Rat stomping machine, will it work? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 06, 2015, 08:15:54 pm
content: So while I was in business trip in Netherlands, some rat (or rats) found a way into my kitchen where water pipes come in. As I don't have any rat trap, in 1.5 hours I made it myself. It's basically DIY IR proximity sensor I made many years ago and 6 kg aluminium brick hanging on steel wire. When rat is detected, wire burns and rat gets a brick on it's head. So what do you think, will it work? Or brick is too light to kill a rat

author: continuo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 06, 2015, 08:34:42 pm
content: If it's a baby rat, maybe. But these beasts grow really big, I doubt the trap will be able to kill an adult one. Maybe sufficient to give it a hell of a headacheedit: Chocolate cookies work really well as decoys...

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 06, 2015, 08:37:06 pm
content: A brick is too small. Rat traps filled with warfarin work better (it's the little blue granules that look like kitty litter).

author: continuo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 06, 2015, 08:45:28 pm
content: But I like the idea, reminds me of the "Road Runner" cartoons I loved to watch when I was a child

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 06, 2015, 09:07:46 pm
content: 6kg is enough but it may take a few minutes. It may smell the wire burning so that could be an issue (very fast buggers). Peanut butter is a good choice in general (bait) but rats do have preferences. If they eat bugs then a shrimp works well. Also remember that where there is one count on three. I have found a security camera very handy but any time lapse camera is a goo bet to ID the paths.Good luck

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 12:04:48 am
content: Hair trigger Shotgun up the pipe and opticaly operated relay.... or a pipe with electrical front and rear end caps and a nice big guillotine in the middle.... splat

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 12:06:42 am
content: My local Hardware store sells "Live Animal traps"It seems they don't work on dead animals------no matter what bait you use,the little buggers won't go into the trap!

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 12:14:30 am
content: No way is it good enough, you will be surprised how hardy rats are. I had the misfortune to have to try and dispatch one that my cat had spent all afternoon torturing. Poor bugger had its eyeballs hanging out, was partly disemboweled and numerous other injuries but was hiding behind a drainpipe with my cruel cat the other side enjoying the war of attrition. I chased the cat and quickly made a poor ligature of a few winds of bootlace around ratties neck and pulled - that neck would not snap, it was choking and tongue hanging out then the ligature gave and the rat spun around still alive. I made a better knot and had another pretty tough but successful attempt. Bloody hard as nails that rat, fucking awful way to go.Now one of my dogs is much better. She's a demon - bites them in the neck and then shakes the buggers to death instantly. Amazing to see her dispatch an alley of them in no time.However, as stomping machines go, there is always the more manual Kitty Stomper as featured on Dragons Den

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 12:38:42 am
content: Kill rats and their relatives will chew your oscilloscope probe wire. It's more humane to trap them alive and release outdoor and your oscilloscope probes will stay intact.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 01:02:49 am
content: trap and release only seems humane because you don't see them die with your own eyes. many animals cannot survive relocation because there is no territory available for them in a new location, so they just keep running until they die.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 01:20:13 am
content: Quote from: helius on October 07, 2015, 01:02:49 amAnd if they do survive then you are increasing the population of the guy. Unfortunately I am an unwilling expert in the things and they make me cringe. It's seasonal here and guess what season it is?Anyway Live traps are excellent for catching in house, bait (poisons) needs to be used withe extreme caution. Other traps are messy, I hate messy.As for the block being big enough, google "figure 4 deadfall" I think you will find it's a variation of a trap going way back (probably caveman times) and can do the job.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 02:33:25 am
content: You can always trap them inside of something that fills with nitrogen gas. Nitrogen suffocation does not cause you to have distress since animals bodies don't have a mechanism to see it as bad since we breathe 70% of it. You just go to sleep.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 05:04:32 am
content: It got away with a piece of cheese. Guess it was fast enough to avoid a falling brick. Well, I dealt with rats before and made some quiet effective (mechanical) traps in my teen age. I just have not any of parts needed for them, so tried to make electronically controlled one from some parts lying around.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 05:13:56 am
content: Make a 2 door 1 way lock system to the outside of the house.with food to entice the rat to enter. Once they get in they can only exit to outside the house.It will work well and is much more humane than dying from a skull fracture

