Years ago when I bought my current home, I awaited the onslaught of the rodent menace as the outside temperature dropped. It wasn’t my first rodeo, I knew they’d get in no matter what I did, so I simply prepared to turn my home into a black hole of rodent death, only mentioned in hushed squeaks as they discussed which house had the best food.
I used to rely on those rat baits, you know the chunks of green mystery poison that was delectable to rodents. The way it works is, the mouse eats the food (which I believe is generally full of arsenic) which causes them to crap out their guts and hopefully leave the home before they die in search of water. In reality, they usually don’t make it, and it takes a long time for that smell to go away if you don’t feel like ripping up walls.
Next were tried and true neck snappers. Simple, ancient design, passed down through the generations. Bait on trap, spring loaded bar ends their life rather quickly. Still, they can be messy, and heaven forbid you forget to check them on a regular basis (raises hand). As a side note, should you use those, don’t get the plastic ones. After seeing one launch across the floor blindly with flailing legs, they’re no good.
Glue traps? No. Just no. That crap is cruel. Besides, after that scene in Nightmare on Elm Street 4, I’ll pass.
Last year I picked up a Victor M1 mouse trap. What’s so special about it? A simple black box with a hole in one end, bait in the other, and a pair of metal plates to walk across. With nothing more than 4 AA batteries, it will send 6000V of electricity through the rodent, killing it instantly. That’s not the special part. This thing goes on wifi, and you monitor it from an app on your phone. Flip the box open, toss out the mouse, and reset.
When I got 2 hits last week by the water heater in my utility room, I figured it might be a good idea to get a second one. Off to Amazon I go. Trouble is, the one I got had a busted wifi connection. Sure I can just click a few boxes at Amazon, get a refund, but usually I try to talk to the manufacturer. First things first, the login for the app doesn’t work on the website. It’s 2019 Victor, get on that.
I decided to try their live-chat feature. After a simple “bot” took some basic information, I wound up chatting with “Lauren.” Once I explained the situation, and that I went through all the troubleshooting procedures, she agreed to ship me out a new one free of charge. The old one? They don’t need it back, so I’ll probably take it apart and see if I can repair it.
The moral of the story? Victor mouse traps rule, their customer service is fantastic, and as a general rule of thumb – always talk to the manufacturer first when you need help.
When the chat ended… she said “Have a mice day!” I chuckled. 🙂
