Tomcat Rat Snap Trap, 1 Rat Size Trap

I’m not sure that you can make a better snap trap than this. It’s rugged. It’s remarkably simple to sad without any worry of stamping your finger. But most importantly, it just works well. I received a new set of traps and set one in the middle of the afternoon, and to my surprise within 15 minutes I had my first rat. I don’t even usually see the rats active during the day. I reset the trap and before the sun had set I already had my second rat. After the sunset, I had another and I continually reset the trap until I went to bed. In less than 24 hours, I had killed seven rats. Peanut butter is a great bait for this trap. One other point comparison between these and the traditional wooden spring traps. Rats often figure out how to steal bait off wood traps by approaching from another angle or using sticks to trip the mechanism. These traps require the rat to approach from the front. Also the set mechanism is much simpler on these traps and as I said above don’t put your fingers at risk of damage.

After trying so many other solutions to try to get rid of backyard rats that were eating my wicker furniture, this trap worked amazingly the very first time. Very easy to set, very easy to set the bait (you twist off the holder on the bottom and twist it back in), and very easy to set the trap (just stepped on it with my foot and it was done). This morning I found it dispatched to very large outdoor rats, and both were struck on the head so it would have been a very fast event for them (don't want needless suffering). And it was extremely easy to release the dead rats from the trap afterwards. Will be easy to re-use the traps. They are super sturdy.

Not only does this rat trap work well, but bait can be loaded and the trap set without risk of the trap accidentally closing on your fingers. It is also easy to clean

We've used these for several years now and they really work well. Safe and easy to set and sold at a reasonable price. There are a couple of holes so you can screw them down to a chunk of wood or tie them so that they won't be easily dragged off. To that end, I personally prefer using them with the Tomcat Rodent Station such as: https://www.amazon.com/Tomcat-Rodent-Station-Securing-Security/dp/B01N5MJFZK Why not 5 stars? My one complaint is with the bait cups. They are plastic and the locking tabs will break off. Tomcat does not sell them separately. My solution has been to tape them to the bottom of the traps with a narrow strip of duct tape. The bait cups can still be replenished from the top, using a small amount peanut butter on the tip of a table knife. Also I've been able to defeat the locking tabs on the Rodent Station and simply use a brick to weigh the lid down. Makes for quick work to clear a trap and reset it. While that has worked here so far, a large dog or other animal may learn a lesson if it can move things too much These traps are great and I do recommend them. Splash five in the last couple weeks . . I'll spare you the photo

Tomcat Rat Snap Trap, 1 Rat Size Trap works very well. I live in a very rural area and about once a year we get a couple of rat families living in the yard and in the horse's hay. Sometimes the snakes will get them, but this year they did not do their job. A few years ago I switched to the buckets with water in them and a little ladder leading up to it thinking it was safer. This year I switched back to the snap traps because I did not think the drowning was very humane. The snap traps work so quickly that I felt a lot better about these. They are easier to empty as well. Since I don't use any poison on my property I walk the expired rats down to the property line for the vultures to enjoy. The traps are made well. Very strong and can be cleaned with a hose or in a bucket with soap and some bleach. I recommend these rat traps. (I don't think you want any pictures of how they work.).

First of all, this trap is very reliable in that it can be used over and over and over again. Much better than the wooden snap trap, but only after you modify it! There are three issues with these traps. 1) The trigger point is too close to the opening, meaning every now and then you have a LIVE rat with its hand stuck in the trap. 2) It's not heavy enough, so the trap can be dragged around by the rat easily, providing an escape. 3) The spring is not strong enough to for a quick death, giving the rat time to wiggle its way out (which they've done on several occasions. I've made some modifications to address these short-comings. It's still not 100%, but close! The first and easiest thing to do is make sure you place the bait further back on the trap. Believe me, having to kill a rat with its hand stuck on the trap because they triggered it too early is not fun. The next modification was to drill screws in 3 spots on the front of the trap. That way the chances of the rat getting impaled by the screw and dying instantly is higher and if it doesn't die instantly, it can't wiggle its way out. The important thing is to use small screws and don't go down too far otherwise you'll have to unscrew the rat from the trap lol and that's gross. I go down until I see the screws aligned with the jaws and that makes it easy for the rat to drop out of the trap by just holding it up using gravity. The final and probably most important modification: I built a wooden box around the trap and left a small opening in front that goes into the trap. This is great for several reasons. One is that other animals or birds can't get caught by it anymore. Two is that it no longer looks like a trap, so the rat is less suspicious. Three is that I can place this outdoors and rain won't get in and so I don't have re-bait it. Four is that the rat can't move the trap around and try to escape, it's stuck. I've caught many rats this way now with traps that are about a year old!

