the mice, once it starts to tilt, they're goners.
For the rats you'd probably have to rig it with a magnetic release, so they'd be way past the "To late to turn back" point before it released. View attachment 1081301

This..l I've used a home made modified version, caught many pack rats. Take a five gallon bucket, build a ramp up it like this one has. No lid, but across the top, trim a paint stick to size so it fits inside the top edge with a little tension. Drill a hole in the paint stick ends and the top edge of the bucket, use twine or nylon wire tie to loosely fasten the stick in place. Bait the far edge of the stick with peanut butter. Fill the bucket 1/2 with water. The rat goes up the ramp and crosses on the stick to get the food. The stick rolls over because you left the wire ties loosely to allow pivot. Splash.. caught 4 in one night.

 

[Taboma]

Nice! I like the idea of rat electrical execution, it's gotta be more fun than a snap trap.

I truly enjoy walking up and seeing a tail hanging out the end and the little green light flashing "KILL" After seeing his back hairs sticking up, I just had to take a pic, looks like he got the super "E" ticket ride --- you can almost hear him screaming " WEeeeeeeeeeeee"

 

[TimeBandit]

We have some HUGE rats in our backyard thanks to the endless supply of food my wife supplies for the chickens.

I was thinking night vision scope for one of my PCP air rifles? I tried the "diving board" magnetic thingy over water in a drum, no takers.

 

[Taboma]

This..l I've used a home made modified version, caught many pack rats. Take a five gallon bucket, build a ramp up it like this one has. No lid, but across the top, trim a paint stick to size so it fits inside the top edge with a little tension. Drill a hole in the paint stick ends and the top edge of the bucket, use twine or nylon wire tie to loosely fasten the stick in place. Bait the far edge of the stick with peanut butter. Fill the bucket 1/2 with water. The rat goes up the ramp and crosses on the stick to get the food. The stick rolls over because you left the wire ties loosely to allow pivot. Splash.. caught 4 in one night.

I get the roller style, several variations, the water bottle one I made being just one. I'm struggling to get a clear picture of what you're describing here, or how the flat stick will reset itself after it flips ?
Pack rats can be tough with most any type of trap, like most rats, they're very smart which usually means, if they get lucky once, they not only avoid it, I swear they hold school and others will as well.

 

[Taboma]

We have some HUGE rats in our backyard thanks to the endless supply of food my wife supplies for the chickens.

I was thinking night vision scope for one of my PCP air rifles? I tried the "diving board" magnetic thingy over water in a drum, no takers.

The only Rats I've shot with my pellet rifle were already a bit wonky from the poison they'd consumed. When you see one walking like a drunk in broad daylight, you can't help but run for the rifle and pop him. Problem is, the new poisons take so long, they'll consume it for a week before showing any symptoms, or half the time they're chewing it off and storing it for winter and not even consuming enough to die.

So even with a magnet that delayed release until it was to late, they still avoided falling, or they just avoided the whole trap ? I will admit, with my current bucket flip lid and my previous bucket roller, all I ever got was mice, lots of them, but never a rat.

I had one kill with the Zapper with one rat sticking out each end. I have found our grove rats have a real affinity for pecans, especially if I stick them into a small dab of peanut butter. I been chumming the ends of the Zapper with a small dab of P-nut butter with a small chunk of pecans, this for now seems to be very effective and luring them into the kill zone.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Bought that damn thing months ago. Nothing yet. Going with the Zapper max

The big ones just stand on the edge of the bucket and eat the bait off the roller

I wanted to try the bucket top, trap door deal. I set out a ton of sticky traps first and got nothing. The one that ate through the engine harness in my wife’s car a few weeks ago seems to have moved on, or the owl that has made a nest across the street took care of the problem (preferable).

 

[C-2]

Thanks guys, I'll try the Victor zapper and see how it goes.

We live at the base of foothills, so the parade of undesirable pests is never ending.

 

[Taboma]

Thanks guys, I'll try the Victor zapper and see how it goes.

We live at the base of foothills, so the parade of undesirable pests is never ending.

