Thread: Bird Predator Control

OK, hot glued some wheat to the trap bait plate AND smeared some peanut butter on.

We’ll see how that works out!

An interesting read on stoat eradication projects in Fiordland.

https://predatorfreenz.org/eradicati...eid=7f4a83c7d3

Mice can definitely eat the peanut butter off a trap without triggering it. You should really use cotton to force them to apply more pressure when attempting to negotiate the cotton.

Most rat traps will catch a mouse if they are forced to walk on the front of the foot plate in a narrow box – most of them can also be hair trigger set with some risk to your fingers – Victor Pro and Victor Power Kill are great for mice
I use peanut butter/rolled oats/vegetable oil to create a very sticky molten mix that will drop off my gloves onto the trap in a heavy blob – also plenty around the entrance to the trap – you need to get them keen on having a good feed before it kills them
I don’t use large blobs of GN Possum Paste on my trap lines in the bush – just enough to hide in the bait cup – or birds see it and peck it
I have just done a trap line in the Quarry Park – maybe 50 sites rat/possum – traps are still set but bait is gone – but I got a very rare possum on another line a few days back – but no rats – no idea where they have gone – I guess there is an end to them in winter/spring
No mice or rats on my rat line close to home – ended up with 7 ferrets in the estuary cage – plus a couple of big rats plus a few hogs – my neighbour shoots the rats but lets the hogs out – then tells me to put more sardines in the cage – I might have to shift the cage along the water line to where I can manage it better
I have been getting a few rats up the top end of the street – they are coming up out of the avo orchard – it looks like they feel safe with bodies around the trap – the D Rat trap is working well and they seem happier to walk up a ramp rather then enter a nearby box – pics are from last four days - might have got the cannibal

Originally Posted by time out

Most rat traps will catch a mouse if they are forced to walk on the front of the foot plate in a narrow box – most of them can also be hair trigger set with some risk to your fingers – Victor Pro and Victor Power Kill are great for mice
I use peanut butter/rolled oats/vegetable oil to create a very sticky molten mix that will drop off my gloves onto the trap in a heavy blob – also plenty around the entrance to the trap – you need to get them keen on having a good feed before it kills them
I don’t use large blobs of GN Possum Paste on my trap lines in the bush – just enough to hide in the bait cup – or birds see it and peck it
I have just done a trap line in the Quarry Park – maybe 50 sites rat/possum – traps are still set but bait is gone – but I got a very rare possum on another line a few days back – but no rats – no idea where they have gone – I guess there is an end to them in winter/spring
No mice or rats on my rat line close to home – ended up with 7 ferrets in the estuary cage – plus a couple of big rats plus a few hogs – my neighbour shoots the rats but lets the hogs out – then tells me to put more sardines in the cage – I might have to shift the cage along the water line to where I can manage it better
I have been getting a few rats up the top end of the street – they are coming up out of the avo orchard – it looks like they feel safe with bodies around the trap – the D Rat trap is working well and they seem happier to walk up a ramp rather then enter a nearby box – pics are from last four days - might have got the cannibal
Attachment 148674

Attachment 148675

Attachment 148676

Attachment 148677

Attachment 148678

Attachment 148679

if neighbour is releasing HH...its time to set a DOC 250 ....release is problimatic when they are used....

I have also had rats getting eaten in the traps. Is it just rats that do this or something else?

The local reserve is proving a great resource for pests. After 6 weeks I'm still getting 2-3 rats a week. I have just taken delivery of 4 Timms traps. The possums are hammering the Totara. One 6m tree provided 3 in 3 days. I have run out of tomato plants to put them under. The plastic Victor traps are proving to be very reliable also taking mice if you preload the paddle a bit.

Predators are where their food is – especially rats
We have about 20 chestnut trees in a group about 100m long down one side of the street properties – a large kiwifruit orchard alongside the chestnuts – I got about 20 rats there this time last year. The ground is covered with sharp, prickly burrs that have now opened with masses of nuts available for hungry rats. The burrs are lethal and can penetrate gloves so I don’t know how rats move through them – I generally sweep runways to clear ground to the trap boxes.
I am using a couple of PFBOP boxes with Victor Pro traps as well as six coreflute boxes with Kness Snap-e traps. BillyXmas546 designed the boxes and had some made – he gave me 6 to try out – I reckon they are a real winner – so easy to shift them around and the rats seem to enjoy the internal features of real estate advertising, Snap-e or Victor traps and my peanut butter lure mix.
In the last couple of weeks I have killed 23 Ship rats and may have wounded a few more that pulled out.
Predator free BOP is a distant dream for the future – but I guess it keeps a few people employed and some of us active.
I had a look at a YouTube clip that was on the Predator Free sites – The Cacophony Project – it is a bit slow but worth a look and might explain why our traps are often empty – it seems that 90% or more animals walk straight past our traps - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mAF...ZLandcareTrust
So we cant assume we have got them all – we never will.

Not alot of a future for rats in your neighbour hood LOL. well done , great effort.

I believe anything getting eaten is eaten by stoat/ferret I had couple of ferrets eaten then caught a HUGE ferret....maybe make up a double set box eg trap at each end or place dead rat in back of box so whatever wants to eat it has to climb over trap to get it...works a treat with DOC250S and hedge hogs....the more rice like the bait the better...

I thought maybe we could look at what modifications we do to traps and what traps we build ourselves. I'll start with what I'm doing to my Victor traps. Remove the yellow plastic treadle get a 1 lt milk or drink carton
put a piece of wire or half a dozen nails in the bottom to let the oil under the trap,put the trap in pour in some boiled linseed oil and let it soak for a week. I bought one back from the bush after 3 or 4 years and it was still in reasonable condidtion. The pic shows a sinker on the trap to stop it from floating.

Originally Posted by BillyXmas546

I thought maybe we could look at what modifications we do to traps and what traps we build ourselves. I'll start with what I'm doing to my Victor traps. Remove the yellow plastic treadle get a 1 lt milk or drink carton
put a piece of wire or half a dozen nails in the bottom to let the oil under the trap,put the trap in pour in some boiled linseed oil and let it soak for a week. I bought one back from the bush after 3 or 4 years and it was still in reasonable condidtion. The pic shows a sinker on the trap to stop it from floating.
Attachment 151335

That boiled linseed has a real attraction, especially on wood.
KH

Awesome last post @Timeout somehow I missed that one

Just heading into my local H&F 6 weasels and two stoats less on this property.



Don't forget to get those tails in fellas

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Nice one @KuKuwa had bloody forgotten and am away next weekend so would’ve missed out just dropped our 31 off thought we were in for a much bigger number early on but last couple of months have been sparse .... a good thing of course.

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Nice one @KuKuwa had bloody forgotten and am away next weekend so would’ve missed out just dropped our 31 off thought we were in for a much bigger number early on but last couple of months have been sparse .... a good thing of course.

Shit mate with 31 tails you'd be pissed off if you forgot

Good luck

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk