2008/72/1-2

Longworth,

Dennis Chitty (Designer), D. A. Kempson (Designer), Longworth Scientific Instrument Company Ltd. (Manufacturer)

The ‘Longworth’ small mammal trap was designed by Dennis Chitty and D. A. Kempson of the Bureau of Animal Population at Oxford University for the study of live animals in the field, with the design published in 1949. It was manufactured by Longworth Scientific Instrument Company Ltd. of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, which now makes the traps under the name of Penlon Ltd. The trap consists of an aluminium tunnel with a swing-door that is released when the mouse steps on the internal treadle, and a large removable holding chamber for holding food and nest material. Later versions contain a gnaw-proof ‘shrew-escape hole’ set in the nesting chamber.

Mouse trap: metal (aluminium)

See Figure 47, p.59, in 'British Mouse Traps and their Makers' by David Drummond, 2008., The 83 mouse traps and 2 mole traps in this collection were acquired by David Drummond during the course of his research into the history of mouse traps. David Drummond is a zoologist who spent much of his professional life in advice and research on the control of rodents. Since retiring as the Ministry of Agriculture’s Chief Scientific Officer in charge of the Central Science Laboratories concerned with Plant Pests and Diseases in 1988, he has published many articles and books about mouse traps, their inventors and manufacturers, including ‘British Mouse Traps and their Makers’ (Mouse Trap Books, Dorking 2008). For further information, see http://www.mousetrapbooks.com.

Oxford, Oxford, Abingdon

1949