How to build a better mousetrap – part 1.

Well there is this guy in China that is obsessed with building mouse and rat traps. He’s also a kind of inventor / mad scientist or evil genus. And he has posted his magnificent machines on the internet for others to replicate. I, as an inventor / engineer, myself find these devices very interesting and fascinating. Let’s look at some here, and take note that I broke this article down into two posts. This is part one.

Who says that the Chinese cannot innovate?

It looks to me that they are innovating with aggression quite readily right here, and the results speak for themselves. Note that the videos are not for the squeamish. Rats and mice get trapped and some die. It’s sad, but it’s life, and for those of you who have lived a sheltered life, these critters carry illness and can hurt your family. Not to mention that they also can carry the COVID-19 to your home. Yikes!

Important note about the videos
Please kindly note that the videos are rather large (compared to a picture), and might require some time to load. In this post most videos are under 1M and so should load quickly, though two are larger. One is 3M and the other 5M. They might take some time to load. If you are having trouble watching the videos, just wait. Allow them to load. If things seem to have stopped, just reload you page and everything should be just fine afterwards.

Chemical warfare

Here, this inventor added his own special mixture of glue and putty. I suppose there are many ways to do this, from adding “crazy glue” to peanut-butter, or making up your own custom glue trap. It’s basically some form of tar that the rats get stuck in. I also think that he might have sprayed some kind of anti-roach spray on top and the rats that cannot get away eventually have neurological damage and become too weak to pry themselves away. Check it all out.

Chemical warfare.

Electrical snare

This trap is nothing more than a “blue light” “bug zapper” reconfigured to catch rats. The electrical grid is laid out in three circles. One is positive, the next negative, and the one after that is positive and so forth. THey are hooked up to the high voltage source, which depending on the store-bough bug zapper this could be from 3000 volts to 6000 volts.

So what happens is when one rat stands on one grid and touches another grid, the electrical circuit is closed and the rat gets a fierce does of electricity.

Electrical Snare.

Collapsing membrane trap

Here is a “one off” device. It is useful for catching one rat at a time.

A balloon (in red) is inside a big plastic trash can. Above it is a standard child’s play ball. and that ball is holding up a mesh screen from a stand fan. When a rat gets inside the blue trash can, it tries to leave, but it’s claws cannot climb the slick plastic surface, so it claws into the red balloon. With a great shock and surprise, the red balloon bursts and the cage falls down, trapping the rat.

Collapsing membrane trap

Dead end without escape.

This is a mechanical trap. The empty beer cans (it has to be beer cans, why would anyone drink anything else?), are all on a rod, and permitted to spin. There are two ramps for the rats to climb up on. As you can see, once the rats get in, there really isn’t much of a way to get out. They become stuck inside the box.

Dead end without escape.

The pipe of no return.

Ah… the pipe of no return. You enter the pipe because you smell the delicious food inside. You move forward, deeper and deeper into the pipe. You see the delicious food right in front of you. All you need to do is slide down that stray. No problem, right?

And then, there you are. You fell right smack into the middle of a pile of delicious food. You eat your fill, and then your other rat neighbor falls on top of you, and then another, and then another… and another.

The pipe of no return.

Not mechanically inclined? Get a cat.

It is well known that cats are hunters, but few people ever see just how great they are in catching rats and mice. I have a number of videos on this, and it is astounding. These kitties are killing machines, I’ll tell you what.

To paraphrase a half-remembered quote from “Reese” from the movie “Terminator”.

He won't stop.

He doesn't know compassion, or kindness, or empathy.

He will come after you, over and over again, until he hunts you down, and kills you.
Problems with mice? Get a cat.

For mass capture attempts.

Here’s an improved version of the above pipe mechanism. This one seems to be of much easier construction (begin a tube and all), and allows a far greater number of rats and vermin to be caught. Outstanding design. It’s got all the elements of a great design.

  • Simple construction.
  • Cheap.
  • Easy to make.
  • Effective.
  • Easy to empty.
  • No moving parts.
  • No electricity.
Mark II rat capture device.

Conclusion

"The Chinese cannot innovate."

I get a lot of disinformation about China all over the internet. It is said so often that everyone believes it. It’s simply not true. China is a nation of hard-working nerds, designers and engineers, and it’s no mistake that most of the world’s factories are inside of China.

If you have any doubts about innovation, then look at the large numbers of patents out of China right now, the amazing network of high-seed trains, and the commonplace high technology, from 5G, AI, robotics to infra-camera robotic drones. China is around ten years more advanced than the USA and accelerating quickly.

This is just a glimpse at some “backyard engineering”. It’s not just this farmer. It’s everywhere…

Everywhere.

Do you have a better way to catch and snare rats? I’d like to hear your ideas, and a video if possible.

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