Thread: Bird Predator Control

I thought you might be interested in my experiences with Goodnature A24 rat traps at the Park - we got eleven traps and started the install 1 June 2017 - so some have been out for nearly a year
We decided to put the A24s around the perimeter and in hard to get at places - steep ridges etc - thinking that they would be the answer to our control system in those areas - but there are a few issues with the A24 that require regular hands on management.
I have never been a fan of GN chocolate lure on snap traps - not a strong smell and goes mouldy etc - we found that the ALP chocolate flavoured lure dispenser is not that attractive to rats where numbers are low - we would often get a couple of local residents, but then nothing - the ALP is supposed to last for six months but they often fail in a couple of months - some form a blob on the trigger and some eject all of the lure and blow up like a balloon. We have found that GN cinnamon possum paste is the best lure for rats - far better than chocolate - so we converted all of the A24s to possum paste - sometimes reloading a new ALP - but now we just use the A12 possum paste lure container - mix in some olive oil to help it dribble and squeeze it out a bit each time we visit.
We found it frustrating to continually revisit the A24 and find minimal or no movement of the counter - some A24s were sited in prime rat country where it is unlikely that humans had been for a long time - sometimes we got a couple of residents but then nothing - so I carried out experiments with a Snap trap mounted beside the A24 - both using the same bait - possum paste - bingo - killed a rat the next night - this happened on several sites and on a number of occasions - it proved to me that a rat would rather eat out of a Snap trap than put his head up the barrel of an A24
Strike numbers have increased a lot in the last month or so with younger rats roaming around - this was also confirmed with the kill rate of young rats in Snap traps in the same areas.
I have just done a check of strike numbers on all the A24s - trap number one to trap number eleven - 13, 7, 10, 15, 9, 12, 11, 15, 8, 6, 14. - total strikes on counters = 255 - in total it is better than I had thought, but keep in mind the cost difference of an A24 compared to a Snap trap in a box or tunnel - during the same period we killed 450 rats in around 200 Snap traps in the same area
Hope this is useful