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 05:14:30 am
content: Quote from: pickle9000 on October 07, 2015, 01:20:13 amI agree, live traps are very useful. They make it less likely the animal is wounded and crawls off into a wall to die, making an ineradicable stench.They are also useful when used outside (on roof, around foundation) when only one type of animal is being targeted.But simply putting the animal outside will make it expend unlimited effort to get back in: animals are very territorial about their nest sites. You will see a lot of gnawing and digging damage if you do that.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 05:19:27 am
content: Quote from: helius on October 07, 2015, 01:02:49 amNot rats for sure, they'll survive anywhere. Also IMO it is more humane to just kill it fast. If the poor guy have some hard time and a lot of stress until it dies, IMO it is not so humane at all (unless humane is considered to not be seeing some awful things).

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 05:50:36 am
content: Quote from: Psi on October 07, 2015, 05:13:56 amIn 5 story flat. Well, I can make an exit on balcony so it can fall down in a jump of fate from the 4th floor or to stairway, so my neighbors can appreciate this.

author: orin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 05:54:36 am
content: Quote from: wraper on October 07, 2015, 05:19:27 amIf you want to torture your rats, use these:http://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/trapper-t-rex-rat-snap-trapThey tend to catch the rat by the shoulder. The rat then drags the trap around until it dies. If you are (un)lucky, you find them. Otherwise, you never see the trap again and wonder what happened to it.If the rats are indoors, find out how they are getting in and block their access. Cut trees back so they can't jump off branches onto your roof and find their way in around broken flashing or under the eaves. It's pointless trapping them if you don't block their access; there are way more rats out there than you stand a chance of trapping!Aside. We once had a scratching in the wall. Something was digging its way through the drywall, so I put a jar over the hole and caught the critter... "You're not a rat... what are you?" It was a weasel, helping itself to whatever else had found its way in. The weasel got away when I didn't secure the jar lid. I can't say I was upset about that... not much you can do with a live weasel anyway.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 06:00:59 am
content: Quote from: orin on October 07, 2015, 05:54:36 amRex traps are crap, in my experience the rats take them home and use them for furniture. Rarely do they work as intended.

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 07:31:48 am
content: get a couple of real mean Jack Russels and watch the fun.

author: Galenbo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 07:37:51 am
content: Your product won't get CE approved, because the earth wire cannot be used to conduct current.:-)

author: Mechanical Menace
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 01:03:17 pm
content: Quote from: Deathwish on October 07, 2015, 07:31:48 amThe smell of cats urine triggers an hardwired fear response in rats. Well if they don't have certain parasites...

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 01:36:37 pm
content: My cat takes care about 100 mice over the summer time ( outside), and that body count is only that she "reports" to the backyard porch, how many more she did not bother to bring home do not know.

author: Sbampato12
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 01:42:14 pm
content: Thermal cameras could help in the hunt.Get a confortable chair, turn all lights off, and wait then to come. When they are in range, turn lights on and start to engage!Worked for me...

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 01:44:30 pm
content: Quote from: Stonent on October 07, 2015, 02:33:25 amSpeaking of a creative advice, closed trap could activate a Peltier element and freeze the rat to death

author: Sbampato12
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 02:04:50 pm
content: Quote from: Bud on October 07, 2015, 01:44:30 pmOr something with power lasers....

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 02:10:45 pm
content: Quote from: Sbampato12 on October 07, 2015, 02:04:50 pmA Shark!

