Thread: Bird Predator Control

Great work @Sparrow and your Son - another classic picture! - Cocktail cherrios are on the shopping list today - not much lure flavor in chicken legs that I have been using in the doc250s - bloody flies are back big time - rats and meaty lure turning to maggots very fast
Nothing exciting to report - dragging a few trap boxes into Puketoki and putting them beside old logs - also some of Bill Griffith’s clever coreflute boxes around the farm boundaries ( I can get six in the Mountain Mule) - but so far nothing where I would have expected to find them - so having to resort to snap traps in the cafés where there is bait chewing activity - give them two choices - Contrac or kill trap
Not a lot of action in the Park - about 200 trap sites and we are jointly getting about 4 predators per week - my lot for all my run in two trips has been a couple of young rats, one and a half possums and a hog - a hog is good as the Quail will be nesting soon - total predators for 2018 is 385 so might get to 500 again this year
My new companion is growing in confidence - a big transition from a show puppy to a bush dog - he is a ball of muscle but he still won’t carry a possum or swim - up to his belly in water is all so far - I might have to get in with him!

Beautiful looking lab there time out. Where did you get him from?

This ones not gunna have to wait long in the freezer





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Not a lot to report really - hard work finding anything at the Quarry - just the occasional possum and rat - 397 pests for the year to date
I am still doing a perimeter line at Puketoki - we have about 70 possum traps in the 100 acre reserve - we get about 30 possums in there each year - invaders from the Kaimais and surrounding farmland - I am starting to get the team focused on rat trapping - mostly traps in existing bait cafés which is not that efficient and also produces ugly results - a mixture of Snap-E traps and the dinosaur T Rex traps - I am starting to get a bit more confidence with the Possum Master traps but not sure I would like to view the strangulation process - three possums and a couple of rats a couple of days ago and very low level bait take
We are thinking about shifting Puketoki control to a new level - to create an “Inland Ecological Island” - no pest fence but intense pest control to allow native plants, birds and animals to recover - is it possible? - recent tracking tunnel results show low pest levels - but still too high for birdlife!
https://www.facebook.com/Puketoki/ph...type=3&theater

2 days to get your tails into H&F if you are doing it, wouldn't want anyone to miss their chance of a freebie for their efforts 👍

About a month since my last post - 50 more predators have come and gone at the Park - mostly rats but the odd possum has checked things out!
I have been using Connovation solid state cinnamon lure tubes on my Sentinel possum traps for several years largely because possum numbers were low and soft lures like peanut butter and possum paste were eaten out by insects or rats - just remove the bite block from the bait tray and tie on a tube - set them and forget them - maybe slosh on a bit of extra possum paste on if you walk past
I have a couple of Sentinel traps out on a boundary ridge - sometimes hard to go down into the gully and up onto the ridge - well I did a couple of days back and found a dried out possum skin in a trap - the rest of him was rotted out on the ground
I have just bought new solid state tubes so I am in the process of changing out all the old ones for nice fresh new ones
I am sick of changing apples in my Timms traps - so I am going to change over to solid state tubes on the bait rod - a bit of tape to stop it sliding down - it looks simple and should work well - might throw a slice of apple inside the box for an added attraction
Rats and possums become a mess very quickly at present - hard to hold onto breakfast at times
I decided to purchase nine new Doc200 traps from Haines - sorry Sir - about one month waiting list - so decided to build them myself - bad move - the time involved was awful - I would recommend being patient and wait for Mr Haines to deliver. The purpose of the exercise was to target stoats and hedgehogs as something seems to have decimated our Quail population - but may also have been cats
My target for bird predators from the Park this year was 500 like last year - we have just got to 445 so will have to pull out the finger to get there by New Years eve
Foolishly - I put my hand up too be a street coordinator for Predator Free Bay of Plenty - they are trying to get a rat trap every fifth house around urban areas of the city - they gave me 20 traps and boxes to spread around the 29 houses in our rural/residential street - the conditions were to list your trap on their PFBOP web site and register all kills - so far 13 traps are registered and 7 predators killed - slackers! - something for free is too easy! - I got 3 hogs on my place
Merry Xmas to all of you trappers

Good work how many entrys did you enter for the swamp comp this year?

