» Victor Electronic Rat Trap

Victor Electronic Rat Trap Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Works great, but not recommended for outside use.
Comment: The Victor Electronic Rat Trap does what the literature says. Remove the package. Remove the plastic insulator that prevents the batteries (included) from working. Put a little peanut butter in a hole in the back of the trap so that a little of it hangs out the back, then put the trap in a "walkway" (generally along a wall) where you have seen rats and turn the trap on. The LED turns on briefly to show the unit is activated, and then turns off. The trap looks quite innocent. Check on the trap at least a couple of times a day. If the light is flashing, you have caught something. Just pick the trap up (very convenient to hold in my hand) and let the contents slide into the trash. Rebait the trap and start over.

The trap will kill mice and squirrels and pretty much any other similarly sized pest. Few dogs or cats, even dachshunds, could get their nose far enough in to have a problem. However, check this out before you use it if you have pets. A squirrel fits all of the way in except about two thirds of its tail.

The manufacturer, on the packaging, specifically states, "NOT FOR OUTDOOR USE." This would seem to be for a couple of reasons: 1) it is not water proof so rain and runoff would probably destroy it; 2) it might have problems with heavy dew shorting the plates inside the trap. However, on days with low relative humidity I have used this in a protected area outside to good effect to catch "outside" rats.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: More effective than it's supposed to be
Comment: Erm, people, exercise some common sense with this thing. Don't stick your hand in it when it's on. Be careful to only handle it by the plastic when it's off. Switch it off before you bait it. DON'T TOUCH THE METAL.

So, I had a rat problem. The little beasts were getting so they'd climb up the screen outside the window at the end of the couch where I was watching tv. Very acrobatic. They had to go.

I tried the cheap solution. Glue traps: useless. Mouse traps: too small. Rat traps: worked once in a while. Modernized rat traps: useless. Poison: ever smelled a two week dead mouse in your garage?

So I found this electronic trap. Set it up and 20 minutes later there's a dead rodent in it. So I emptied rodents out a couple of times each evening.

Well, I left it on after the last one and next afternoon there was a squirrel half in and half out and dead as a dodo. This is not a toy.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: So far no rat!!!
Comment: Well, I bought this a week ago. I have not caught the little bugger YET!!! I have peanut butter where they say to put it... I left it off a few nights with trails of nuts around it to entice it... I turned it back on and found it in my kitchen last night around 8pm!!!! Brazenly the little critter raced from one end to the other and miraculously disappeared under the dishwasher seemingly into the wall! Now I really know that they can escape in a space as small as 1/4 inch!!! I couldn't believe my own eyes!! Anyway, this one is fearless and seems to be "mocking" all my efforts to catch it. Have called professionals to come tomorrow and do their thing. Am sure this device works if you don't have a clever "Disney" type rodent!!! At least I didn't shock myself like others with that facaca poorly designed battery compartment. I had to squeeze and push hard on all four batteries to get them in.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: A sure killer, once you figure out the trick
Comment: (1) These traps are greatly superior to the older wooden traps. They are neat, clean, and cool in a gadgety sort of way. I bought 3 of these, 4 of the M144s, and I set 2 of the old fashioned type that my exterminator put in (and the rats cleaned out without getting hurt). Rats were keeping us awake, and we were really anxious to get them.

(2) One website recommended using gloves to handle the traps. It said that human scent could scare off the rats. I followed that advice.

(3) One website recommended putting the traps out unarmed for a couple of days so the rats could become accustomed to eating from it. I did not follow that advice. The rat noises were keeping us awake, and I did not have the patience. It sounded like good advice though.

(4) I did not catch anything the 1st two nights I had this set. Then I started slicing walnuts and putting them around the traps. The first night I did that, I caught a rat. It is useful to note that all of the walnut pieces surrounding the trap had been eaten, all. So the rat ate all of the 'safe' food, and then went for the peanut butter/oat/walnut paste that I put in the trap.

(5) I also used a Victor M144 Power Kill rat trap. Same procedure worked, actually I used the trail of walnuts trick first with the M144.

Score so far: 1 kill for the Electronic trap, 2 kills for the M144, but I used my walnut trail trick with the M144 first. For the squeamish, the Electronic trap is easier to deal with, but check the reviews from some of the other users for comments about getting shocked. I used leather gloves to handle insertion of the batteries. I turned the unit off before attempting to unload the dead rat. I wear gloves to place the unit and turn it on/off, which is probably ridiculous, but why not. I have the gloves anyway.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: These Work Well Until They Stop Working
Comment: The three-star rating reflects 5 stars for effectiveness when they work and one star for how long they work (about 6-12 mice before failure).

I bought one of these rat traps after having no success with Victor's small-opening electronic mouse traps. (The small opening apparently seemed sus[picious to the mice -- not one ever entered. If I were a mouse *I* wouldn't walk into one of those either!) The large opening in the rat trap made it seem innocuous to the mice, and we started catching mice regularly. Unfortunately after 6-8 mice the unit stopped charging up, even with new batteries. I sent a complaint to Victor, and they were nice enough to take back the non-functioning unit and send me a new one, which killed the remaining few mice. After a hiatus in mouse problems, we started having them again and I brought out the replacement unit again. After catching another half-dozen mice or so, it also stopped working. (It appears to charge up, but mice seem to be able to walk in and eat the bait without being killed.) So basically you have to think about this as being "disposable" after every 6-12 mice, which means that they cost about $5-$8 per mouse killed. I'm now going to look for a different brand that might last longer and cost less per mouse.

Oh, like two other reviewers I also got shocked one time replacing the batteries.

---

More Reviews for Victor Electronic Rat Trap