h a l f b a k e r y"Bun is such a sad word, is it not?" -- Watt, "Waiting for Godot"
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This is intended for trapping critters wary enough to
evade
common traps.
A live trap consisting of a large box, tube, or cage with
spring
loaded doors on each end and a close-able port on top
for
adding
bait. A floor trigger inside can close both doors
simultaneously.
But the
trigger and closing mechanism include levers and
ratchets to form a kind of mechanical counter that
won't let the doors close until the trigger has been
tripped
several times.
This lets the target critter learn to trust the enclosure,
learning
they can come for a snack and walk away
unmolested - until the trap eventually does close them
in.
This is akin to simply baiting a regular trap but leaving it
disarmed over a period of several days - and only setting
it
after
you know it's been visited multiple times. But marketing
as
automated, easier, smarter will get a higher price for it
on the
store shelves.
Ninja Squirrel Challenge Course
https://www.youtube...watch?v=hFZFjoX2cGg
You go, Smart Rick. [RayfordSteele, Jul 14 2020]
Hamnpork
https://wiki.lspace.../mediawiki/Hamnpork
[kdf, Jul 14 2020]
Hair Club For Rats
Hair_20Club_20For_20Rats
One of my earlier rat related ideas ... [kdf, Jul 15 2020]
[link]
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What's wrong with crouching, completely silent and utterly motionless, in the total darkness, hour after hour, night after night, with infinite, focused, vengeful patience, listening for that first tiny, almost inaudible, rustle of movement, right on the threshold of hearing, and taking careful aim, and then suddenly BANG ... you've shot a post-it note that's fallen off the refrigerator door ? |
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Do pay attention, 8th. The targets are rodents, not
little
bits of paper. Or refrigerator doors. |
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We have some pretty impressive rats in our back
yard. One
is a male Norway with a body close to a foot long.
I'm
calling him Hamnpork until he speaks up and tells
me that's
not his name. And I don't really mind, as we have a
lot of
other happy critters around - balance of nature
and all
that. I don't feel like paving over (or carpet
bombing) the
entire estate to get rid of them. |
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As long Hamnpork and his pals are happy to play
outside -
not too close to the back porch or trying to get in
the house - we don't
need the traps.
This is an idea "just in case." |
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If Hamnpork resembles his moniker, the problem with this
idea is that he's going to just suck up your bait in one or
maybe two gulps. |
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What you need is to make it a bit sporting for him. A rat-
trap
applicable version of the Ninja Squirrel Challenge course in
the link, perhaps. |
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[kdf], well...let me see how to broach this subject with you
without being insensitive... Uhmmmm... Almost all of your
ideas are related to RATS. Either getting rid of them or making
their lives better or something to do with rodents in general. |
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Are the "Rats" code for something else in your life? Just
wondering. |
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blissmiss ... Not *all* of my ideas - just a few recent one.
And as you've asked why: Several mornings recently when
my wife has gone out to the garden, one or both of her
garden shoes have been mysteriously several feet away
from the back door. Figured a raccoon had been playing
with them, but after moving one of our security cameras to
see if it happened again - noticed a lot of rat traffic. |
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To my surprise, my nature-loving hippie wife wants to kill
them! As far as I'm concerned a rat is just a squirrel
having a bad hair day. I'm thinking of setting up a salon for
them in the far corner of the yard. Away from our back
door, up against the fence closest to a neighbor we
don't like. |
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"If Hamnpork resembles his moniker"
|
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Named for a character in a Terry Pratchett novel, though
the one in our yard may not be as educated as the one in the
book. |
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//Are the "Rats" code for something else in your life? Just
wondering.// |
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I think you may be harking back to Freud's famous case history
of the "rat man", [bliss]. If that's so then we should bear in mind
(a) that Freud's reasoning in that particular case doesn't work for
a non-German-speaker and (b) that Freud's reasoning doesn't
work. |
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hahaha, no, no I wasn't, but that's funny. |
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// To my surprise, my nature-loving hippie wife wants to kill them! // |
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You should listen to her; she is clearly much wiser and perceptive than you are. |
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Which makes us wonder why she married you. |
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// As far as I'm concerned a rat is just a squirrel having a bad hair day. // |
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Are you sure it's a rat, and not a Filigree Siberian Hamster... ? |
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“...Filigree Siberian Hamster...“
I *did* mention improved social acceptance as a
possible benefit for rats (and pet shop owners) a
few weeks ago in “Hair Club for Rats” (link). Do try
to keep up, please. As for killing, my hippie wife
usually outsources
that to me, and always seems sad about it even
when it’s totally necessary. That’s why her
eagerness to off the rats is such a surprise. |
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"Have you ever heard of the bubonic plague, [kdf] ? It was very popular here at one time. A lot of pedigree hamsters came over on ships from Siberia ... " |
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Rats ? Kill them. Kill them all. Do it now. |
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Get a terrier - they adore killing rats. Let a terrier loose where there are rats, and pretty soon all you have is twice as many half-rats and a very happy dog. |
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"Rats. Kill them all"
Are your targeting systems always so imprecise? Bubonic
plague (Yersinia pestis) is transmitted by fleas - which are
just as happy to jump to your rat terrier after it's killed the
rat. |
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If it comes down to necessary killing, I'd prefer something
that doesn't leave carcasses - intact or chewed - laying
about. Slow poisons often let them die in their burrows,
but finding one that won't affect non-target species and
doesn't persist in the soil is problematic. Rat-X looks
promising but may not be effective on big Norways. |
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Try hot lead - .22 LR is typically sufficient, but 7.62mm is more ... impressive. |
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No effect on non-target species (what are those, by the way ?). |
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As to fleas, a quick blast of organophosphate insecticide spray will take care of them - along with regular topical treatments, which all responsible dog owners do as a matter of course. |
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"non-target species ... what are those..."