Originally Posted by Dundee

Good work how many entrys did you enter for the swamp comp this year?

Just two this time - both ferret - how about you @Dundee
I see you are doing some great long range shooting with the .22 - I need a good bolt action with silencer and scope for sub-sonic on rabbits - do you know where there is a good Stirling?

I had two entrys bagged and labeled and my youngest son had one bagged and labeled in the dog tucker freezer.The old man is 84 ish and cleaned out the dog tucker freezer and biffed anything that didn't look like dog tucker.Negative on the Stirlings @time out my two stirlings aren't for sale.

Originally Posted by time out

Just two this time - both ferret - how about you @Dundee
I see you are doing some great long range shooting with the .22 - I need a good bolt action with silencer and scope for sub-sonic on rabbits - do you know where there is a good Stirling?

Hi @time out just seen a post from Silverfin Sports in Foxton with a stirling 14p with silencer 021 887 423 for $300 Bolt action,10 shot mag.

FInally got out to do my overdue estuary lines last night and the Mrs came along for the stroll hence there a couple of better pics, were still late on the tides after work so we had a laugh as we crossed the estuary between line with her on my shoulder with the water nearly chest deep. 😅
Was expecting some stinky messes given the recent heat ( and there was rats and a weasel) but interestingly my first Stoat and Ferret of the estuary lines were very fresh, within 48hrs I reckon.


Fresh bait was was well spent so had to think they came for the egg, with chicks mostly fledged looks like they maybe getting desperate, so get after em!!! (They were both adults)
The estuary wade, my mai mai is way down the other end.
Setting a trapinator in action haven't caught a cat here for a while but fresh tracks in the sand make their presence obvious hopefully fresh skin on hare is the key.
Stopped for a soggy jug or 2 on the way home and had a giggle with the Mrs how date night has changed over the years but I think she enjoyed it although she may not tell her mates. 5 tails in freezer already could be a big year. 👍

Predator Free BOP backyard trapping is growing well - 705 pests now dead - https://www.predatorfreebop.nz/
We are making some progress in our street with around 20 traps amongst 29 houses - all sections are about 1 acre and the street boundary is estuary and orchards - total pests trapped to date is 21
Most of the action is on sections closer to the estuary - one Guy woke up with a screaming noise on his lawn at 3AM - he went outside to find a ferret in his kids rabbit hutch - he beat it up with a garden stake but it escaped when he opened the hutch and tried to grab it - it was a bit big for his rat trap so I set up a Doc250 and a cage - but it never came back
Another Guy had his Snap-e trap smashed by something big - I replaced it with a Victor Pro and he got what I thought from his picture was a young stoat - but maybe it was a Weasel - he reset it and got a big Norway
I have had a four hogs and one rat around my section - hogs in a cage - the Guy next door loves hogs in his garden
I often see rats run across the road at the top of the street - maybe from the orchards but maybe they come up the underground concrete highway from the estuary - the stormwater system (currently very dry) with sumps all the way up the street - last sump is at the top end where they come out for a look around
We are starting to see a lot more Quail with chicks around the subdivision - so maybe backyard trapping is working
If you live in the BOP and would like a free trap in your back yard - just contact the team - they need a trap every five houses down every street - eventually 12,000 traps

Good stuff @Timeout

I had a walk around my trap line yesterday, 9 rats and 3 hogs all pretty disgusting!!
Doesn't take long at this time of the especially with the very hot weather of late.

I did find this but not sure of what the culprit may have been.



Also put out some vespex so hopefully that sorts out a few of the wasps too !!



Keep up the good work fellas

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Got some new victors from these guys. Arrived today, very sharp price $4.80 +gst each



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Been a bit slack posting catches of late but walked my 2 estuary lines last night as the tide was right, catch was a bit lower than late 3 rats and a hog, and this hua in the sand dunes where its only been a few rats and weasels to date.


Also noticed @kukuwai was using a bucket to cart every thing so thought i'd give it a crack, man so much quicker than a backpack 27 traps at 100m spacings and 1km stretch in the middle all eggs and baits changed just inside 2hrs with know broken eggs inside the bag to worry about