Customer Reviews

Victor M201 Rat Trap

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I live and work in Iraq and let's say that conditions over here aren't the most sanitary. The rats here are 6+ inches, not including the tail! The little 3" traps just don't do the trick; I put some out and the next day they were all gone. I guess the rats are building a gym or something. The glue traps just kept the rats alive and meant I had to... uh... "deal" with them mafia style. Poison isn't so good either as the rats just eat and go off and die somewhere, leaving a dead rat body to find.

Anyway, these things are no joke. Very sturdy and a wicked snap. Sounds like a gun going off when they snap closed.

Don't know why they manufacturer recommends using them only once. I handle them with rubber gloves and haven't died yet, despite decreasing the rat population by seven with one trap.

The rats I've killed with these Victor traps have all looked happy. Their last meal must have tasted good... Then their skull is smashed in half. This is an effective trap which was almost 4* because they are so scary to set. The force exerted by the snap arm would break fingers - do doubt. They are however the most effective snap traps I have found.

Just to prove I'm not affiliated with Victor at all, I can say that as long as you don't let the rat decompose on the trap (been there, done that) you can re-use these for a while (Victor says throw them away - I wonder why?) Buy a pair of industrial rubber gloves and disinfect them after every use.

Death to vermin!

Bait: peanut butter, dried apricots, fruit gums. Buy the real peanut butter because rats don't like sunpat (honestly). I don't know if they are connoisseurs of fruit/wine gums. Apricots go mouldy after a while but are very effective.

I bought my trap for $2 so look around.
I had my one trap now for less than 24 hours and have caught two rats in my back yard. First rat made BEN look small, and second was about 1/4 lb. Rats are no fun, but baited traps are quick, easy, and cheap.
I wore food handler gloves whenever handling the trap after a kill. Found that smooth peanut butter on both the hinge and spring pan before setting the trap worked. The trap was placed on my wooden fence on the cross supports where the rats were last seen.
Would attach a video, but none of the rats have signed actor consent forms.

Also if you are worried about pain death is in an instant due to the large spring, and there are no batteries to worry about going dead...

Is there a rat problem in California? We live on the peninsula in the bay area as well and maybe the rats here are just exceptionally wily, but we never did catch our rat with this trap. Instead, the bait was always gone and no rat. We had caught many mice with similar snap traps when we lived in IL so I don't feel like it was likely operator error. One time the trap was triggered and while it didn't catch the rat, we saw some blood on the sidewalk near the trap. We haven't seen the rat again so maybe it was mortally wounded?

I really like these M201 traps once I modify them a bit. (see below)
I've had excellent success with the newer M144 traps for medium to small rats, but the big adult rats seem to escape by pulling out of the M144.
These M201 have a stronger spring and hit harder, capturing and killing the bigger rats.
I have 6 of these M201 (all modified) and 5 of the M144. They have killed close to 100 rats in my old barn in the last 30 days. (we stopped keeping track around 60)

Modification to M201:
To greatly improve these Victor M201 traps, take a plastic beverage bottle cap.
Cut a small slit with a knife on the flat side (top)of the cap about 1/2 way between the center and the edge. The slit should be parallel to the edge.
Pry up the end of the raised little metal V on the trigger to roughly a 30 degree angle.
Slide the slit in the bottle cap over the raised V so the open side of the cap is up.
The bottle cap will only fit flat on the trigger one way, you will see what I mean when you try it.
Then press the little V back down inside the cap. This holds the cap down securely on the trigger.

You now have a very nice bait holder for the M201 style traps.
Next, put a small dab of peanut butter on a piece of dog food and stick it down inside the bottle cap.
The rats (mine especially) seem very attracted to both dog food and peanut butter.
Now the rats have to work extra hard at getting the bait out of the cap and get caught in the process.
The bait stays in the cap so well that I have often caught 3 or 4 rats with the same piece of dog food! I simply remove the dead rat and re-set the trap.
After this free and simple modification, (which takes less than 1 minute once you know how) these M201 traps have been catching many more large adult rats for me :)

After my mod - I'd give it 5 stars ;)

Rap the bait inside a piece CHEEZE CLOTH or (any cloth for that matter) and TIE it to the trigger!!!
Otherwise they will not tug on the trigger.
It will be the first and last time they ever floss...

Very effective at killing rats. I trapped 9 rats under my house over the winter with these traps, unusually cold weather drove them in seeking shelter. Never had bait stolen. Never had an injured rat drag the trap away to suffer, die, decompose, and stink. It was obvious from looking at the rats that they did not suffer and never knew what hit them. 5 stars for effectiveness.

Very difficult to set and position. The slightest bump or scrape on the ground as you set and position the trap and - bang! - you will need to reset. Be careful to hold the trap from the back and out of range of the snap bar after you set it. It is powerful, has a hair trigger, and can injure a finger. 1 star for difficulty of setting and positioning.

Overall rating, 3 stars.

I got two big suckers with this trap. Forget the other fancy traps, there's a reason this design is still around. It works.

Havent caught the rat yet but the trap is excellent! Durable, strong and it works! Highly Recommended if you have rat problems! This thing slams pretty dang hard so the rats will have no chance of survival whatsoever!

i have had problems with rats for years. Except for my dog nothing has killed them like this trap. It's not pleasant but it's very reasonably priced and it works. Don't waste your money on some fancy thing. The rats can outsmart them.