That's you all over, isn't it ? You've already indicated your
targeting algorithms can't discriminate between a bacterium,
flea, rodent, scraps of paper, or kitchen appliances. |
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It can ... perfectly well. It just isn't configured to do that, because it returns entirely satisfactory results just the way it is. |
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Apart from the holes in the refrigerator ... |
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I told you it was a false economy to use mild steel for the
glacis plate. |
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Everyone's a critic ... but yes, the replacement will be specified as something a trifle more resistant. |
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And maybe it needs a deflector shield ... |
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The idea specifies // Delayed Rodent Trap // but in fact what's ultimately wanted is a "Late Rodent Trap" ... "late, as in the late Dentarthurdent". |
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Point taken - I've changed the name to "Delayed Action
Rodent Trap" (DART) - but my intended result is not
necessarily a "late" rat. Simply a captured one. |
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What anyone does with a captured rat is up
to them. Despite hippie wife's original blood lust,
she changed her mind when I asked her to explain
the difference in her feelings towards rats,
squirrels, raccoons, and stray cats - all of which
frequently visit. |
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//What's wrong with crouching, completely silent and
utterly motionless, in the total darkness, hour after hour,
night after night, with infinite, focused, vengeful
patience, listening for that first tiny, almost inaudible,
rustle of movement, right on the threshold of
hearing...// |
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The cats do that, They'll sit right in front of the stove, or
in a mysterious basement location somewhere, probably
on top of an HVAC duct until dead mice appear in the
morning, or the smaller cat drags a squirrel half her size
up the basement stairs. Instead of adding their biological
distinctiveness to my own, I've left them independent so I
can sleep while they work. |
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You are such a kind and compassionate boss, [bs0u0155], any
openings at your place of business? hahahaha |
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I am sad* to report that Hamnpork and the rest of his clan
are missing, presumed dead. Along with them, an
undetermined number of squirrels, raccoons, and feral
cats. I didn't kill them nor did nature loving hippie wife.
We think either our next door neighbor (Joe) or the guy
next to him on the other side from us (Richard, aka "Little
Dick") poisoned them. |
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Both Joe and I had seen a lot of "traffic" through our yards
and from trail cameras figured out the main source was
Little Dick's yard. Joe said he was going to set out traps
and maybe poison because he was sick of them getting into
his garden. Don't know for sure what really happened - but
in the past week the cameras have triggered ZERO times at
night and much, much less often for daytime. The day shift
consisted mainly of squirrels, night shift included rats,
cats, and raccoons. And now... all gone. |
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* I'm not sure "sad" is the right word, I mean, I wanted the
rats to go somewhere else, but killing every pronking thing
in the neighborhood? It lacked ... elegance. |
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So it was either "Wipe them out. All of them.", or "Kill 'em
all, let god sort 'em out."; depending on whether your
neighbour is a sci-fi fan or a Viet-Nam war historian... |
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"... your neighbour is a sci-fi fan or a Viet-Nam war
historian...”
-neutrinos_shadow, Sep 02 2020 |
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Or Mr. Teatime, to stay in the same universe
(though not
the same book) as Hamnpork... |
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[Lord Downey is reviewing a previous assassination
contract that Teatime carried out for him] |
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Lord Downey : You nailed Sir George's dog to the
ceiling. |
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Teatime : I couldn't have it barking while I was
working, sir. |
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Lord Downey : Some people would have drugged it. |
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Teatime : [mystified] Oh! But I definitely fulfilled
the
contract. I checked Sir George's breathing with a
mirror, as
instructed. |
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Lord Downey : Apparently his head was several
feet from
his body at that point. |
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Teatime : That was all right, wasn't it, sir? |
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Lord Downey : It lacked... elegance. |
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Teatime : I thank you, sir. I'm always happy to be
corrected. I shall remember that... next time. |
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