There is a free, quick and easy way to modify those Victor M201 rat traps that will help you catch more rats.
A couple of years ago, we had a horrible rat infestation in an old barn. We took over 100 rats out of there in about 30 days.
We used those Victor M201 like the OP has in his second photo. Problem was, we had a lot of snapped traps with no rats.
I realized I needed to make getting the bait more difficult.
Take a plastic bottle cap, cut a small slit in the top about 1/3 of the way from one side.
Pry up the small raised metal V on the trap trigger (the OP second photo rat's nose is touching this V )
Push the raised metal V through the slit in the plastic cap.
Press the V down to secure the cap on the trigger.
Now you have a little "cup" to hold your bait on the trigger.
I used a dab of peanut butter on a piece of dog food kibble to bait the trap.
Press the dog food into the cap using the peanut butter as "glue".
We had a lot less empty traps using this simple modification.
