Thread: Bird Predator Control

Silly Buggar - stuck his head in the box to check out some GN possum paste on a Victor - just clipped his nose
Hard to find a dead predator at present - just a cat that I can’t catch

Just a heads up about those damn rats..... Be really careful when you handle them....

I caught a bad lepto infection that the doctors reckon I picked it up from rat urine through a cut or scratch.... I'd been really crook for about 4-5 days, but being a typical male thought "It'll pass". In the end I decided I'd better go to A&E. Got admitted at about 10pm but the old blood pressure was so low they wouldn't ship me off to the ICU til 9am the next morning.... So.... 2 1/2 days in ICU and another 3 on the ward I was finally allowed to leave.

Gotta admit it's knocked the shit out of me. I've been out 14-days now and it took over a week before I could walk more than 25-metres. Lepto is bloody nasty..... I lost 9kgs in about 10-days and am just taking things day by day. Hopefully be back to work in another week to 10-days, but still being really careful. The scary thing was that the doctor said that if I had left it any later going to A&E I may not have made it.....

Funny how life can change so quickly.... Anyway; just don't take things for granted when handling those rats.....

Just when I thought we had them beat - back they come again!
It has been fairly quiet around the trap lines for the last month - hard to find a victim - my line in the Park has around 40 traps - most sites have bait stations with Ditrac bait - hopeless stuff!
Wet weather and wet tracks have kept me away for nine days - so out on a mission yesterday - four hours and 8000 steps (on my Samsung Gear) and I cleared eight bodies - seven very rotten and one fresh under an A24
Hard work keeping your breakfast down clearing a rotten body full of maggots - if you don’t clear the Snap-E traps properly they are hard to reset - also frustrating having to clear all mouldy chocolate and blue bait - stuff those baits - I am going to stick to GN possum paste in future - very stable and wont go mouldy
My Mate got five on his line on Wednesday - also a great result - fifty on the 2018 spreadsheet now - so I guess we are heading back to a 500 target this year
Birdlife is improving noticeably - my simple measure is Quail on the ground - good numbers of families - most with six to eight well grown chicks - also seeing good numbers of Pheasants and other native birds
If you game bird hunters want to improve your results - you need to control cats, rats, hogs, possums and mustilids - in that order - don’t waste money on gas traps - Victor Pro and Snap-E traps do the job well
Looking forward to the Swamp Comp results Guys - example of a nine day rotten rat below -

Here is the new Flipping Timmy. I look forward to anyone else posting photos or opinions about this possum trap. It is so user friendly, a great way to vertical trap. If you want to try this trap, let me know.

Originally Posted by Boar Freak

Try half a rabbit hanging from fence just out of reach with 1-2 legholds just below it set fine and covered carefully.

Works for me.

this man is on to it -exactly the way I was trained and how we used to teach cat trapping before it all got to political - trap site can be enhanced with hazing - quite simply place any branches -bunches of vegetation to lead cat to bait and hidden traps - use two side by side to make sure you anchor the bugger - rabbit really good or fresh poultry dont bother plucking - just hang it up - also works against base of tree - camo trap well - traps victor no 1 okay victor no 2 better - hare trigger them most important - dont bother with cages unless cat has been a pet and dumped - wild cats require a real smart mindset - dont waste your time with kill traps and I say that with 35 years under belt - wild cats to bloody smart usually - camo traps - hazing the way to go -

How to refurbish an A24 counter DIY - if you have been using the Goodnature A24 traps for a while – you may have a variety of views about their operation and the results that you have achieved.
I have been using them for close to ten years and I have a group of eleven with trip-counters in the Quarry Park for 6.5 years. The trip counters are starting to fail – either no light showing or a “Lo” warning light showing.
I considered buying new counters from GN – but at $55 – I hesitated. The GN website says they are not able to be repaired – but I figured there was a battery in there somewhere and it might be possible to get it out – actually, quite easy with a small screwdriver in one of three slots at the end of the counter. New batteries are about $14 for two at the supermarket. It’s easy to reassemble. A smear of silicone grease around the O ring helps the battery to go in easy. Bingo – you have a refurbished trip counter.
The slip ring that holds our trip counters on the gas bottles have been eaten by rats – but most are still usable. Some of the counters have recorded up to 20 strikes but now rat numbers are low the number recorded is usually less than 10 in the six-month period before a gas bottle change. We rarely see any dead bodies, so the counter is important. I put one out on the end of a track right where it dropped into a rocky gorge, a couple of weeks ago –– I checked it after about ten days and found a fresh dead rat and one strike on the counter – so they do work!

