A better mousetrap

I feel bad about doing so poorly in my blogging performance this week, there's just not a lot of interesting things to take pictures of. However, I do have an interesting adventure of sorts going on.

While having dinner outside on our back patio last week, we were noticing flashes of motion along the perimeter of the back yard, along the fenceline. We thought we saw something dash behind a few boards we had leaning against the fence, so I went over to the boards and agitated them a bit. A rat ran out from one side. A huge, hairy, disgusting rat. I can't stand rats, and I vowed then and there to eradicate them from our property.

The next day, I went down to Walmart and picked up 3 of the standard rat snap traps. Everyone's seen the little wooden mouse traps, the rat traps are similar, only much bigger. I baited all 3 with peanut butter and spread them around the yard in strategic locations. Rats are nocturnal, so I went to bed and hoped for sweet rat death. The next morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of the traps had snapped down hard on the neck of one of these foul beasts. The other two traps had the peanut butter licked clean, but the traps hadn't been sprung.

Over the next few days, I re-baited the traps in the evening, to find them licked clean the next morning. I think it may have been the ease of licking that the creamy peanut butter was providing. I began to lose hope. I know that the back yard is still frequented by rats, and I wanted more blood than I got.

Last night, I caught my neighbor Dick out getting ready for the upcoming weekend, and I mentioned my rat woes. Dick commented that he had the best rat trap he'd ever seen. It was the equivalent of "the chair" for rats. It takes 4 D-cell batteries, and is a death chamber of sorts. You build confidence by putting bait at the door of the trap, and let them gain the chamber's trust for a day or two. After you've gained their trust, you put the bait near the back of the trap and turn on the switch. The trap is supposed to violently electrocute the rat, killing him instantly. Sounds good to me.

I need to get some batteries, and I need them quick. We're visiting friends this weekend, and nothing would make me happier than to come home to see that we have one less rat that is going to be sullying our backyard with his verminous presence.