“The trap now just does its thing. We have faith in it and peace of mind it is quietly doing what it was designed to do.”

With fruit trees, veggies and compost bins, Peter’s garden in Auckland, New Zealand was a buffet for rats and mice, especially during harvest season. Peter hadn’t managed to catch a thing with snap traps, despite diligently resetting and re-baiting them, and his two cats weren’t much help either. His hunt for a set-and-forget trap led him to our Smart Trap Kit, and eight kills later it’s doing exactly what Peter hoped it would do - put an end to the rodent population in his garden.

What kind of property are you trapping on?

Our property is 640m2 in the middle of suburbia. We have neighbours on either side and two behind us. The house was built in the early 1980s when the area was opened up for subdivision. There are multi-level decks, plants and plenty of close to the ground covered areas with plenty of hiding spaces for pests. There are also plenty of readily available food sources like fruit trees, vegetable gardens and compost bins.

What were those first signs you had a rat or mouse problem?

The first signs we had were that we kept finding feijoa skins on the deck at the back of the house with the flesh eaten from the fruit. These fall from the neighbours section onto ours. Also our cats caught a couple of mice but rather than killing them they brought them inside and let them go.

“Then we started to hear scratching noises in the ceiling always at night when you had just gone to bed.”

What other pest control methods did you try before using Goodnature traps?

We had the two cats, and tried setting up some of the standard spring-type snap traps.

What was your experience with those other pest control methods?

The cats appear to have taken a catch and release approach to catching mice - catch them outside then bring them inside and set them free. I baited the spring traps with peanut butter but never caught anything - we would find the spring traps had triggered but nothing was in them.

“Checking the traps was becoming a pain - I had to keep doing it because once they’d been triggered they were useless.”

I was also conscious that they had to be placed in such a way to prevent other animals setting them off which also made checking them more difficult.

What made you decide to try a Goodnature traps?

I spent some time looking at traps and had seen Goodnature traps in the shops and thought they were a great idea.

“The main appeal for us was that they are set and forget and auto resetting after each kill. We also loved the idea that the Smart Cap can be linked to a phone, making it easy to keep track of kills and the state of the lure and battery.”

Most of the kills we have had have been at night, it’s great to wake up, check your phone and it lets you know if anything has been caught. I also liked that the trap can be set up to be portable and can be easily placed in different areas.

Where is your Goodnature trap located?

At the back of the house close to the feijoa tree by one of the low level decks we have. The trap is designed in such a way that it is safe for other animals, and this gives us a lot of peace of mind as with many of the other types of traps you have to hide them to prevent other animals setting them off.

“This has meant we can place the Goodnature trap more in the open knowing other animals are safe from harm.”

What’s your Goodnature trapping experience been like so far?

It has been a really rewarding experience. The setting up of the trap and linking it to my phone was easy and hassle free. The trap came with a test piece to test the firing of the trap. I was amazed how powerful the trap was and to be honest did get a fright when test firing the trap.

“We did not have to wait very long at all for the first kill at all and have caught something roughly every month since setting it up.”

I am still really happy with the trap and love the fact that it is set and forget and maintenance free, apart from replacing the gas and lure twice a year.

“It also offers peace of mind as unlike other traps you do not have to keep checking it to see if they have caught something or need to be re-baited.”

What tips do you have for other Goodnature trappers?

We have been really successful with the trapping experience. The best advice I can give is to locate the trap as close to where you think there is a problem. Or a known food source that is attracting the pests. I read that mice only travel a few metres generally from their nests so the closer you can get to these and a food source the better.

“I would recommend using the trap location cards that come with the trap to test for locations for pests and find a really good spot to place the traps.”

I put these around the trap to help attract the mice. I also put some of the lure at the base of the trap to help attract the mice to it, as I read they are very cautious of new things. The trap now just does its thing. We have faith in it and peace of mind it is quietly doing what it was designed to do.