We've been dealing with an outdoor infestation of Norway rats on our property, stemming from a formerly-abandoned building next door being renovated. I'm an ecologist, it's summer, and our yard is very natural, so it's sort of like rat paradise right now. They're noisy, out during the day, digging up plants, and are even not really afraid of people. I was hoping they'd sort themselves out, but unfortunately their population was clearly growing and I couldn't risk them damaging the house. I did a ton of research on traps, and ended up settling on these. These traps aren't perfect, but I would say this is probably about as good as a rat trap will be. I bought 4 traps, which have killed a little over 20 rats in about a month and half of usage, and the majority of those rats were killed quickly and painlessly with a blow to the head or neck. When they work as intended, clean-up is very easy, you just open a trash bag, hold the trap over it, and unclasp. Rat populations will move out of an environment when they perceive that the level of danger outweighs the opportunities for resources, and I do think, to some extent, that's been happening for the environment of my yard since I placed the traps, which is another benefit they have outside of the direct killing. The vibe outside has definitely shifted from 24/7 rat frat party to more like an empty parking garage in a sketchy neighborhood. The traps thankfully have not killed anything other than Norway rats (though I suspect that may be more to do with the modifications I made to the traps), which I was very worried about as we have a lot of native wildlife coming in and out of our yard that I did not want to harm. As I mentioned before, the traps on their own are not perfect. The biggest problem for me is that, while most of the rats that interact with the traps are killed cleanly as described above, I would say a good 1 in 6 rats get trapped with a variety of injuries that are quite bad, but not immediately fatal, and therefore must be manually dispatched. For the most part, this seems to be rats getting clamped somewhere on their midsection or rats jerking backwards when the trap snaps and getting hit hard enough in the head by the trap flying up that they get a serious concussion or traumatic brain injury. It's also pretty easy to lose the traps unless you've protected them in some way or are using them in a highly controlled environment. I've been playing around a bit, and there are a few tips and tricks I've figured out over the last month and a half that makes using these traps a better experience: 1. If you're trapping rats outside, definitely get some sort of cover or cage for your traps, with an opening large enough for a rat to get in and out (In and out, not just in, is important. They tend to avoid going anywhere where they can't identify a quick exit). I put a cheap milk crate from the hardware store flipped upside down and weighed down with rocks over each trap, and those have worked really well. Not only does that prevent most other wildlife from triggering the traps, it also keeps the trap, and the rat, contained. The milk crates I got had 4 handle holes in them, I taped up all but 1 hole to reduce access for non-rats and make the rats feel less exposed while entering the crate. The traps often flip up into the air when they're triggered, so a container will prevent it from flipping somewhere where it will be lost. The crate also prevents scavenging animals (like raccoons, foxes, opossums, etc.) from being able to carry the trap away if they try to take the dead rat. If the trap didn't successfully kill a rat, the crate will prevent the rat from running off with the trap attached and/or keep the rat contained until you come to deal with it. 2. If you have a lot of rats to trap or are trapping long term, change your bait every 3-5 days, and change the locations of your traps every 2 weeks. If you use the same bait over and over again in the same spot, the rats will begin to associate those foods and location with danger (especially if a trap trapped, but failed to kill, a rat, as that rat will give off fear pheromones that last even after its gone, which warns other rats away from that area). I rotate between 5 or so different baits and 3 different locations for each trap, and so far that's worked okay for me. Tomcat also makes a bait gel you can put on food to apply pheromones that are supposed to attract rats, but having done that for the past week or so, I don't think it makes much of a difference. 3. Not all the traps are created equal. I got two "bad" traps in my order, one came without a bait cup (which is mostly fine, it just makes baiting the trap slightly more annoying) and the other wasn't very sensitive at all and allowed rats to just take the bait without penalty, unless they put their full weight on the trap, something they were unlikely to do. It seems other reviewers have had this issue with some of their traps. I placed a rubber band around the back section of the trigger pad, as another reviewer recommended, and the trap is more responsive now. I'll update this review if I think of anything else that might be useful. I feel very passionately about humane trapping that will have the smallest negative ecological effect possible. Hopefully, if you read this far, you do too and my tips were useful to you. Good luck!

I live in a semi-rural area and have a problem with rats getting in the roof (and gnawing on electrical wiring) and under the house. Hitherto I've used bait stations, which certainly kills the rats, but they die in the roof or in the sub-floor and create a stink for a couple of weeks. After reviewing a couple of cheaper and similar design traps I settled on Tomcat — and they work a treat. I caught this specimen on the second night, adjacent to a hole where they were getting under the house. I'm happy to recommend Tomcat Rat Snap traps — a quality product that works.

Había puesto trampas para que se quedara pagada y logró despegarse y nunca volvió a pisarlas. Y puse esta y el primer día cayó la maldita. Le puse mantequilla de maní y un poco de peperoni.

I have used snap traps of various types for years with limited success. I have heard that rats can actually eat the bait on some without tripping the mechanism and also know what a trap looks like and actually can trigger the trap without getting caught. I can verify that as absolutely true as I use an infra red wildlife camera to see the routes the rats take and have seen rats "teasing" the trap. having seen the reviews I decided to try the Tomcat trap. In the first 3 nights I caught 4 rats. Unbelievably two rats were killed at the same time. Since then it has proved effective with more kills. I like the removeable bait holder as it can be cleaned easily and recharged. Also I think the matt plastic and more shell like construction makes it less conspicuous. Whatever it is proving to be a great product and worth spending that bit more on. Peanut butter is also the best bait I've used so far. I was told Nutella is good but that never worked very well. I tend to smear some peanut butter on things in the area of the trap which seems to also help entice the rats onto the trap. Thoroughly recommended !

The trap is large enough for rats, however, it is not sensitive enough. I thought this would be a faster and more humane way to kill the rats living in my garage compared to traditional baits which make them sick over a longer period of time. I added peanut butter to attract the rats (it worked) but each time I checked there was less peanut butter but the trap hadn't been triggered. After about a month, a rat eventually triggered the trap but only got caught by its back legs. Poor thing was screaming in pain for nearly 15 minutes while I rushed home to help. I thought it could be a once off so I reset the trap again. Two days later, it was triggered by another rat and again only caught it by the back legs. I was home so the rat was only screaming in pain for 1-2 minutes this time but that was still too long and a sound I never want to head again. I absolutely REFUSE to use this trap again. This experience was traumatic for everyone involved and a completely unethical way to control a rat infestation. If I wasn't relatively close by, the rats would have been in huge amounts of pain for hours/days until they eventually starved or died from shock. This product needs to be urgently redesigned if it continues to be sold.

Very powerful trap, snaps necks and kills quickly. Although less so if they get their legs caught, then you have to fetch the spade.