Squirrel Cage – Humane Indoor & Outdoor Solution for Squirrels & Chipmunks, Durable Black Design

After trying several different approaches to eliminating a BIG ground squirrel problem on my ranch... including drowning buckets and baking soda baits... I finally decided to drop $80 on a Squirrelinator.
I set it up yesterday morning. Baited it with raw unshelled peanuts from the local feed store. Went out for chores this morning and the last thing I checked was this trap.

24 hours and 6 ground squirrels in the trap!!! I couldn't be happier. 5 minutes to set it up and a significant impact on my chicken feed eating menaces. I'm hoping to see a repeat tomorrow morning. I'm sure there are lots more yet to go.

I live in the suburbs and our entire cul de sac was infested with rats after some recent construction. We all hired an exterminator who put out plastic traps and bait boxes, and I got some trail cameras to monitor the rat activity in our yard. Good thing I did because I caught the rats sitting on top of the bait boxes but never eating the bait.

Since getting the Ratinator, I’ve caught 6 rats! I set up the trap near their usual route, which I identified using the trail cameras. I followed the box instructions and recommendations in the reviews - The trap must be set on top of some pavers or plywood, as the rats will burrow under it to get the food bait and the trap door can get stuck if there is any dirt or debris in the way. I zip tied the trap door open and placed some tasty food inside. It took a couple days the figure out what the rats wanted - pumpkin seeds were a big hit. After a few days of leaving it open and baited with seeds and seeing the rats enter and exit on the cameras, I removed the zip tie and heavily baited the trap with seeds and immediately caught one rat that night and three more by morning. I was worried the rats would figure out how to open the entrance door, but they didn’t. I did zip tie the exit/removal door in case they tried to pry it open. Rats are a big vector for ticks and Lyme disease, so I filled the plastic tub it came with for quick extermination. And I always used gloves when touching the trap and bait to avoid getting my human scent on it. I definitely recommend this for effective and quick rat extermination!

UPDATE 10 days LATER: I still think the reels with a dozen squirrels in the trap are AI. BUT I have caught 4 of them over a week. About 2 days to catch each one, one at a time. So it does work. Regular wildlife bait not very effective. Peanuts worked the best. Dumped nuts without touching, so human scent is not on the nuts. Upped from 4 to 5 stars because the reels are mostly bogus, but it is catching squirrels. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I have become convinced that the YT's that show lots of squirrels caught in this trap are just bogus AI-generated nonsense. I put it out with different baits near a known squirrel next enclave and it doesn't work at all. The squirrels get within 3' of the trap, look at it carefully and walk away. Waste of time and money. Expensive for a trap that doesn't work, too.

This really works for ground squirrels! The key is to buy the trap AND the bin. Put the bin on top of the cage with the open side up (see pic). This makes the squirrels feel safe from bird predators. Use zip ties to hold the trap doors open and set out the bait so that they get used to going in for food. Let them eat to their hearts content for 5-7 days. Then remove the zip ties and bait the traps. I have tried various baits, cracked corn and raw black sunflower seeds work the best. I had to place a piece of metal window screen under the trap because they were digging underneath the cage to get at the food. They are quite still and calm when I find them in the trap. This allows a humane clean shot to the head.

I saw this trap on one of the chicken facebook groups that i follow and found the link for this in the comments. The post i found it on caught waaay more than i did for their post but i dont care because i finally caught something in a trap! I'M THRILLED SO HERE'S MY REVIEW! 🥳🥳🥳

Ive been hearing these pests going about the undercarriage of my RV and have been being kept awake because i cant turn off my brain once i hear the skittering. Ive been finding nests in places like in my engine bay, generator compartment, and spare tire compartment, under my coop, ect. I dont have issues with rodents inside because i have cats but the cats only have inside and the catio i built them, so limited pest deterant there. (Also my family has one outdoor cat thats old and insists on being outside but still mouses so i cant poison, but i knew these rodents were too big for the old girl to catch)
Glue traps sometimes worked but i figured that i must have had BIG and SMART ones remaining because they were triggering my Victor snap rat traps and either getting free or not getting caught. (They also weren't falling for other traps in my chicken coop so this is going in there next!)

This trap recomends baiting it with the door stuck open for a little bit, to which i used a little bit of bent wire and i left the door a little loose, because i wanted to be sure the rats were fine with the door moving while they got used to the trap. I baited with wet cat food for the smell and appeal of it, splattering it on the edges and gate and left it for a few days. (I didnt mean to leave it for a few days but life happened and i was unwell enough i wasnt doing chores, but i could see the bait being messed with so i left it). I also made sure i barley touched the trap so that my scent wasnt on it much. (Besides the lil video i took when i got it because the pictures online make it a little hard to tell the shapes in the trap). Last night i baited with more wet cat food all over and took out the wire. To be honest, i forgot about checking the trap till well past noon but the little pests were still stuck within, something i worried about because the door just flops up and down from the weight of it, but the little tunnel keeps them from going straight back to the door. (Set on a flat surface to make sure the door works right). I took a video of the rats running around within but im only allowed to upload one vid per review apparently.

It was sooooo easy to set up, the only thing id say to watch out for is to not clip the bait door over the handle you need to pick it up later with. I didnt realize i had done because it was dark when i rebaited the trap. (I could have opened the bait door to fix that without them escaping throughit because its enclosed but the critters were launching themselves around when i approached it so i opted not to, so that the entrance door didnt accidentally flop down)
The tub that it comes with makes it easier to 'take care' of the pests with a deep 'bath' and the door to remove them worked well to take the tool grips i had and pulled them out. Make your life easier than i did and grab disposable gloves for this process before you start it. (Im not relocating a pest, esp not a smart one. I dont want it and so i dont want to drop it off somewhere to be someone elses problem, id hate if someone did that to me. They have caused me soooo much money in damages from wires to insulation and more.)

When i recieved the trap i did notice and take pictures of some damage on one of the corners, like it had been dropped before being packaged, because the box was fine and so was the plastic tub it came within in the box. The damage did not effect usability, thankfully, since this wasnt cheap. Ill say it again, it wasnt cheap, BUT, it was WORTH IT.
The size will limit small spaces i may want to use this in (like my generator bay or engine bay of my parked RV) but it will still fit easily under quite a few things like cars and cabinet edges, withing sheds and so on.
Its also CHICKEN SAFE! I dont have to worry about triggering snap traps before letting my flock into their run or worry about my birds standing on it. And since im baiting with cat food i dont have to worry about if my birds eat the bait too. Or anything else for that matter, like you have to worry about with other poisons.

If you've gotten this far into reading my review, thanks for your time and i hope this helps you decide how to get rid of your pest problem! Have a great day!

Effectiveness:
Today is the first day I've used this Squirrelinator trap.  In preparation I also found a 3-ft square appliance drip tray at the local Habitat Re-Store for a few dollars, and use that to hold the sprinkled bait (whole peanuts plus some scratch mix), then I set the trap on top of that baited tray.

The trap I bought included the black plastic basin for drowning the squirrels.  I am a tender-hearted person but we are inundated with these damage-causing ground squirrels in our local area, so I hardened my heart and got to work.   I set the water basin about 100 feet away on a very level (VERY LEVEL!) patch of ground and filled it completely (COMPLETELY!) full of water.  (The basin is about 1.5 inches taller than the trap is.)

I brought a wheelbarrow close to the trap, with a pair of thick leather gloves and a pair of pliers.  The pliers are optional but they keep your hands from getting bitten while using the metal hooks on the doors, and keep your hands dry when doing other steps.

Once I locked the top door (find places to hook 2 layers of underlying bars and it's very secure) and opened the 2 side doors, I went away and returned 30 minutes later.  Bingo!  One squirrel.

I waited another 30 minutes but didn't get any more in the trap, though I knew they were all around.  So I went ahead and put the whole trap into the wheelbarrow (while wearing the gloves) and rolled it up to the basin of water.

Still wearing the gloves, I picked up the whole trap and set it into the water.  I also had a big 3' x 3' piece of plywood nearby, and immediately set that on top so I wouldn't have to watch.

I promise, PROMISE, it was only 20-25 seconds before everything was totally silent and the squirrel was dead.  I didn't want any possible reviving, so I left him in the basin for a full 30 minutes just to be sure.  Then I used some long BBQ tongs and the pliers on one of the side handles to lift the trap out of the water.

Then I used the pliers to unhook the trap's top door and the tongs to lift out the dead squirrel.  Then used the pliers again to lift the trap into the wheelbarrow, lock the top door and unlock the side doors, and roll the trap back down to the bait tray and start all over again.

I've done this 5 times so far today.  30-90 minutes to catch, 1/2 hour to make sure thoroughly drowned, and start again.  Four times I caught one, and one time I caught 4! Using the pliers for so many steps keeps my hands clean and dry, though of course I still wash them well when I go back inside.

