The Set Trap | Main | Step 4: Pulling Back the Tension Bar 

December 30, 2005

Step 5: Setting the Trigger

Mr. Allen reminds us to hold the trap with the rat nose pointing towards us. It should be noted that Mr. Allen is holding back a fair amount of pressure on the pressure bar with the trigger bar and his left hand here. That kind of scares me, personally.

Here Mr. Allen is setting the trigger. These traps are marked "F" on the left for Firm and "S" on the right for Sensitive. I think those are the words they stand for, anyway, but the point is, putting the trigger to the right will make the trap more sensitive, for the sensitive rat. I should also note that this is where I really screwed up in setting these traps the first few nights -- I was putting the trap in the lower bait area, which made the whole thing really ineffective. My mouse was feasting on peanut butter the first couple of nights. At first I thought, "Well, that's good to build up the trust" but then, the more I thought about it, the less important it seemed to me to establish trust -- I mean, if you kill them on the first visit, what does it matter if they don't want to come back? Anyway.

Here, Mr. Allen is employing the butter knife to lift the bait tray thingy to engage and hold the trigger bar. When the bait tray is completely flat, it does not engage the trigger bar. I assume he is holding the tension bar back with his left hand as he engages the trigger bar. Since I don't use this method, I'm not completely sure, but Mr. Allen swears by it.

Here Mr. Allen is using the butter knife to hold the bait tray up while he checks the tension.

Next -- the set trap.

Posted by mary at December 30, 2005 9:28 PM

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