Rat zapper - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: David97
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 05:55:13 am
content: Hi everyone. We have a problem at our batch with a rat & mice infestation in the garage. I build a bucket with a see saw that drowns them however after a month there can be 10-20 mice and rats in there, it get's pretty scummy, let alone it not being very humane.So I need a new way of getting rid of them. The best most humane way I could think of is to electrocute them. That way I can have a pad they stand on, get shocked and then use a servo to automatically dump them out the side of the garage in a hole. The power is often turned off when we aren't there, so I was going to use bunch of car batteries to power it.So I need a way to give a rat a lethal shock from a car battery. Anyone have any ideas.

author: poida_pie
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 06:25:29 am
content: this might do the job

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 06:59:49 am
content: Glue traps?Just make sure you dispose of the varmint before they decompose. I know, not very humane.But then there is this:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086036/Pretty much you can't compete with animals that have 24/7 to think how to stay in your home when you only have minutes a day to deal with them.What not to do:My hometown has an artificial breakwater to preserve the beach sand. Well, decades ago there was a rat infestation and city hall decided to bring natural predators so they got cats instead of poison because it was more humane to their eyes. Guess what? rats gone, but now they had a problem with cats that procreated like crazy when there was enough rats to eat.So they kept on feeding them because the cats were pretty scrawny for lack of food, and of course they couldn't just poison them because now it was cats not rats.I don't know what they did at the end, probably they collected the cats and spayed them.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 07:12:02 am
content: Quote from: David97 on August 07, 2014, 05:55:13 amYeah electrocution can also be messy, it is not always bang dead but takes sometimes a long time so it is not (in my opinion) a humane way to kill a creature even a rat.Look at more humane alternatives: the way they kill cows with this thing:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_bolt_pistolbut then you have to face the problem how to align the head of the rat with the bolt.Or even a guillotine of some sort (bit messy perhaps) but way better then electrocution (have you thought about the smoking stench a well isolated rat would cause? Not even thinking about fire hazzard.)Here is another thought suffocate them in a plastick bag, suck the air out and seal it like a food vacuum machine does. Enough alternatives to get it over quick.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 07:24:42 am
content: Quote from: Kjelt on August 07, 2014, 07:12:02 amNothing that mythbusters could demonstrate, but apparently during the French revolution people where asked to keep on blinking as long as they could and that showed they where conscious up to 30 seconds after beheading.Scientist now think it's just remains of signal control of some sort of involuntary reaction. But it's not like we an put a scope on a beheaded head (excuse the redundancy)

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 07:27:44 am
content: Quote from: miguelvp on August 07, 2014, 07:24:42 amEnough apprentices that want to join the show

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 07:38:42 am
content: Killing rats is not easy. You won't kill all of them anyway, they might just go away to someone else if you kill enough of them. Very smart bastards unlike the mice. If others see some of them killed, they never go in that dangerous place. Also they go around suspicious places and usually only youngest (stupidest) of them get caught.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 07:47:08 am
content: Quote from: wraper on August 07, 2014, 07:38:42 amAgreed, I didn't link the movie because I thought it was a good movie, but the message is trueQuote

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 07:54:27 am
content: A few years ago I did some work for a large pest control company - they'd developed a rat /mouse trap which once the victim entered, closed a door behind them and opened a small CO2 canister to gas them, to stop them eating their way out.It then sent a radio signal so someone could then come and empty it.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 07:59:08 am
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on August 07, 2014, 07:54:27 amA better mouse trap, I think next revision should be an IoT instead of radio signaling.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 08:15:53 am
content: A long time ago, I made a hangman for them. Hole big enough to put head into and a food in the other end of the hole. But there was a thin fishing line in front of the food that interfered eating. So when rat bites the line, it get hanged with thin steel wire with a strong spring in one end. Instakill.

author: mzzj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 08:19:23 am
content: Quote from: Kjelt on August 07, 2014, 07:12:02 ami bet electrocution can be made quite reliable for rat size animals with "right parameters"But then you might have problem of rats catching on fire ;pCaptive bolt pistol? How about just traditional mouse/rat trap? Less alignment problems compared to captive bolt.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 09:18:21 am
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on August 07, 2014, 07:54:27 amExcellent! I think it even has room for an improvement: take a deep garbagecan or other container dig it in the ground fill it with Argon and shove after closing the door the rat with a pneumatic valve in the container. Since Argon is heavier then air it will stay in the container so you only have to fill it once (in a while). And probably (unsure I am not a forensic specialist) the Argon will conserve the rats a bit so they don't start to decompose right a way and you don't have to empty it every day.

author: rob77
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 12:05:55 pm
content: Quote from: miguelvp on August 07, 2014, 06:59:49 amdo you have some Chinese restaurants over there ?

author: poorchava
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 01:13:49 pm
content: What happened to good, old rat poison? It has mumyfying properties, so they don't rot, just dry out.

