Scientist builds giant mousetrap, obliterates everything with it

Sometimes we don’t need the latest high-tech gadget to feel fulfilled. Seeing something low-tech can give us the same degree of satisfaction. And it doesn’t get more humble than the simple mousetrap.

YouTuber The Backyard Scientist built a super-sized version of a mousetrap to take care of a raccoon problem. The combination of wood, tempered steel, and a giant spring doesn’t actually snap shut on any raccoons in the video, but it does crush pretty much everything else, including styrofoam heads, water melons, non-Newtonian substances, and an exploding volcano.

This falls under the same category of videos that contains things getting crushed under a hydraulic press, or things getting cut in half with a super-heated knife — I watch it and get the feeling that some engineering went into it, but my upper brain can’t work harder than my gleeful lower brain while I’m watching.