I live on a small acreage, so to avoid attracting coyotes and bobcats overnight, I will put the bodies into a small locking metal trash can with a plastic bag liner, and add that bag to our regular trash on collection day.

I must emphasize that the water basin needs to be very level and completely full.  Otherwise the squirrel will be able to get his nose above the water level.  

This is a very effective trap and I highly recommend it.  Easy to set in a preferred location, no digging, no bloody half-dead creatures to deal with.  

First off, the Rugged Ranch Rattr is well built and looks like it would last a long time. So for that alone it would get 5 stars.But... I did not get one rat with it since I started using it the middle of June (2.5 months of use). I have rat cams in the area that I have a rat problem that I check every morning. In the time I had it set I only saw one rat poke it's head into the doorway a bit and then back out. None of the others even gave it a glance although the 3 Gingbau Rat Traps that only catch one rat at a time were still catching rats. The reason I bought the Rattr was to be able to catch more than one rat at a time. But better to catch one at a time than none at all.After watching and evaluating the Rattr trap over the 2.5 months of use, I've come to the conclusion that I do not have enough rats to make use of this. I get maybe 3 or 4 rats a night (actual observation) depending on if any new litters are grown enough to be out feeding. If there are young ones, they are usually stupid enough to come out in the day or get caught with my snap traps as well as one of my Gingbau live traps. Were I live, there is plenty of food around because our neighbors have chickens, rabbits and other critters, so there is always food around. Our yard is more of an overflow for rats looking for less populated feeding areas, so they wonder over to feed off my bird feeders. So I don't think the rats are desperate enough or hungry enough to try to get into this type of trap where they have to work to open a door. My other traps have a big opening for them to walk in and trip the trigger, so that's a lot easier for them.So in conclusion, if you have a barn or feed lot or someplace that has lots of rats and maybe they are on the hungry side, this trap may work just fine. If you have only a few rats, fairly open spaces and plenty of food around for them to find, it's probably not going to work that well or work at all for you. I would have returned it, but unfortunately, to give it a fair enough test to see if it was going to work required more time than what is allowed for returns, so I'm stuck with it and I'll just put it away and stick to the traps that work.One thing that did work real well was the tube that comes with it that you are suppose to use to drown rats caught if you want to do that... except we used it to put our recycling cans and stuff in until we are ready to take them out to the recycling bin on trash day. We had been using boxes but they get soiled after awhile and have to be thrown away. The plastic bin works great and I can just hose it out. Although it wasn't worth the cost of the trap, at least we have gotten some benefit out of it. I don't like drowning the rats I catch anyway, to me it is too slow as it takes up to a half hour for some rats to drown. I'm not into torture even though I hate rats. I dispatch them much quicker with a CO2 pellet gun through the wire mesh. It's fairly quiet and kills instantly. Then I can dump them into the trash bucket and hose the blood off the trap and set it up for the next one.Nothing against the manufacturer, the build quality or the idea, it just isn't a good solution in my situation. I did make a modification to it though... I turned the handles around so they lay flat along the sides rather on top. On top they had a tendency to jam lifting up from how the wire was bent. Laying down the sides they don't seem to do that, plus less likely for a rat, should one be in there, to nip at fingers when picking it up (although I would have wore gloves). I could see where the one suggestion to remove the piece of wire from the pivot door was probably a good idea, but that piece is also part of the counter weight to close the door once the rat went inside. I think it would be to light to close as fast as it needs to to work right.

I first heard about this trap on Tuesday ... ordered this model on Amazon on Wednesday ... received it by noon on Thursday ... and set/baited it in place (SO easy) that afternoon. When I first checked it at 7:45AM Friday morning I already had my first Squirrel.

I released it (see below) far from my house Thursday late afternoon and reset/baited it the Squirrelinator trap back to its original location.

This morning (Saturday) it was still empty when I got up. But after a quick shower I looked again. I had gotten another and there was a 3rd Squirrel roaming around the trap very interested. That squirrel seemed to love eating one of the oranges off my tree right in front of #2. But after a bit more picking up scattered pieces of bait, he left.

I had breakfast and pointed out the trap to my wife, making sure she could see it from our kitchen. And guess what? Another squirrel was roaming about it. Candidly it's FAR more fun than watching TV car chases! Just as I got my binoculars totally zeroed in ... #3 gave into the Squirrelinator's temptations.
Talk about quick, easy, and efficient! So right now it cost me just over $25 per squirrel ($70 divided by 3) to get rid of them. I'd certainly have willingly paid that much for a Professional Trapper. So this device is a good value AND investment. And I fully expect to catch more and very quickly.

