Your choices may be limited by where you intend to use your trap. When using a trap indoors, look for products that are said to be safe for pets and people and are tamper-proof. Glue and wood traps don't often fare well when exposed to the elements and lose effectiveness as a result. Most live traps, especially those made of metal, are designed exclusively for outdoor use. However, our Best Multi-Rat Trap option, the Rugged Ranch Ratinator Multiple Catch Live Rat Trap, is made of plastic and is designed to be used outdoors to trap rats and relocate them to another area. Then, the animal can be relocated to an area far enough away that it won’t return, which typically involves a car trip. Live-animal traps are larger and more expensive than other trap types. It’s possible to also inadvertently trap other small animals. I set it up at night by separating two that we’re together and it was so easy,” clarified one customer. “Placed one in the fireplace and one outside the fireplace. Within 10 minutes I caught two. I felt bad but was relieved it worked.”

Yes, they can be, and especially so if you insist on using old-school basic snap traps. If you want to go down the lethal trap route, then we’d advise using one of the more advanced modern options which are guaranteed to kill a mouse outright rather than causing a cruel injury – they guarantee a more humane kill. Which one is the best for you depends on a number of factors, including where your mouse or mice are active, whether there might be a risk to children or pets, and how confident you are handling either the remains of a mouse or, indeed, a live mouse. The bait should only be placed within the marked bait area and keep the rest of the trap clean of any food matter. This will reduce the likelihood of the trap closing and injuring, rather than killing the animal. Baits may include either peanut butter, dried fruit or bread, which should be fresh. If traps aren’t being triggered, then changing the type of bait may create interest.We also appreciate that because of the dual-entry design, it’s easy to dispose of the rat’s body without having to touch the rodent. Simply reset the lever and turn the trap on its side to release the body into a bag or trash can. Because of its durable plastic and stainless steel design, this trap can be used indoors or outdoors. After use, the trap can either be disposed of or cleaned and used again. Only thing I would say is that you only get one for the price, so it’s on the expensive side. It’s suitable for both indoors and outdoors, but realistically if you have a few rats running about you’re going to need a few of them, and so it eventually will get a bit expensive. On top of that they are powerful but they don’t have as much power as our first two options that’s for sure, probably because of the mechanism (if it snaps too harshly, the plastic could snap or break). Droppings and urine are present. This is the most telltale sign. Mice and rats aren’t the cleanest of houseguests. Rat droppings and urine stains are sure signs that rodents have taken up residence in a home. The more droppings you see, the more mice or rats there are to be living in the home. Now this is another one I reviewed last time, and not only did I like the idea of it and how humane it was, I still do now and I feel like this is a great option for a couple of particular circumstances. Because this is different to other traps, in that it’s a very simple yet effective cage trap that will not kill your rats, it’s definitely useful in its own right…but skip this one if you need your rats dead or if you have an infestation. I’ve seen a few rats in my garden, big ones as well, which I want rid of ASAP so that they don’t get worse, but I have a mate who’s currently seeing loads out in the yard of his terrace house which run by his feet when he takes the bins out. This isn’t pleasant for him, and he’s been nagging me about rat traps and what he should get because I’ve had experience with them, so I felt it was fitting to look at what rat traps there are on the market and give them all a good testing.

Plan ahead to eradicate a large group of rats in one night. To do so, select a bait area, such as a pile of grains, bark, or other natural areas where rats congregate. Then bait a large number of traps with peanut butter, and leave them unset in the area. Once they eat the bait, they lose the instinct to drink water, causing them to die of dehydration in 2 to 4 days. This rat bait comes in pellet form, allowing users to add it to bait trays. A 3-pound bag is enough bait to handle a moderate mouse or rat problem. Because this bait is nontoxic to all but rats and mice, it is safe to use indoors. Due to their propensity to collect dirt and debris, glue traps are only suitable for indoor use. Electronic rat traps are not weather-resistant. Exposure to rain could cause them to short out or malfunction.The good news is that finding evidence of one mouse does not necessarily mean you have an actual infestation on your hands. But, if you don’t take immediate action to rid yourself of the pest you do have, an infestation is likely to follow. This kind of trap is a long-established, popular design often used by gamekeepers when it comes to the humane catch and release method of rodent control. This large ‘family’ cage trap option is made from galvanised steel for a highly robust, escape-proof enclosure for capturing not just the larger parent rat(s), but also their pups. I killed all five rats living under my adjacent (neighbor's) patio with these, who'd been terrorizing my car,” explained one buyer. “Slap on a little peanut butter and you'll have a dead rat on your hands as soon as night falls.”

The Victor® Electronic Rat Trap is easy to set up and operate, and the trap requires no food bait. It also kills up to 50 rats on one set of batteries, and you don’t even have to see or touch the corpse. A flashing light on the device signals when a kill has occurred. Wild rats can be highly aggressive when cornered: they won’t cower and run when confronted by humans, so the only effective way to rid yourself of them is either to catch and kill or catch and release far away from your property. Whichever method you choose, lethal or non-lethal, you’ll be pleased to know that the majority of rat-trapping methods lean towards more humane options these days. Best Rat Traps: At a glance Bait stations tend to be the weapon of choice with pest elimination professionals as they’re secure, discreet and very effective. Okay, we’re in the realms of rodenticide here, but if you must use poison bait, then a bait station is the best way to deploy it. Outside doors should be kept closed and metal trim used to prevent rodents from gnawing and entering underneath. Some traps are easier to set and use than others. The classic snap trap requires some skill to set properly and to ensure users don’t snap themselves. Plastic snap traps and electric traps feature designs that make them much easier to set, while glue traps simply require removing a protective cover for use. FAQsWe’ve selected some of the best examples of each below, so choose your trap and get that mouse out of your house! I place the Roshield 4 x Rat Traps – Professional Quality & Heavy Duty Pest Control Traps around the edges of my garden as rats and mice feed under cover better