The drop-down door is triggered automatically by the treadle tray/bait hook, and once your rat has taken the bait and is secured inside, the noise it makes as it tries to find a way out alerts its young, all of which can then enter the cage via the single entry door, trapping themselves inside along with the adult. Rats are cautious creatures and, as such, prefer to travel along the edge of walls, so place your trap flat on the floor against a wall where you know there has been rodent activity. Rats aren’t something you want to find in or around your home – unless they’re your pets. Uninvited rats can be difficult to deal with, particularly as most of the deterrents that work on mice have little effect on larger vermin, and once they’re in, they’re hard to get rid of. Instead, there are other options when it comes to removing an infestation, both lethal and non-lethal, including poison-baited traps, catch and release cages, and – for those of you who play too much Call of Duty – a fully automated, gas-powered, bolt-action trap that records the kill on its “Digital Strike Counter”.

Designed to be resistant to both tampering and/or the appearance of curious children’s fingers, once loaded, the bait – an irresistible mix of culinary-grade wheat flour, blended with chopped wheat, other cereals and proteins bound together by edible waxes – gives off a unique chocolatey aroma to attract vermin. The Roshield Box and Bait trap might not be on the “humane” side of the pest control fence, but this is a highly effective, efficient system – and one of the more popular methods of dealing with rat infestations. Having a rat infestation, whether it’s just a few determined rodents or a whole mischief (which is, funnily enough, the collective noun for a family of rats) can be both damaging to your home and dangerous for children and animals. It’s also more than a little unsettling knowing that they’re in the walls or loft or running rampant around your property. In the unusual event where delivery is repeatedly refused or no effort is made to accept delivery, we reserve the right to pass delivery and return courier costs to the customer.Coming with a lifetime guarantee, the Big Cheese Rat Cage Trap is a top choice for those dedicated to animal welfare, but who still want to get rid of their unwanted rodent lodgers. This kind of trap is a long-established, popular design often used by gamekeepers when it comes to the humane catch and release method of rodent control. This large ‘family’ cage trap option is made from galvanised steel for a highly robust, escape-proof enclosure for capturing not just the larger parent rat(s), but also their pups. If you opt for catch and release, take the cage to an unoccupied, natural area of woods or fields, place the cage on the ground and release the trap’s door. The rat will see to the rest.

Poison-free, each bait bottle dispenses automatically for six months while the CO2 canister (of which three are included) is good for 24 strikes before needing to be replaced. And for ultimate ease of use, the mechanism automatically resets itself until the canister is expended.It’s essential to handle the bait and trap with gloves, and the bait should be carefully stored away from where children and domestic animals can access it. It’s also essential to avoid breathing in any bait dust.