Patent ID: 8397426

Claim:
A mousetrap comprising: an enclosure comprising a base, an upwardly extending spindle, a top rotatable about said spindle, a strike plate connected to the top that extends downwardly into an interior of the enclosure and is at a substantially right angle to the top and which rotates with the top, a catch plate connected to the base and extending upwardly into the enclosure and at a substantially right angle with respect to the base, wherein the strike plate and the catch plate are adapted to trap a mouse therebetween, and a trigger mechanism comprising a lever arrangement and a biasing means operably connected to the top and the base, the mousetrap being set to incapacitate or kill the mouse by manual rotation of the top relative to the base, the enclosure being held open against a force of the biasing means by engagement of the lever arrangement with a stop means, the mousetrap being activated to incapacitate or kill the mouse by disengaging the lever arrangement from the stop means in response to the mouse within the enclosure thereby causing the top to contra-rotate about said spindle and relative to the base under a force of the biasing means so as to cause the strike plate to move with the top and strike the mouse with the strike plate and thereby incapacitating or killing the mouse between the strike plate and the catch plate within the enclosure.