CCTV cameras have revealed how clever rats managed to work out that sticky paper placed on the floor was a trap and climbed around it to invade a family home.

The cameras were set up after the man placed down some of the sticky mats that were supposed to trap the rats at the house in the city of Zhangzhou, which is in China’s Fujian Province, on 3rd June.

The glue traps are illegal in many countries as they cannot be removed and immobilised the rodent, which the manufacturers say should then be thrown in the bin where it dies a slow and painful death.

The next day when the man found that the rats had once again raided his home, he looked at the cameras and discovered that the crafty rodents had climbed up walls and scrambled around doors to avoid touching the traps.

He said: “I placed them in several locations where I thought the rats will have to cross, but they invaded them one by one. They just sniffed them, and then made their way around them. I have no idea how they knew that they were dangerous.”

Online commentators like ‘Check The Monster’ said: “The quality of the adhesive board is not good.”

And user ‘Arut Poet’ said: “So smart.”

While the user ‘Turtle Knocking Wooden Fish’ said: “Can’t u just get a cat?”