How to Hack Your Trap
The A24 Trap Kit includes everything you need for successful trapping – but sometimes your rat problem may be a little more challenging. Fortunately, the A24 can be used in a number of locations in many different ways.
Our customers are the best when it comes to new ideas for trapping with the A24. Here are some of the methods they’ve shared:
Portable Bucket Enclosure
Is your trap placed in a public location? A great way to create a portable mount is with a 5-gallon bucket. Drill the trap mounting screws through the plastic and cut one or a few small holes near the bottom to let rats or mice enter.
Beyond portability, the bucket conceals the trap and keeps kills contained for easy disposal. It also washes out easily. Thanks to Rebecca Dmytryk for this awesome hack!
video credit: Rebecca Dmytryk
Chicken Wire Enclosure
Do you have pets or other animals in your trapping area? The A24 is safe around pets when properly mounted thanks to its small entry opening. Goodnature also offers a Blocker accessory to fully enclose the trap.
Some customers make their own cages with chicken wire to prevent access and false triggers. Leave an entry large enough for rats and mice without brushing whiskers—rats avoid tight, confining openings.
Photo credit: Rebecca Dmytryk
2×4 Wooden Trap Stand
Trouble finding a place to mount your trap? Not every site has a tree or fence post. A Portable Trap Stand is available, but many customers build a simple 2×4 stand as a solid, portable mount.
DIY Lure Basket
Are rats avoiding your bait? The A24 comes with a chocolate lure (nut butter also available), but rats are picky and often test new foods cautiously. In areas with bowls of pet food, they’ll often stick to the familiar.
To ensure entry, we include a DIY Lure Basket in trap kits (also sold separately). Customers have success loading baskets with peanut butter, dog or cat food, bird seed—whatever’s already on-site and trusted by local rodents.
Tray Below Trap
Indoors (garages, sheds), scavengers won’t remove carcasses. Place a sturdy plastic tray beneath the trap to protect surfaces and simplify clean-up and disposal.
Citric Acid Lure Additive to Deter Slugs
Having slug issues? A team in Hawaii found slugs were consuming the chocolate rat lure before its six-month lifespan. Evidence suggests slugs avoid citric acid. They tested peanut butter and chocolate lure with 5% citric acid added.
The citric acid mixed best with the chocolate lure, and slugs avoided both citric-acid blends—while rats remained attracted. After a year of testing, lures reached full lifespan without slug depletion.