SIMPLE RAT TRAP
ECHO has had some success catching rats in a bucket sunken into the ground with the top flush with the surface. Barry Rands is reported in Amaranth to Zai Holes p.213, as having caught 150 mice in one night in four such traps.
The trap is filled to within 8 cm of the top with water. Each evening, fresh sweepings from a millet threshing floor are floated on the surface to provide both camouflage and bait.
Rodents apparently see the floating bait, assume it is a solid surface, and jump in. We find it works best if the bucket fits loosely enough that it can be removed and the water replaced frequently.
DATE: August 1997
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