Wash down sensor for electronic rodent traps and method of preventing false triggering using a wash down sensor

A rodent monitoring or killing mechanism comprising:

• a housing body having a power source and a resistive sensor;
• and
• a wash down sensor operatively coupled to the resistive sensor and adapted to distinguish between the presence of water within the housing body and the presence of a rodent according to at least one measurement of resistance from the resistive sensor, the wash down sensor takes a plurality of resistance measurements as a sample set over regular time intervals, Tsample, variation in the resistance measurements across the sample set being used by a processor of the rodent monitoring or killing mechanism to distinguish between a water and rodent presence.

A rodent monitoring or killing mechanism comprising:

• a housing body having a power source and a resistive sensor;
• and
• a wash down sensor operatively coupled to the resistive sensor and adapted to distinguish between the presence of water within the housing body and the presence of a rodent according to at least one measurement of resistance from the resistive sensor, the wash down sensor includes a processor responsive to the output of the resistive sensor for determining the presence of water or a rodent in the trap according to a measured change in the output of the resistive sensor.

A rodent monitoring or killing mechanism comprising:

• a housing body having a power source and a resistive sensor, the resistive sensor includes a first conductive element and a second conductive element electrically isolated from one another;
• and
• a wash down sensor operatively coupled to the resistive sensor and adapted to distinguish between the presence of water within the housing body and the presence of a rodent according to at least one measurement of resistance from the resistive sensor, the power source is operatively coupled to the first conductive element and the wash down sensor is operatively coupled to the second conductive element.