We back up to a mountains to the ocean conservancy, based on the variety of critters my four game cams pic up, I live in a fucking zoo.
Just yesterday about 1pm, I'm standing in my driveway shooting the shit with my neighbor, I look into my grove and there's a coyote standing there watching us. My game cam picked up four the other morning, one has a bad paw and actually runs pretty good on three legs, one young one was on his tip toes trying to pick an avocado, off a tree and two adults were actually laying down curled up taking a damned nape.

And no I don't shoot the yotes, they're my grove security, keep the bunny population in check, eat up any dead mice, rats or gophers I toss out there and in general are far less yappy then my neighbors irritating dogs.

The bucket is killing it for the mice and the zapper is getting rats, I like that combo along with my two gopher hawks for the gophers, for the moment I'm winning.

 

[jetboatperformance]

"Build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door" ..... Last year a neighbor said she had rats , shes almost an 1/4 mile away , never in 30 plus years have I ever seen one ..... fast forward was tearing down an old shed and found rat turds. Went to Ace and bought old school size large Victors baited with Skippy , BAAM 3 Rats in a weeks time ..... problem solved

 

[Taboma]

"Build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door" ..... Last year a neighbor said she had rats , shes almost an 1/4 mile away , never in 30 plus years have I ever seen one ..... fast forward was tearing down an old shed and found rat turds. Went to Ace and bought old school size large Victors baited with Skippy , BAAM 3 Rats in a weeks time ..... problem solved

Well that right there sounds crude and probably inhumane --- Cool
I've still got several old standby big Victors. But my rats are all outside, and I still feel kinda bad after setting a out large Victor for rats several months ago, and finding a dead bird in it. He was one of those cool birds who spend their days hopping around under all my bushes eating bugs and earwigs, I like birds.

 

[jetboatperformance]

Well that right there sounds crude and probably inhumane --- Cool
I've still got several old standby big Victors. But my rats are all outside, and I still feel kinda bad after setting a out large Victor for rats several months ago, and finding a dead bird in it. He was one of those cool birds who spend their days hopping around under all my bushes eating bugs and earwigs, I like birds.

I actually thought about similar issues living in the country so I put milk crates over the traps ...

 

[Taboma]

I actually thought about similar issues living in the country so I put milk crates over the traps ...

Good idea, but I'd have to borrow some of those "Go to prison for life if you take me" milk crates

 

[rrrr]

I truly enjoy walking up and seeing a tail hanging out the end and the little green light flashing "KILL" After seeing his back hairs sticking up, I just had to take a pic, looks like he got the super "E" ticket ride --- you can almost hear him screaming " WEeeeeeeeeeeee"

View attachment 1081411

I'm assuming it has a battery, a DC voltage upconverter, and a big capacitor that fires when the rat closes the circuit by stepping on electrodes. Right?

 

[Taboma]

I'm assuming it has a battery, a DC voltage upconverter, and a big capacitor that fires when the rat closes the circuit by stepping on electrodes. Right?

Four AA Lithium, so far I've not replaced any after numerous kills.
The approx 6,000V is available from either end, or both, meaning you can get two rats per setting without rearming if they enter from each side. Which is how mine worked when I got two rats or two mice. My old one was one and done. The other thing I've read, is it's not just an immediate capacitor discharge but the circuitry allows a more prolonged discharge that is sustained for several seconds to assure a kill.
I did have a large slug set it off once, but otherwise so far, no false alarms, when I've noticed the flashing green led, there's been something dead inside.

When I was a kid my dad gave me a fake book, it's appearance suggested it was real, but a more foil like cover material was it's only tell to it's shocking behavior.
Because if you grasped the book, then opened it, it was a real teeth rattler And a rattle that lasted until the vibrator stopped, or you tossed said book.
Concealed inside was a single AA battery, and a spring steel arm with a small magnet on the end. When you closed the cover, that magnetic tipped spring arm would attach to the cover. When you opened the cover, one hand holding the back, the other the cover, the cover would raise the spring arm before the magnet would finally release it , and the arm would rapidly vibrate for several seconds creating a vibrator circuit.
Of course I need not explain to you what happens when lines of magnetic flux of a steel magnetic core wrapped with a gazillion windings of tiny gauge copper wire will produce --- Yup, lotsa shocking volts
My God I loved that book, others, not so much.

