Zooillogix

A UK-based company recently unveiled a new mousetrap that utilizes technology rather than Monterey jack to capture and then slaughter adorable mice. The company, Rentokil (nope, not kidding), has developed a contraption that looks like the opening to a tunnel, preying on mice’s natural curiosity that any dark hole may have delicious food waiting inside. Upon entering the hole, however, the mice trigger an infrared beam, which closes the door behind them. Once the doors are shut, the trap releases carbon dioxide until the mice pass out and then die of asphyxiation. The time of capture to the time of death? 20-40 seconds!

The device is called Rodent Activated Detection and Riddance (RADAR).

Who wouldn’t want to kill these disgusting little pests?

Says Jed Kenrick, Rentokil’s managing director in this article in the India Times, “It is James Bond technology. We have used the strategies applied by the security industry for dealing with intruders in buildings, but this trap is just 10 inches long.”

Kendrick went on to detail plans for their next version of the mousetrap, a satellite-mounted, laser that vaporises mouse from space, using Google Earth as a tracking system.

It’s a trick….get an axe.

For more details, http://www.uk.rentokil.com/services-and-solutions/service-solutions/mouse-radar.php.

Comments

#1 decrepitoldfool
October 12, 2007

Maybe it would be OK if they didn’t use carbon dioxide, which triggers a panic response in mammals. The little creatures would die in terror. How long is 40 seconds to such a small creature? Could they use one of the noble gasses with an anaesthetic effect?

Even worse are the “glue traps” in which the poor thing basically dies of thirst and exhaustion.
#2 Mrs Tilton
October 13, 2007

Benny, I’ve lived in a mouse-infested flat. It’s true, they are precious wee tiny cute things. Still: we didn’t want them pissing and shitting along the floorboards under our children’s beds. Hantavirus and leptospira aren’t as cute as the mice that bear them.

Mousetraps, of the traditional cartoon variety, helped a bit. After all, each one tripped means one mouse fewer. We learned to listen for that satisfying KLAP! each night as we dozed off.

Nobody likes to kill mice for the killing’s own sake, though, and anyway, traps have at best a reducing effect. You really need to go through your place and stuff every concealed gap, no matter how small-seeming, with steel wool; then cover it with duct tape. This will keep the mice from getting into your place to begin with.

Mind you, we did have a space round the pipes coming up from the cellar to our kitchen sink that was too big to stuff with steel wool. Here we used glue traps. They took their effect over a weekend while we were away. A long, summer weekend. Glue traps are effective, but the result is not pleasant.

Alternatively, get a cat. If you live in a terraced house, the mouse colony will not be destroyed; but it will bother your neighbours, not you. Downside: for this to work well, you need to let the cat piss the place up a bit.

Otherwise, I agree with decrepitoldfool. This trap sounds a bit higher-tech than it needs to be, but assuming one wants to use this sort of thing, would it be that much more expensive to use a gas that sends the animals off into oblivion without suffering rather than making them spend a spell in terminal terror?
#3 Benny
October 15, 2007

MME Tilden, I didn’t mean to come across quite as anti-mouse killing activist as I did in that post. I just thought it was a particularly cute picture of mice that I found to accompany the article about their destruction.

It is true that the only mouse traps I use are have-a-hearts which capture the mice without doing them harm. Generally, I then set the mice free outside my neighbors’ houses instead of my own.

I, however, don’t really care if other people are killing mice. I just wish there was a way to actually use the laser beams to do the killing.
#4 b
October 15, 2007

Argon would have been a more humane gas to use. CO2 is the gas that triggers panting/asphyxiation response (it’s not the lack of oxygen that does it).

We used argon to dispatch large rats in a live trap, and they showed no signs of distress at all. It’s a quick, painless, and relatively dignified way to go. Heck- food, cozy live trap, painlessly fading from consciousness- those rats probably enjoyed their last few minutes. Argon is not that expensive, and it’s very easy to find.
#5 mara
February 16, 2008

oh my god

i own mice as pets how could you do such things? mouse proof your hopuse if you don’t want them! what is wong with you people humane traps are less messy and you can release them elsewhere disgustiong excuses for human beings is what people are who enjoy killing a mouse
#6 b
June 7, 2008

how horrible! mice are like any other animal, they were around before we were! we took away their home. now does it sound fair to just kill them? they aren’t coming into our homes and killing us? they just need to find a replacement since a bunch of cement walls and floors were placed on theirs. mouse proof your house if you dont want them! send them out into the wild away from your home, but dont kill them! & this picture justifies how cute they are not..”Who wouldn’t want to kill these disgusting little pests?” honestly the human race disgust me!
#7 colin smith
September 29, 2008

You people have no idea what you are talking about. The worst form of disposing of a rodent is the use of an anti coagulant.This causes every vein to rupture, slowly. The animal dies in agony over 5 days, but they do it silently and away from our eyes, so no one notices.
#8 Cherry
January 8, 2009

Well… I appreciate the info. I have been overrun by the little creatures. Tried all kinds of “humane” traps and such and the little buggers keep coming in droves.. and getting brave. I havent tried sprinkling black pepper around areas we see them yet (we see them all over) but the oil of peppermint on the cotton balls worked.. you have to use real peppermint oil from health food store which cost about $20 US per bottle but husband had allergic reaction with edema and had to cease use. They were still around, we just didnt see much evidence. Guess they had enough dog food stored to survive the 3wks of use cause they came back like they never ever left. So weighing the alternatives of the bacteria and disease from the fleas they leave around, I appreciate a method of disposal. However, if some of you bleeding hearts want to come over, trap them alive and take them off premises, I welcome you, otherwise they are going to be dealt with. It is pretty bad when you see 3 or 4 scampering openly nightly. Mouse poop all over my counters searching for food I have in tight lid containers. I have containers for everything cuz they eat through the packages of cookie mix, indivi popcorn packs inside the box, etc.. they are of All colors, I have brown, black, tan and some with white markings on feet. Some have regular ears, some have very large ears. Speak your peace, cuz if this pepper method doesnt work and another rodicide i’ve been told about is too costly, gonna acquire the services of a professional exterminator. Cute, yes. Destructive, definitely. I hate frigerated bread and it has come to that. You want em.. let me know.
#9 Lucy
August 10, 2009

Why should we be able to gas to innocent mice? They did it to people in WW2 and i think every one remembers the response to that.
#10 E
December 9, 2011

Catch them and put them in the wild. Thats what i say. You people are mean and should be ashamed of even thinking to kill the mice. They have more than the right to live on this earth as we do!!! Be humane and if it comes to it knock them out (not literally) Than put them in the wild far away from you and check the holes where they lived for babies.
#11 B
July 1, 2012

I’m going to try to hold my tongue and not rave on about all this “be nice to all animals” poop. The only reason that people think they are cute or harmless is that they have not had to deal with them on an infestation. Mice and Rats carry disease (do we remember the BLACK PLAGUE?) and in circumstances need to be irradicated. Mice and rats that have been relocated will return to the area they were in before (short of transporting over state lines lol). I live trap then submerge in cold water for about an hour, mine dont come back. Why should I be humane to an animal trying to kill me?
#12 Shonda Raveling
July 1, 2012

My wife and her buddies seem to receive it. My 13 year old daughter said exactly what you did. Its the same as Tumblr. I am waiting for an aha moment after i get it…hasnt happened yet.