Thread: Bird Predator Control

Ran leg hold traps post lockdown. Took 46 feral cats and the same amount of ferrets and stoats combined (mostly ferrets, half dozen stoats). I've been refining techniques for a while and have come to a few basic conclusions re effective trapping which is mostly applicable to the high country though some ideas will translate to all areas in NZ.

Maintaining / frustrating the predator at the bait station for as long as possible is key to success. To that end I've been securing fresh rabbit pieces under a large rock with a few similar rocks either side to both hold the bait and channel the cat directly over the trap. The rock needs to have enough mass to stop the cat being able to move it off the rabbit piece. Having an edge of the bait protruding is fine and helps with smell luring the animal in but no more and it should not be visible from the air or your traps will fill up with harriers (unintended victims which can be messy, distressing, illegal and renders one trap of no use for predators). Rabbit which has skin attached makes a much better smell than skinned rabbit and lasts longer in the trap. One rabbit gutted and chopped up into bits with a hatchet or clever will do about 20 traps. Areas of moderate rabbit concentrations during late Autumn trap well for both cats and ferrets as there is some competition for food. Cats like the dry areas that rabbits also prefer and ferrets prefer to be within 30 meters or so of water and close to rabbits. Dragging a rabbit carcass which has been opened up (split from bum to head) from trap to trap lays down a useful scent trail but only really works in dry weather. A trap which has been tripped and the bait stolen is one educated predator - a trap that has the bait stolen but has not been tripped is a half caught predator and you'll probably get it next time. A sparse covering of dry grass over a trap (sometimes called hazing) in order to help hide the trap loses more animals than it gains. The grass acts as a slippery medium which allows the paw to be pulled out. Using a grubber to bury a trap so that it is just proud of the earth or shingle level can help but the underside of the trip plate must be free of soil so it can be fully depressed. Freshly disturbed soil attracts both cats and rabbits so best not done when the young rabbits are out as you will catch them and not the cats (another clogged up traps situation).

There are no silver bullets here just attention to detail which is what makes for effective trapping - it's really hard to catch the ones that have had a narrow escape with a trap so putting the work in on the first set is the go

Happy tapping .