theReviewGuys

I have changed my opinion on the Victor electronic mouse trap. I have caught about half a dozen rats, and perhaps a dozen mice, or baby rats since I started using this high tech mouse trap. It zaps the mice and rats quite well most of the time. Occasionally a larger rat will survive, and only be stunned, but this appears to be an anomaly. And yes I did get a bit of a shock the first time I used it, but it was a mild shock, and now I know to hold the trap only by the plastic parts, and to not handle the trap while it is energized.

Rat and Mouse Trap Bait

I have experimented quite a bit with various baits to use in the Victor Mouse Trap. Peanut butter is the tried and true bait that mostly works. Sometimes the rodents don’t seem quite so interested in the peanut butter, and so I will use bits of cooked or not cooked meat, including chicken, beef and fresh tuna. I have also used smoked tuna, chicken scratch, bread, cheese, fruit including apples and pears. One particular week I knew we had a rodent, as the dog and the cats all were interested in something under the stove. Nothing seemed to lure the rodent out though. Finally I spied some raisins on the floor that kids had dropped, thought to myself, I’ll bet these work. Tried it and that night I scored with a fresh kill.

I still have a gripe that the victor rodent trap is not easy to clean, and so I reach out to Victor to improve their design so that it is easy to clean the trap. And also to improve on the electronics by having an internal battery indicator to let you know when the batteries are low, and to make it impossible or at the very least difficult for humans to get shocked.

We had a rodent in the kitchen. I finally figured this out after finding nibbled apple’s dragged to the edge of the kitchen at the stove. I was not entirely sure if it was a rat or a mouse, and so was unsure of what rat trap to get.

And so I resolved myself to ridding the house of these vermin. I hate poisons, since we have children, cats and a dog. And the traditional mice and rat traps very often miss and catch only a foot or tail which seems awfully cruel to these rodents. Glue traps are just wicked in concept and usage and seem to be designed for torture of the mouse or rat. So, the question is how to catch a rat with a trap, kill it humanely, and rid my house of rats and mice forever. And finally which is the best rat trap?

So I looked at the electronic traps which are supposed to quickly and humanely kill a rodent. Trouble is they are expensive, and the only electronic mouse and rat traps my local Home Depot and Lowe’s carry are the Victor model 240 Rat and Mouse Traps. Traditional spring traps, glue traps and poison are available in great abundance. There even seem to be a lot of those ultra-sonic traps which are supposed to repel mice, rats and even bugs. Right… and I have some snake bite elixir for sale.

Bit the bullet and bought the Victor Electronic Pest Trap, and that night, I baited it up with the recommended peanut butter. First I had to load it up with two C batteries. The battery compartment required a screwdriver to pry off, and the battery holder required a screwdriver to insert the batteries in the Victor’s battery holder. Not a good start.

After baiting the electronic rat trap, I turned on the Victor, and was immediately shocked, and I almost hurled that &*^%$#! Victor Mouse and Rat killing machine across the room. But I decided to give it one more try.

Placed the Rat Killing Machine next to the dog bowl, and went to bed. In the morning I found an empty electronic rodent trap and no dead mouse or rat. Hmmmm.

Tried re-baiting the Victor again the next night, and this time with a tasty morsel of smoked Tuna and nothing took the bait or got electrocuted by the Victor. No bait taken. No dead mouse or rat, and no flashing light on the Victore Electronic Rat and Mouse Trap that indicates a killing or tripping of the electronic circuit.

Tried re-baiting the Victor Trap again the next night, only I put it in the Garage next to the kitchen door. Next morning I was rewarded with one small dead and electrocuted RAT! Cool.

Going to use the Victor Mouse Trap a while longer and see if there are any more issues. I’ll review the Victor Electronic Trap after extended use, and report back my findings.

UPDATE: Rat number two has been dispatched by the Victor Electronic Rat Trap.

UPDATE: Rat number three has been dispatched by the Victor Rodent Trap.
UPDATE: Rat number three has NOT been killed by the trap. Instead it appears it was shocked non-stop for at least 15 minutes. When I made my way to the trap and dumped the Rat I thought maybe it was still moving. But creeped out, I took it outside and put into the garbage can. Next morning I went out and checked on the Rat number three, and found it alive and well. I ended up killing it with a shovel, and now I have that memory of it squealing as I killed it. Damnit.

I am finding that there are issues with this trap.

Victor Trap Deficiencies

1. Very difficult to clean out the old peanut butter from the Victor
2. The Victor 240 trap shocked me once, and I am now gunshy
3. No indication that the batteries are no longer useful in the Victor
4. The last rat that got zapped, seemed to linger a while, and this makes me wonder about the humaneness of this trap.
5. The last rat did not die in the trap. Instead it got shocked for at least a quarter hour, and then I had to kill it myself the next morning.

Given the last experience, the shock I got, and the other poor design features of the trap, I DO NOT Recommend this Victor Electronic Trap. I am going to try and get a complete refund on this poorly designed product that is supposed to kill rodents. My Victor M240 Electronic Mouse Trap Review really tested my patience, and humane sensibilities.

Update: I continue to use the Victor Rodent Trap and have killed two mice in the past couple weeks in the garage. I did however spot a rat who did not venture into the trap. The rats seem to be getting a tiny bit smarter, and can’t be coaxed into the trap for the peanut butter, dog food, or my latest offering of a nice chunk of country ham. I fear that the electronic mouse trap is getting built up with the smell of dead rodent, and is helping the rats figure out that this is not a good place to go. Of course Victor did not make it at all easy to clean this thing. It does not come apart, nor is it convenient to stick your hands inside to clean. There is a lot of room for improvement here. Victor, are you listening?

Another update. The Mouse and Rodent trap has killed four more mice, and another rat. Today there were two very dead mice in the trap. I’ve not gotten shocked again, but I will say that I only turn it on when it is flat on the ground, and then I flip the switch without touching anything else on the Victor Trap. I’ve learned my lesson. The rodents however, have not. Sure am glad I’m zapping them in the garage before they make in the house.