We’ve struggled with mouse problems in the house and in the chicken coop for years now. We haven’t been able to find out where the little stinkers are getting in, and once they’re in, they’re pretty tough to get rid of. We rarely ever see them, but we DO see evidence of them as bags of food are riddled with holes and their little turds are all over the place.
We’ve used snap traps in the past with success, but have had more than one gruesome discovery that kind of turned me off to them. I won’t disturb you with that imagery.
A few months ago I was offered the chance to review a new type of rodent trap with some pretty fascinating technology, and let me tell you, we love it!
These traps kill the rodent using a co2 cartridge! The trap then automatically re-sets itself so it can kill multiple rodents in one night.
Being a long time lover of cheap snap traps, I was skeptical at first, but after using the Goodnature rodent trap, I’m hooked. It has so many benefits that make it far superior to snap traps.
The Pros:
Cleanup is easy
There’s no blood, no gore, and no disturbing sights to have to deal with when you clean up the dead rodents. This is such a positive change after years of gory messes from snap traps.
Automatic re-set
The trap re-sets itself immediately so you can actually kill multiple rodents in one night. I’ve never seen another trap that does this. We were astounded when we found 2-3 dead mice every morning under the trap. It really does work.
Non-Toxic
A lot of people resort to using poison to solve their rodent issues, which only leads to more issues. Using poison to kill rodents can work its way up the food chain. If a chicken, dog, cat, or bird of prey eats a poisoned rodent, they become poisoned as well. Also, many poisoned rodents die in the walls of homes and are impossible to remove. This trap is totally non-toxic and has none of those issues!
No Danger to other animals
The thing I don’t love about the snap traps is the danger to my pets. I have to be very careful where I set them up so my dog, cat, or chickens don’t go sniffing after it and get snapped. That isn’t an issue with this trap, it specifically targets rodents.
Free food for your chickens
This one may be a bit morbid to some of you, but here’s the facts. Chickens are omnivores, meaning they naturally eat both vegetation and meat. When they’re let out free range, chickens will hunt small animals like frogs, mice, and bugs. You certainly can give the dead mice from these traps to your chickens to eat. It’s a nice protein boost for your flock.
Re-usable
This trap is reusable and should last a very long time. This is more of an investment than a simple snap trap, but you can use it countless times. Now that we’re done using it in the house, we’ll move it out to the chicken coop so it can take care of our mouse issues out there.
The Cons:
Set up
Set up was a bit tricky. My husband had to read the instructions several times before he was able to follow them.
Price
It’s a bit pricey as far as rodent traps go. You could get snap traps for much less money and they’ll give you the same result. However… snap traps are absolutely messier, have a higher chance of injuring other animals who get caught in them, and don’t last long, some of them are only single use!
Replacing parts
Eventually you’ll run out of attractant for the rodents, and the co2 cartridges will need to be replaced. Your average rodent trap doesn’t have parts that need to be replaced, but most rodent traps also aren’t built to last forever, this one truly is. It may be a bit of pain to order the replacements as needed but it’s worthwhile because the trap itself will likely last a lifetime.
While there’s pros and cons to every product on the market, overall, the Goodnature rodent trap is a winner. We’re thrilled to have the ability to get rid of our rodent problem without any mess or detriment to the environment or our pets.