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 02:40:35 pm
content: pipe extension with one of those laser cutters like the umbrella corp use, watch them get cubed, or even chase them into the microwave and fry the evil vermin.god i love a decent horror film.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 03:35:52 pm
content: Many years ago my father employed a builder that kept making rat traps with weights and spikes formed from roofing lead and six inch nails. Never did work. My way was far better, I would stand a lit night light on top of a camping gas cartridge put some grain around it and wait for the rats to come, when there were enough I put a .22 rifle bullet through the gas cartridge and watched the rats go boom.

author: Artlav
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 04:06:44 pm
content: Imagine a chess board.In the middle of it is the bait.Between the metal tiles is some insulation.The black tiles are connected to ground.The white tiles are connected to the high side of a MOT.A sensor spots the rat entering the board, a relay clicks.

author: KermitDK
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 04:23:24 pm
content: Quote from: wraper on October 06, 2015, 08:15:54 pmIf you are lucky it will kill it - Otherwise you will have a VERY angry rat when you check the trapI have heard the "hissing" from them several times, when I have been out installing traps.It is very difficult too kill a rat.But company were I work has succeeded making traps, that does it without any poison :-)(and there is electronics involved)

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 04:40:47 pm
content: Quote from: KermitDK on October 07, 2015, 04:23:24 pmI heard it too when pierced rat's ass with a piece of knitting needle soldered to the end of metal rod. That was at my grandparents place, those bastards became so insolent that almost didn't fear from people. They lost most of their audacity after that single event.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 05:54:56 pm
content: Tried the sticky traps, and got a rat first try ( well, two, but the bigger one ate the small one). Ladies were saying I must release them, so offered her "Her rat" to take home. She declined, so I used a slighly more humane method than the bucket of water to kill them. Broom swung in a big arc to crush the skull, then finish off in the bucket for 10 minutes to clean the broom head of the remains.After that I used the Finale wax blocks, they love them, though now i am using a pouched bubblegum flavour paste killer that works on those who are wary of the wax. Pellets work, but the dumb flying rats eat them, then walk around drunkenly till they wander out into the street and go splat.Pellet guns also work, just need a big open area with a fire line, and the right bait, some bacon with peanut butter works well, gets them all out to eat one or the other. Just needs the whole day to get around 50.

author: Sbampato12
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 06:13:52 pm
content: Quote from: Deathwish on October 07, 2015, 02:40:35 pmExactly the scene that comes to my mind.... just skip the single beams, go right to that final, that gives you cubed rat....Quote from: SeanB on October 07, 2015, 05:54:56 pmI did it once, with pellet, bad ideia I think. It make a real mess with blood, with in that case get stucked on the floor, needed clear with solvents (I don't remember wich).

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 09:09:10 pm
content: It is both disheartening and extremely disappointing that people on here are so excited about killing animals. It kind of explains why racism, capitalism and misogyny are so prevalent in the modern corpratist world./mojo-wanker

author: ccs46
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 09:30:37 pm
content: It's a rat, a germ ridden wild rodent. Snap Trap rat traps break the rats neck and kill it instantly without pain. Do keep in mind the standards of other countries such as health, might not be looked at like you look at them.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 09:34:16 pm
content: Quote from: Delta on October 07, 2015, 09:09:10 pmAlmost non existent compared to any other time in history or any country which isn't Europe and the US? I don't see the need to single out any sex here, it's just a single anecdote but my mother hated mice a lot more than me and cared a lot less about how much they suffered.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2015, 01:35:58 am
content: What about two metal strips connected to the mains through a light bulb as a current limiter?

author: Stuart Coyle
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2015, 02:45:24 am
content: Who needs a rat stomping machine? I have a this:

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2015, 03:31:31 am
content: Brave mouse attacking a cathttp://sendvid.com/scuq7ffl

author: Sbampato12
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2015, 03:54:20 am
content: Quote from: NiHaoMike on October 08, 2015, 01:35:58 amThat looks quite simple and effective, I liked!