A rodent trapping apparatus for trapping rodents, the rodent trapping apparatus comprising:
- a lid configured to be disposed on a bucket, the lid including a top surface, wherein the lid comprises a longitudinal slot having two opposing longitudinal edges;
- two sidewalls provided on the top surface, with a respective sidewall of the two sidewalls along each longitudinal edge of the longitudinal slot, wherein the two sidewalls extend up to an edge of the lid;
- a transverse connecting member connecting the two sidewalls thereby forming a tunnel over the longitudinal slot, a proximal end of the tunnel being located at the edge of the lid due to the two sidewalls extending up to the edge of the lid;
- a bait compartment located at a distal end of the tunnel, the distal end of the tunnel being formed by a distal connecting portion of the transverse connecting member and two distal segments of the two sidewalls;
- a swivel platform located within and along the longitudinal slot, wherein the swivel platform is configured to swivel about a pivot axis, wherein the pivot axis is located between the distal end and the proximal end of the tunnel, wherein the bait compartment is disposed at a distance from the pivot axis, wherein the distance between the bait compartment and the pivot axis is greater than a distance between a nose and a center of gravity of a rodent to be trapped, wherein the swivel platform is in an inclined position at an angle of inclination greater than 0 degrees which represents a horizontal orientation of the swivel platform to reduce a time between rotation of the swivel platform and corresponding sliding of the rodent, and
- wherein the swivel platform comprises a loading element configured to reset the swivel platform, due to a weight of the loading element, after the rodent is trapped inside the bucket, by moving the swivel platform from a vertical position to the inclined position;
- a locking pin configured for locking the rodent trapping apparatus in an enabled state or a disabled state;
- and
- a first securing structure comprising receiving members mounted to the lid such that the receiving members are positioned below the swivel platform and are adapted to disable movement of the swivel platform such that the swivel platform cannot pivot about the pivot axis during the disabled state of the rodent trapping apparatus when the locking pin is inserted into the receiving members such that the locking pin extends across and underneath the swivel platform;
- wherein the proximal end of the tunnel is disposed at a distance from the pivot axis, wherein the distance between the proximal end of the tunnel and the pivot axis lies in the range of 3 to 10 inches,
- wherein the proximal end of the tunnel is located at the edge of the lid extending beyond an outer perimeter of the bucket when the lid is disposed on the bucket,
- wherein the lid includes an overhang portion that extends beyond an edge of the bucket when the lid is disposed on the bucket, to accommodate the swivel platform and the tunnel having dimensions sufficient to trap rodents larger than a predetermined size;
- and
- wherein the distance between the bait compartment and the pivot axis lies in the range of 5 to 11 inches.