Fyi, I've read a number of reviews that talk about what type of bait to use, its cost, and blah-blah-de-blah. I first threw a small handful of nuts into it. Then, given the fact that the squirrels were feasting on my citrus, I decided to go a little bit off their comfort zone. I added a small handful of Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal, scattering a few flakes around both of the trap's 2 entries.

They LOVE it. And it is really fun watching one squirrel in the trap inadvertently kick a flake or two outside of it to the next victim. So try using Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal as bait. I figured they might like it as much as me and they DO !!

A final note: While Squirrels are cute they are anything but nice. Watch some of the posted videos and you will witness very mean, dangerous animals that like to bite however "cute" you may think they are. Then think about YOUR kids or grandkids being out there wanting to "play" with or pet them. NOT A GOOD IDEA.

I even read that "relocated" squirrels (up to 3 miles away) can find their way back. And those that don't return only continue causing the same problems for their new neighbors as they did for you. So I thought about what I should do.

So I prayed on how I should remove them (permanently) from my yard. I sought the advise of my local clergy who suggested praying for their both our souls. And in the end he even baptized them for me. Whatever you choose to do, do the right thing for everyone.

Suggestion: Try to find a Squirrelinator that has a "basin". Mine did not have one but not a big deal all things considered. But the basin allows you an easy way to relocate your nasty squirrels however you choose without having a big mess in your car or pickup that is not easy to clean up. The empty shipping box is a good alternative.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Squirrelinator !! Good luck.

UPDATE AFTER TWO WEEKS:
22 Squirrels ... but I repositioned the trap at the corner of my driveway trying to catch a couple of them at the front of my house. The trap was on hard cement. And I got one. But after about 3 hours in the trap he was able to escape! I think it was because it was on that hard surface and the squirrel was able to get its paw under the entry and pry it open.
But I stand firm on how I rated it. 22 Squirrels in 2 weeks? WOW !!! I am So impressed !!!!! And they still love Honey Bunches of Oats for bait.

Great trap. I have been having an issue with squirrels digging up my planters, peeing and pooing everywhere, and yapping away nonstop in the afternoon, sometimes for hours. They then tore up my $400 tent while camping. Then my $150 solo tent while backpacking. The final straw was when they tore through the screen to get into my office to find food (caught them in the act and had to kick what remained of the screen out so they could escape). Decided it was time to wage war.First I bought an electric trap (from one of the many Chinese-junk sellers here). When it arrived, I set it up and watched as three squirrels came, grabbed the bait, and either didn't get shocked OR clearly got a zap but managed to run away groaning/cooing in pain. Clearly, it didn't kill them.Then I bought some snap traps. One trap simply didn't go off. And then the woman demanded I take them down because the neighbor's indoor/outdoor cat sometimes prowls near where I had set them up.Finally I bought this trap. At the outset, I knew catching 25 squirrels at once (as claimed) was a far fetch, but if I could just do one at a time, I'd be happy.Upon arrival and setup, a squirrel came to investigate within half an hour (I watch obsessively). Unfortunately, it didn't quite work. Having all the bait in the middle allowed her to stretch her body in and grab the food while keeping the one-way door open, then back herself out. When she was spooked by some kids screaming/playing in the distance, I took the opportunity to change it up a bit. I closed up one of the doors and moved all the bait closer to that side of the trap, so that she'd have no choice but to venture further inside. When she returned an hour later, she walked right into the trap. After much fighting about whether to kill or relocate (me vs the woman respectively), we decided to... actually, I'm not going to talk about what happened after.After we did the mystery top secret thing with squirrel #1, I set the trap back up. Squirrel #2 ventured over a couple hours later. This one was a bit more difficult. I set it up the way I had w/ squirrel #1, but he really didn't want to use the door. He kept trying to gnaw at the trap from the outside, He was very wary of the moving one-way door mechanism and refused to enter. The day went by without a catch, so I changed things up that night. By "changed things up", I mean I added WAY more bait (peanut butter on saltine crackers). Today morning, he came by again and couldn't resist. After trying and failing at his usual chew-his-way-in tactics, he went straight for the door. Boom, mine. This guy was vicious though. He charged the edges of the cage towards my feet so ferociously that he could make the whole thing slide (on a concrete floor) a good two inches or so. And he was trying so desperately to chew his way out that he was bleeding quite profusely from the mouth. It was gleeful, and the woman threatened to leave me for how much evident pleasure I was taking in watching his agony. We fought some more, and again I won't mention what the outcome was for the squirrel.Squirrel #3 came by no more than twenty minutes after the trap was set for the third time. The problem with her was that she was too stupid to figure out how to get in the cage. No biting, no trying anything special. She just tried to shove her face in furiously through the bars. After an hour of this, she gave up and ran off. I modified the bait layout a little bit by making a little guiding trail from a couple feet outside right through the doorway, but she's still too stupid to understand what to do once she approaches. That said, she came back two more times, so I suspect she'll eventually come and figure it out.So, things to keep in mind:1) Squirrels might be large enough to grab bait from the middle and run off with it without the door blocking them in. Use better bait and place it strategically (near the corners, just outside of reach from the outside, is great too).2) Trapped squirrels might viciously attack the cage, so WEAR GLOVES.3) Some squirrels are legitimately too stupid to get stuck, maybe.4) Trapped squirrels might be LOUD! As in "oh crap, I hope this is legal and my neighbors aren't calling the police on me right now" loud. If this happens, throw the entire cage back in the box, squirrel and all, and they'll magically shut up after a minute or so.

