Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Anti-burglar Door Mat

Posted by samzenpus on from the you'll-catch-more-thieves-with-honey dept.

A pest control company in Japan has come up with a way to catch human rats, an Anti-burglar door mat. The mat is basically a giant adhesive trap that weighs a respectable, but hardly immovable, 8kg. Still the company says the mat is effective, claiming that it has proved itself during a recent break-in at a restaurant already. The mat will become available in Japan starting this fall and is promised to be more humane than the companies last invention, The Poison Cookie Burglar Feeding Station.

10 comments

  1. Acme Product by meerling · · Score: 1

    I like the giant sticky trap idea, but there seem to be a few problems with it.

    debris magnet: anything that gets on it, stays on it... dirt, leaves, small animals....
    storage: when you want people going through that entry/exit you are going to have to put the mat someplace. Roll it up and throw it away?
    only effective on the ignorant: it won't be long before criminals learn of these things and roll up all mats just to be sure, it's not like they care if your 'precaution' is destroyed when they intend to rob you anyway
    Children and Pets: screw the urban wildlife, I can see cats, dogs, and small children getting rolled up in these things, sometimes even by accident
    vandalism: if outside the house, how long until vandals steal these to stick on walls, car windows, etc
    user issues: if inside the house, how long until the owner forgets one night when half asleep and trips on it

    I find this idea to be great fodder for a comedy routine, but horribly impractical for the real world.

    1. Re:Acme Product by vintagepc · · Score: 1

      You're probably better off using a masking-tape X and a "Caution, ASBESTOS" sign... Nobody messes with a masking tape X.

      --
      Evolution - Est. 4500000000 B.C. Don't piss in the gene pool.
    2. Re:Acme Product by thisnamestoolong · · Score: 1

      "vandalism: if outside the house, how long until vandals steal these to stick on walls, car windows, etc"

      What you call a problem I call... awesome

      --
      To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
    3. Re:Acme Product by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A friend got some crime scene tape and put it over his neighbors doors and windows while he was at work. Neighbor saw it when he came home and left. He didn't come back for 3 days.

  2. Talcum powder by Alain+Williams · · Score: 1

    Chuck a bottle of this over it - and all the stickiness is gone. I suppose that that assume that you spot the mat for what it is first.

    1. Re:Talcum powder by thisnamestoolong · · Score: 1

      Or, you know, roll it up. That would work too.

      --
      To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
  3. ack! by WeeBit · · Score: 1

    What happens if they fall face first on that mat? Help! I fell, and can't get up. Oh wait! I can't breath either! I also get the picture of a poor dead mouse with wide bulging eyes, and body stuck in a awkward position .... now replace the mouse with a human.

  4. HERPES by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    HERPES

  5. Improvement Idea by Logical+Zebra · · Score: 1

    And why isn't this thing electrified?

    --
    I have a bad feeling about this...
  6. Perfect for catching dinner by ScooterMcGoo · · Score: 1

    ...er... I mean neighborhood cats.

    --
    -FEITCTAJ