Catching rats is not something I like. I just hate being the chauffeur because it was much kinder to relocate them than ending their lives there and then. Knowing they're pests, many would be killed at the first opportunity. But it is a living animal which is does what they do.
The only difference is that they do not understand the concept of property, something which we all hold dear to. To them, I presume, its just obstacles preventing them from getting food, or source material for their nests.
The 'Cat' Burglar
It takes me a few days before the trap was sprung. But in the workplace environment, while I was busy, I tend to forget about it until the next morning or, when I had the opportunity to get some food. Not only that, this little rat is quite smart because despite how sensitive the trap was, it managed to eat the bait. Every time.
It took me about 2 weeks to catch this little guy after the usual methods with the trap did not work. From adjusting the sensitivity to digging the bait deeper, it failed. So, in the end, I had to rely on the rat's or rats's (assumed) greediness.
Setting the Trap
So far, there are two rat traps available to my disposal. One is the sticky kind which in theory, can catch more than one but their disposal means death. The other, is more expensive but it will make sure they are still alive. For this instance, I am using the latter.
This is the smaller version but the principle is the same. Despite all the ones I saw on YouTube which catches them in hoards, they do look complicated. Unless the rats are bending metal or chewing through them, this simple cage was always the best.
And so, it begins
20240318 After placing the trap yesterday, I went for lunch and managed to take back a piece of chicken meat wrapped in some serviette. I put it inside the trap and went on with my Duties. And I totally forgot about until the next morning. This proves the rat or rats are hungry as the tissue was pulled and torn outside the trap.
20240323 I wished I had set up a CCTV to see how this was done. Bear in mind, in this second attempt the piece of chicken meat was about a cubic inch and the serviette was soaking in the oily sauce. Plus, I've forgotten about the trap again.
20240323 On the same day, sometime in the afternoon, I raided the common pantry and got a small little biscuit which I firmly stuck to the metal hook.
20240325 Come Monday, the rats got away. This is the third time the rats won despite my having set the trap to be as sensitive as possible. Plus, there were no debris or objects to stop the trap from closing.
20240325 OK, there's no more food except for the cucumber in the trash. And once again, I have set the trap to be as sensitive as possible. It would trigger even if a rat sneezes (does it?) while inside.
20240326 And in the next morning, the bait was gone. Seriously, I should have gotten some CCTV to record this. It's like they're so good at it, I was thinking, maybe I can catch and train them to rob heavily guarded stuff like we see in the movies.
20240328 So, I decided to go out for Lunch and successfully secured another piece of chicken. And yeah, it's gone the next morning.
20240329 I decided not to go out for lunch since I was not in the mood with these rats. And so, I used some of my sandwich as bait. Bear in mind, it is covered with my own home made chili oil.
20240330 Well, well, well. It even loved my chili oil. I think I am starting to like the rats and I do think they're Malaysians rats.
20240330 Since this is a Saturday, I have another tactic but first, I need to secure some bait and there it is, a piece of the chicken leg. Its just deep fried skin over bone and ligaments.
20240330
This time I moved the trap elsewhere in case the previous spot really
affected the triggering. I balanced the trap on the inside edge (which
becomes the fulcrum) of this counter and hooked the chicken real deep.
One, if the rat pulls the chicken leg, it will spring the trap. And two,
if the rat was greedy and went in to the far end trying to get the
bait, its weight would make the trap would fall a little, causing some
vibrations which would then spring the trap.
20240401 Tadaaa! The small little tyke is caught! Being one of the earliest to the office means the trap is untouched. What I saw is quite scary. The reason being is that the trap had moved out of its place and if you see the yellow lines, it moved a lot. Either the small rats got angry and shook the cage or, there are other rats trying to free it.
20240401 So, for the next 8 hours, its gonna chill in there, along woth the chicken leg gnawed to the bone. Heck, I can bet that it was caught on Saturday which means, it was unable to feed itself for two days.
20240401 After work, I took it to another place and freed it. In the meantime, the car does smell of its piss and all, but no poop. Sometimes, the ones I caught not only made a mess of the paper but it would pee and crap all over. One of the guys said they can kill it if I can catch it. So, I caught it, he got cold feet instead.