 

[D19]

I bought the big Rat zapper that Home Depot sells. Works really well I used dog food for bait. Killed 4 rats in 2 nights. Left it outside for two more nights and didn’t find any rats, it did the job.

 

[C-2]

Same day Amazon so I'll report my findings tomorrow.

 

[Taboma]

Same day Amazon so I'll report my findings tomorrow.

Be patient, Rats are smart and can be suspicious of new things, of course depending on how hungry they are. I tried mine in one location with no takers for weeks. Then moved it up on top of a short block stem wall with a fence behind it and bang, multiple hits, like I'd put it in their right of way.

 

[C-2]

Be patient, Rats are smart and can be suspicious of new things, of course depending on how hungry they are. I tried mine in one location with no takers for weeks. Then moved it up on top of a short block stem wall with a fence behind it and bang, multiple hits, like I'd put it in their right of way.

Thanks.

 

[C-2]

Zapper and oldschool snap trap set. We'll see what happens.

 

[C-2]

I watched the below vid and decided to give the rat one free drink before I make him pay a cover "charge."

I turned it off and will let him/her get a taste, first.

 

[Taboma]

I watched the below vid and decided to give the rat one free drink before I make him pay a cover "charge."

I turned it off and will let him/her get a taste, first.

I've certainly read of that method and I can't argue the logic entirely, mostly because I've never tried it.
There was a similar theory years ago about trolling with a a couple of hookless lures to draw the fish to the one with the hook, never tried that either. My logic in both cases is, if the fish is going to bite the hookless lure then he'd probably still bite if it had a hook, and you might get the fish --- certainly substantially better odds than not having a hook in it, with odds of near zero. Likewise, if the rat is going to venture into the zapper, he certainly doesn't know it's off, so screw it, might as well juice the furry shitbag.
But I do chum the zapper entrance, to lure him further in, those he gets for free. I also chum the ramp up the bucket, again luring him to the top where the trap plate is laying in wait. But I can say with pretty good authority, if the zapper isn't on, you will not kill a rat --- unless he trips and hits his head.

That zapper in the video is the same one I have and used under my deck at Havasu with good results and I've used it here in my grove shed, again with great results. I've used it outdoors during dry weather periods and nailed a few big rats and field mice. But get a foggy morning or any dampness and it trips itself. I've found it seems to eat those "C" batteries fairly quickly.

Good Hunting

 

[TrojanDan]

Went Marsellus Wallace on these two phuckers! They didn‘t touch the poison traps but couldn’t resist the tried and true peanut butter and rat attractant on the Victor traps. Went 2 for 3 on the traps.

 

[C-2]

On my end:

Rat Zapper 0
Snap trap w/cheese 1 with 3 misses. I think the trap must be getting old/slowing down.

 

[wallnutz]

I ordered the Zapper the same day you did and have had 0 luck. Our rats have figured out the snap traps and just walk by them no matter what I bait them with. I even chum around them with peanuts or almonds, they will eat them but leave the traps alone.

 

[C-2]

I ordered the Zapper the same day you did and have had 0 luck. Our rats have figured out the snap traps and just walk by them no matter what I bait them with. I even chum around them with peanuts or almonds, they will eat them but leave the traps alone.

I'm trying the chum trick too, lol.

 

[Taboma]

I ordered the Zapper the same day you did and have had 0 luck. Our rats have figured out the snap traps and just walk by them no matter what I bait them with. I even chum around them with peanuts or almonds, they will eat them but leave the traps alone.

Took awhile for my zapper max to start making itself worth it. Came close to posting a negative review and then it I started finding dead rats in it.
Lately it's been field mice, getting two at a time, I've gotten 6 in the zapper and three in the bucket trap in the past two weeks.
Good luck !!!

EDIT: When the thing started zapping rodents was after I moved it. I had it up against the wall behind my BBQ and I got nothing. Moved it and good things happened and are continuing.

 

[Boatymcboatface]

Handle traps and bait with rubber gloves.