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

Good shit! Beats that poison.

Cheers Time Out, I had pretty much given up on the 3 A24's we have they hadn't fired in 7 months all baited with chocolate, I think I have seen a A12 possum bait in the shed so will change up and see what happens ��

I agree that the ALP is certainly not "see you in 6 months" as they claim. As you say @time out sometimes only 2 months. Its pretty close to false advertising i reckon !!

Haven't had any action out of my A12 possum traps for the last year but do get a few rats with the A24s. This picture from a couple of days ago.

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family not pets, sorry for your loss sounds like he had a great life

Bugger

Sorry mate, never easy to lose family

Had 7 leg hold traps set the last few nights only one rat up at the pond. No coons so set them off.

Sorry to hear about your loss @time out

Time Out have a look at these.Tully Trap from Scotland available later in year.

Had a wip around the trap line today before the rain.

7 GN A24's = total 11 strikes no carcuses under any of them. Highest number strikes was 6 lowest was 0.

8 rats and 1 mouse from the victors.

1 Weasel in a doc 200.

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Getting very hard to find a pest around the Park - three of us checked about 150 traps this week - four rats and one possum - mostly invading around the boundaries - so the birds should be fairly safe during nesting
I had to find another Lab - I located Marley with a breeder closely connected to Cruz - he is 15 months old so still a big puppy, eager to learn and still has to grow to match his sire and dam - I have been showing him around my trap lines -

A nice big buck for you to carry around!


Fifth rat here since I changed the gas bottle - maybe pre-feeding works - a month or so of eating the lure bottle and they keep coming back for more - suckers!

Love your work time out.

I volunteered for a trapping programme last year and it took a while to roll out , funding applications etc but the organisers did a great job. We then built 100 Doc 200's and took a couple of weekends to get them out round an estuary near home I must have ld my hand up too high as I have ended up co ordinating the field work but finally got to see the fruits of the labour last couple of weeks checking my easier line with my boys and the other yesterday, the other volunteers have been reporting a few critters also.



Soon to add a Timms/ trapinator every 10 traps also to deal to the cats

Got a ferret in the cage trap last week tail in the freezer.

Caught a cat

Should help out the birds out need to get some of those Snape rat traps wheres the best place to buy them?

Awesome guys! What bait you using in the cage @FatLabrador ?