Please read further down for my night-by-night story & an empath's first-time experience with the drowning method. (The trap worked but I was only able to set for one night before the rats destroyed it.)Preparation:1) Location & presentation are key--We placed the trap against the barn wall in a high traffic area with a LOT of rat droppings & manure.2)The trap is too exposed so we kept it slid in the box, just cutting the end of the box off on the side with the entrance. (Rats feel safer entering an enclosed space.)Nights 1 & 2:1) The trap door was zip-tied open.2) The trap was baited with a scoop of sunflower seeds.RESULTS: No action--no droppings & no empty sunflower hulls. But it was new & smelled odd (to a rat) so I figured it may take a few days for the trap to be accepted. (Location/position is a common problem but I knew that wasn't the issue in this case.)Nights 3 & 4:1) Trap door still zip-tied open.2) I swept up the copious rat droppings in the area & sprinkled them in the trap through the top so it would smell like them.3) I decided that, although they LOVE sunflower seeds the seeds do not have enough scent to advertise their presence. So I added a scoop of the horses textured sweet feed which has a strong, delicious smell.RESULTS: Two scoops of feed (1 sunflower & 1 sweet feed) were completely gone! Empty seed hulls & a new layer of fresh manure were all that remained.Night 5:1) Zip tie removed--trap set!2) Baited with a scoop of sunflower seeds & a scoop of aromatic sweet feed since those worked great to draw them in the last two nights.RESULTS: Checked the trap 4 hours after dark (didn't want to leave rats all night, terrified & possibly fighting/injuring each other). There was at least a dozen and a half rats inside!HOWEVER . . .Although the concept is good, the design & construction has some flaws. There is a narrow dead-end section next to the entrance. The rats shoved themselves, tightly packed, into this section, smothering & panicking. Then they started escaping while I filled the pan with water to drown them. One rat was caught half way through the wire & stuck out too much so I couldn't set the trap in the pan of water to kill it. While we tried to get the live, terrified rat unstuck (while not being bit!) more started squeezing out next to it again & eacaping. We realized the rats had pulled back a poorly welded wire & created a row of larger holes. Some could fit through these holes but bigger ones got stuck. I had to poke a stick through the bars to rap them with to keep them back from that area so more couldn't escape while my daughter kept trying to deal with the stuck rat. She eventually had to dispatch a stuck rat with garden shears & it pulled out easily through the larger hole they made once it's body was relaxed.A NOTE ABOUT DROWNING:I have had rats & mice as pets so seeing them terrified & the situation with the stuck one wasn't easy. Dealing with the stuck one unfortunately drew out the whole scary time for all the other rats. The thought of drowning them pained me but I can't just go dump this many rats in someone else's field to be a problem for them so killing was really the only sollution.Once the stuck one was removed I set the trap in the included pan filled with lukewarm water. They started to swim & I had to turn away. My daughter check on them just a minute or so later & said they were pretty much all dead. I walked over & there was already no more movement: their struggle was over. I was relieved that the drowning was over so quickly & believe it was a faster & more humane death than being caught by our cats. So, while I still don't like killing any animal, I am much more at peace with the method than I thought I would be.I will contact the company for a replacement trap right after posting this review. If they send a replacement & it holds up, I will gladly give this trap 5 stars. For the price, I should certainly be able to get more than one night of trapping out of it & it should be sturdy enough to hold up against it's target species.