Imagine you're a wee mouse going about your business when lo and behold, you see an irresistibly tasty snack of peanut butter. When you approach, suddenly there's a loud noise and you're sucked into a deep, dark hole.
Well, Hacker Gadgets forum user Larry Holm created this DIY mouse trap using a ShopVac and a motion sensor:
“I built a mouse trap using an infrared motion sensor wall switch, an extension cord, a paper towel tube and a mini shop-vac. peanut butter is the bait. The mouse goes in the tube. The sensor senses it and turns on the shop-vac for 3 seconds. And voom, the mouse is inside the shop-vac. The sensor turns off the shop-vac. And it’s ready to catch the next mouse. No re-setting. No mess. No kidding.”
Question is: is it an ethical mouse trap? Link - via MAKE, which has a lively discussion about whether such a trap is ethical.
Much like what you find when you search on Youtube for "Prairie Dog Vacuum"
It seems to be a successful exercise in demonstrating how cheap, simple and effective existing mousetraps are.
As a water trap, it's reasonably humane. It's also highly targeted, which prevents the collateral damage that typically accompanies open water traps and poisons. And lastly, it appears that it should be highly effective.
The only way this would be unethical is if it was constructed in such a way to intentionally inflict additional torment on its victims or to cause them to die very slowly due to indifference to their suffering.