Bait Pranks

‘Bait Pranks’ have been providing me with a great deal of entertainment on YouTube. They involve someone setting up an item such as a bicycle and leaving it alone in a park. From a hidden vantage point, the attempted theft is filmed. Unknown to the thief, the item has been boobytrapped, and swift retribution falls upon him.

Examples include:

A mobile phone, left on a car’s backseat by an open window. When touched, the phone emits a moderate electric shock.

A bicycle attached to a tree with a hidden rope, yanking the thief off the bike when he reaches the rope’s maximum length.

An unattended ladies’ shopping bag which shoots out slime when opened.

A bicycle left by a lake’s footpath, but secretly attached to a fishing line across the water; the bike is pulled into the water, with its rider, when stolen.

Young men stopped by a passing car, asking if they wish to buy some ‘white powder’ (slang for cocaine); when they ask to make the purchase, they’re sprayed with talcum powder.

They entertain because it’s always amusing seeing a prank; its funnier still because those targeted deserve it. Had they been honest folk, unwilling to lift other folks’ property, nothing bad would happen to them. There’s something inherently just about these pranks, even though the circumstances of those ‘pranked’ remain unknown.

Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. Isaiah 13:11

Deep down, we long for justice.

Sadly, I’m unwilling to link to any of these clips, as their creators tend to use choice language.