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 01:24:07 pm
content: An electric shock which can kill the rat can kill you.Why not have an automated scoop which fishes stuff out of the water?

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 01:33:48 pm
content: You could always buy a few terriers.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 01:35:49 pm
content: Quote from: poorchava on August 07, 2014, 01:13:49 pmIt killed the birds of prey that eat the rat.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 01:53:31 pm
content: No so human way how to kill them without using poison. My grandfather was mixing gypsum with dry food. Rats could not poop after that thing solidified and therefore died. Very effective.

author: wagon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 01:57:35 pm
content: .22LR rifle, a big box of ammo, a stool and a six-pack?

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 04:59:45 pm
content: The rifle works, but you run out of stupid rats after a while. You need the right bait, peanut butter works well.I use the Finale wax blocks, as the rats love the taste, and they often eat them within 2 hours of my placing it. I do not have to worry much about birds in the city, and the rats are bigger than the feral cats anyway. I did use the Finale liquid in a roof, there was a fight for the tasty sweet blue liquid for a while after placing it. No more rats after 3 days...... I tried the small pellets, but the flying rats ate it, and they look stupid walking around drunkenly till they walk into the street and get run flat. wax blocks are the best.Tried a humane trap that catches them alive, but the snake park after a while did not want them, something about them eating the snakes. So now they get caught and driven for a short road trip, ending in a short drop out of the cage. those that complained about me killing them with a club were told "Here is your pet rat" and offered the next in line.

author: denelec
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 10:24:46 pm
content: Victor sellsElectronic Rodent Repellents.http://www.victorpest.com/store/mouse-control/ultrasonicsIf it works, it would be the most humane way to get rid of the rats.If it doesn't work, you could send it to Dave for a teardown...

author: apelly
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 11:34:09 pm
content: Quote from: wagon on August 07, 2014, 01:57:35 pmGuns, booze and varmints!Hell; make a weekend of it!

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2014, 03:30:38 am
content: while kid i have idea like mikeelectricstuff. but instead co2 them, close the door, and open the floor so the rat fall in separate chamber below ready for slaughter when i arrive. but never materialized no time and i have the easier one. combo of poison, trap that snap the neck, and glue. glue is not favorable due to maintenantce needed, hence for on the ground i'll use "trap snap the neck" stuff, for overhead like in the ceiling, i just throw the poison everywhere. next week when i smell something i know something dead, if i cant find it just let them where they are. rat will go away yes, but next month if they come back again i'll repeat. i guess thats how life is, just like mosquito you'll never get rid of it. now to the $1M question... whats the difference between rat and dog? if they both can do the harm?

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2014, 04:41:19 am
content: I don't know how bad your problem is but in my case it depended on the area. I used mainly live traps to catch outside, and unfortunately had to deal with them in the house as well. Probably the smartest thing I did was install a couple IP cams. That helped me locate the entry points seal them up and on to the next.Just because I used live traps does not mean the rats lived. I also used poison Warfin 1 then Warfin 2, Warfin 1 is limited because it is not cumulative, it's not that the rats tolerate it so much as they don't eat enough of it. Warfin 2 will work when a lethal dose is eaten. You need to have a closed space when using Warfin 2 in particular because the carcass will remain poisonous for some time.Back to the non gory details, I made simple wooden live traps and they ended up being more effective than the store bought ones. For some I triggered the trip system with an IR trigger and solenoid. Some of the rats would enter but not take the bait. As for bait these guys mainly went for uncooked bacon. Peanut butter was excellent for mice.The house is about 200 yards from the Fraser River in BC, rats will always be a problem.Man I just hate rats, they give me the creeps.