Not much to report, but keen to see what others are using for rat and mustelid lure
I have been a strong advocate of Goodnature Possum paste – but kill numbers have been very low so I have been happy to try some new ideas
We got a couple of buckets of PICs peanut butter from PICs in Nelson – a generous free supply to a community trapping organisations – lovely smooth paste with some blue dye to discourage human consumption – easy to squeeze from a plastic bottle, it worked ok but insects hoovered it up the same as possum paste – so gone after second night
On advice from @sore head stoat - I tried some Kewpie mayonnaise –he finds it works well on mustelids – I got a few rats on it and buggar me! – I got a stoat in the back garden – never seen a stoat in the garden before – I found the Kness Snap-E bait cups were full of Kewpie and drowned ants – so I had to dig it out and go back to possum paste again
I read about Goodnature Meat lovers lure – there is a some good information about the stuff on another forum – so we have changed all of our 150 odd rat traps in the Park over to Meat lovers – we are starting to get some rats but maybe it’s the seasonal increase
I am sick of using apples in our possum traps – small ones last ok but if they are cut into pieces – they don’t last long – so I remembered what they were doing at Puketoki Reserve – a piece of carpet soaked in strawberry jam – clipped to the bait holder of a Possum master or on the rod of a Timms – I am starting to get the occasional possum – so it works
I always try to keep fresh rabbit in our doc250 traps at the Park – we get the odd hog or rat – but last week I got a nice wee ferret – she was a fresh kill so will end up getting stuffed for a local Kiwi Trust.
We were given a Doc200 Trapinator and a large sachet of Goodnature blood lure – first time I have seen a plated doc200 trap – lower surfaces were badly rusted – but it was able to be repaired – my 8 year old stainless doc 250/200 traps are still looking good – you get what you pay for!
I hope we can get some conclusive results about GN Meat lovers lure – please advise your thoughts.

Sorry time out I have no experience of meat lovers lure but a mate has used it with success , but cant remember what he was targetting.

Here are photos of cats in Timms traps. I've had three in the last month using a chicken drumstick attached to a wooden jig. there is also a 40mm spike that kills the cat immediately. shifting the trap around seems to help also. 6 cats this month 3 in tunnels 3 in Timms.

Hi Pointer.
The SA2 Steve Allan trap is made for feral cats and possums. It is a monster of a trap, not for beginners. Steve Allan has been making traps since way before DOC was in existence. He makes these traps himself and his crew, including his wife Debs.
The SA2 has passed the NAWAC testing for both pests, so it can be used on DOC land.
I stock these traps and currently have over 100 in stock.
My web site is www.deadrat.co.nz Or contact me.
I have attached a photo of the SA2 trap.

I trap and import rat/mouse traps from the USA. I buy direct from Kness and Victor factories and pass my good pricing to you.

Originally Posted by Pointer

What your best tips for trapping cats? Have been using an enlarged Timms with limited success. What is the best bait for cats?

victor no 2 trap - Victor 1 to small but you could use two together side by side two no 1 would hold a cat - secret is to haze trap well - hazing involves building walls of branches etc leading up to trap- guiding cat up to trap - almost like a hedge -now most important camouflage trap - dry leaves really good especially those dry ones that have become skeletonized -make sure trap cant be seen - bait well rabbit works good -pin big fresh piece fur and all about a 700 cm up tree - trap placement is important -imagine cat coming along sees rabbit smells it -walks up and reaches up to get rabbit - so trap needs to be about two hand widths out from trunk - this works and is what we used to teach until DOC became to PC - fresh poultry works to

I have shot mumma and 4 yearling kittens so far,and trapped one in the timms with the enlarged hole using a drumstick for bait. Any help would be good, there are tons here

Brilliant post Timeout.

I shoot multiple hedgehogs under the trees where I dump the magpies.They love feeding on dead magpies.

What do you shoot them with?