I’ve seen a few rats in my garden, big ones as well, which I want rid of ASAP so that they don’t get worse, but I have a mate who’s currently seeing loads out in the yard of his terrace house which run by his feet when he takes the bins out. This isn’t pleasant for him, and he’s been nagging me about rat traps and what he should get because I’ve had experience with them, so I felt it was fitting to look at what rat traps there are on the market and give them all a good testing. 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. 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.

Now this is another one I reviewed last time, and not only did I like the idea of it and how humane it was, I still do now and I feel like this is a great option for a couple of particular circumstances. Because this is different to other traps, in that it’s a very simple yet effective cage trap that will not kill your rats, it’s definitely useful in its own right…but skip this one if you need your rats dead or if you have an infestation.

Put a swift end to your pest problem with the most effective rat traps around

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. Some other traps I’ve looked at recently have had a few changes to their size, as rats are generally bigger than other rodents and so they needed bigger traps, but the Roshield traps already had this in mind. It was 14cm long anyway, which is the right size for a rat trap and it didn’t actually need any upgrades. Wild rats can be highly aggressive when cornered: they won’t cower and run when confronted by humans, so the only effective way to rid yourself of them is either to catch and kill or catch and release far away from your property. Whichever method you choose, lethal or non-lethal, you’ll be pleased to know that the majority of rat-trapping methods lean towards more humane options these days. Best Rat Traps: At a glance 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. Now when I compare this to the other rat traps I have to say live traps present a bit of a dilemma. You probably want to have a look at my what do I do with rats I catch?section for that. There’s anecdotal evidence that they don’t last long when re-located to woods but surely nicer than the kill traps if you’re sensitive to this kind of thing, and I throughly appreciate that.

Key specs – Pest control method: Mechanical; Pest control type: Lethal; Usage: Indoor/outdoor; Bait included: No; Dimensions: 22 x 15 x 8cm 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. On top of that they do bite like I said, more so than other rodents you might come across, and this is even more dangerous for disease transfer etc. They’re much more harmful than the odd mouse or mole, more so to you than your garden, which they can also damage in the same way mice do through eating your plants! Can I kill rats humanely?Straight up out the box you’re ready to go. Just pull them out and set them up. The instructions are jammed inside each unit but if you watch my short video demo then you’ll see preparation doesn’t require anything other than setting the trap itself. I would absolutely avoid rat poison on the trigger, just use peanut butter as I do in my tests. The reason being other wildlife might go at it like squirrels. Especially this time of year when food scarce. If you’re going to use rat poison then make sure you have quality bait boxes that would the bait down so mice and rats can’t simply drag it away and store it – they must ingest it.