Mousetrap
A mousetrap is a specialized type of animal trap designed primarily to catch and, usually, kill mice.
Larger traps are designed to catch other species of animals, such as rats, squirrels, and other small rodents.
The trap that is credited as the first patented lethal mousetrap was a set of spring-loaded, cast-iron jaws dubbed "Royal No.
It is the industrial-age development of the deadfall trap, but relying on the force of a wound spring rather than gravity.
[4][5] A British inventor, James Henry Atkinson, patented a similar trap called the "Little Nipper" in 1898, including variations that had a weight-activated treadle as the trip.
[6][7] In 1899, Atkinson patented a modification of his earlier design that transformed it from a trap that goes off by a step on the treadle into one that goes off by a pull on the bait.
The design is such that the mouse's neck or spinal cord will be broken, or its ribs or skull crushed, by the force of the bar.
The exact latching mechanism holding the trip varies, and some need to be set right at the edge in order to be sensitive enough to catch the mouse.
In 1899, John Mast of Lititz, Pennsylvania, filed a U.S. patent for a modification of Hooker's design that can be "readily set or adjusted with absolute safety to the person attending thereto, avoiding the liability of having his fingers caught or injured by the striker when it is prematurely or accidentally freed or released.
[10] Compounding these different but related patents and companies may have contributed to the widespread mis-attribution of priority to Mast rather than Hooker.
The electrodes are housed in an insulated or plastic box to prevent accidental injury to humans and pets.
[12] House mice tend to not survive long away from human settlements due to higher levels of predation.
One of the simplest designs consists of a drinking glass placed upside down above a piece of bait, its rim elevated by a coin stood on edge.
The Sherman trap folds flat for storage and distribution and when deployed in the field captures the animal, without injury, for examination.
Glue traps are made using natural or synthetic adhesive applied to cardboard, plastic trays or similar material.
Glue traps are not effective outdoors due to environmental conditions (e.g., moisture, dust), which quickly render the adhesive ineffective.
In this case, rather than referring to a literal mouse trap, the author describes a police or guard tactic that involves lying in wait in the residence of someone whom they have arrested without public knowledge and then grabbing, interviewing, and probably arresting anyone who comes to the residence.
The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer also references mouse traps in the prelude section written in the late 1300's.
While introducing the Nun, Chaucer writes in lines 144-145, "She wolde wepe, if that she saugh a mous/Kaught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde."
Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited (apparently incorrectly) with the oft-quoted phrase advocating innovation: "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door."
Mousetraps loaded with table tennis balls or corks have been used to demonstrate the principle of a chain reaction.
