Snap mousetrap (spring-loaded)
Ratonera de resorte (de golpe)
- Date
- 1894 · confidence high
- Place
- Abingdon, Illinois, United States
- Credited to
- William C. Hooker
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A trap with a wooden base, a wire spring and a bar that falls on the mouse when it touches the bait. William Hooker patented it in 1894, and it is the most widely used mousetrap in the world.
Earlier spring traps exist; Hooker's design became standard and Atkinson's (United Kingdom, 1897) is the present form.
What it led to
- household rodent control without poison
- James Atkinson's Little Nipper model in 1897
- plastic mousetraps and electric traps