Abstract: An apparatus for controlling animal pests has a housing having a passage extending into the housing, the passage having a front wall and a rear wall, an impacting member movable across the passage from the front wall to the rear wall, the impacting member having a slidable arm extending out from the rear wall and having a free distal end having an impactor extending downwardly from the free distal end of the arm at the front wall, a retraction mechanism having a first support and a second support with the first support being integral with the rear wall, and a spring connected to the second support and the arm, a sensor positioned within the passage for providing a signal representative of the sensing of the presence of the animal pest, and the impacting member is operable to be released to rapidly move across the passage.

Abstract: An apparatus for controlling animal pests comprises a housing having a passage extending into the housing from an entrance, an impacting member movable across the passage and a planar sensor spaced apart from the kill bar by a predetermined distance along the passage towards the entrance, the planar sensor configured to sense the presence of the animal pest across a sensing plane across the passage wherein the impacting member is operable to be released to rapidly move across the passage when the planar sensor indicates the presence of the animal pest as passed through the sensing plane.