USDA Releases Efficacy Study For Goodnature A24

The National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) evaluated the efficacy of the Goodnature A24 for dispatching house mice (Mus musculus).

The USDA oversees research that supports farming, forestry, and food systems—areas where rodent pressure is a persistent, costly problem. Commensal rodents are estimated to impose global economic losses exceeding $100 billion annually through crop consumption, contamination of stored foods, infrastructure damage, and disease risk.

Invasive rodents—including the black/roof rat (Rattus rattus), Norway/brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), and European house mouse (Mus musculus)—threaten food, shelter, and health worldwide. Traditional traps can work but are labor-intensive to reset and re-bait, which limits practicality at scale. Many legacy methods are also inefficient and inhumane.

The USDA study, led by Dr. Aaron B. Shiels, assessed how efficiently—and how humanely—the A24 dispatches house mice, one of the world’s most common rodent pests.

Worldwide house mouse range

Designed in New Zealand to protect native wildlife from invasive rodents, the Goodnature A24 Automatic Trap gained attention for toxin-free population control and its rapid, consistent strike performance. Success in NZ sparked international interest in whether the A24 could also humanely control much smaller rodents like house mice.

U.S. pest-control costs attributable to house mice are estimated at roughly $500 million annually. Given their global impact, the USDA sought to determine whether the A24, using Goodnature Chocolate Lure, would both dispatch mice and cause immediate death (a key humane criterion). International guidance defines “immediate” as irreversible loss of consciousness within 3 minutes of impact.

Study Design (Summary)

• 40 wild-caught mice (1:1 sex ratio).
• Exposures by day or night; trap either vertically mounted (bracket) or on the portable stand.
• Each mouse trialed up to 3 consecutive days with the A24 present for 7 hours/day (after 1 day of pen acclimation). Water/shelter always present; food availability varied by day to mimic natural foraging pressure:

• Day 0: Acclimation, food present.
• Day 1: Food present with A24.
• Day 2: Food removed 16 hrs prior; absent while A24 present.
• Day 3: Food present for the 16 hrs before trial; removed while A24 present.

Key Results

• 28 of 40 mice (70%) were killed by the A24 within the 3-day trial window.
• All 28 impacts resulted in rapid death (clinical confirmation in under 1 minute on average), well within the 3-minute humane benchmark.
• Necropsy: 25/28 spinal fracture; 3/28 combined skull + spinal fracture—consistent with fatal impact from the trap.
• There were no instances of non-fatal triggering; when triggered by a mouse, impact resulted in 100% mortality.
• No significant differences by sex, time of day, or mounting method—indicating broadly similar performance across conditions tested.

Conclusions

The USDA/NWRC study demonstrates that when triggered by a house mouse, the Goodnature A24 delivers an immediate, humane kill under laboratory conditions, and functions as a non-toxicant alternative to rodenticides. Findings support its potential as a practical tool for rodent control across urban, agricultural, and natural settings.

Read the full report: Goodnature A24 Efficacy Against House Mice (PDF)

*Findings and conclusions in this report have not been formally disseminated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and should not be construed to represent any agency policy or determination.