Thread: Bird Predator Control

I had a short break from the bush last week due to a back problem - so most of my lines at the TPQ Park were two weeks since being checked - too long - what a mess
The last couple of days I cleared out 1 possum, 14 rats, 2 hogs and 1 ferret - many traps had already been cleared by cannibal rats - total predator kills so far this year is 128
The ferret I got this morning was fresh - lure was manky chicken necks, egg and PP Balls - medium size female - minimal smell so I cut off the tale, four legs and most of the skin - should be some good lure for my 15 doc250/200 traps - also got the tale in the freezer for the Swamp Comp @Dundee

Good work folks keep posting the kills and methods.

I had a few left over fence pailings....

Rather than take them back i have put them to good use



Worked out real good 4 x 1.8m pailings made 5 victor boxes with next to no wastage !!!

Looking forward to getting them out there

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The young one came back to find Mum - I went back to the ferret site a few days later to see if there were any family members around - but nothing - so I put a slice of Mums skin and fur in behind the Trap - I also had a fresh rat from a nearby site so I put it on the top of the box with a couple of pieces of wood to hold it still - back there yesterday - bingo a young one had been back to check on Mum - so this time I left one of Mum’s legs in the bait end of the box - will see if there any more around in a few days. It’s a smelly business legging and skinning them but seems to work.
Good work with the boxes @kukuwai - I see you are doing swivel tops - I have reverted to nailing the box closed and doing a hinge mesh rear door with a core flute floor slider

Nicely done fellas, checked one of my estuary lines yesterday for 6 rats and 2 weasels, and another 2 rats in the 2 boxes identical to the boxes you have made Kukuwai at the mai mai.

Yesterdays catches saw us break trough 200 critters taken from the estuary since july last year, doesn't mean much but nice to hit milestones.

That is some smart thinking re those ferrets @time out well done.

I wonder if we should start chopping up the stoats too?

Originally Posted by time out

I have reverted to nailing the box closed and doing a hinge mesh rear door with a core flute floor slider

You got any pictures id be keen to see some.

The main reason i made those wooden boxes is to replace some of the original ones i made from old real estate signs they are buggered. Sun has just turned them brittle.



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Any length will do - but ripping an 1800 paling into four pieces is simple
I go to ITM and tell them I want joinery timber for trap boxes and they give me clears
A smear of PVA glue - 6 nails top and bottom - block stack them with some weight - all done!
Staple mesh on back end - hinge front end with staples at the bottom - a screw at the top to keep the kids out
Make a slider out of Real estate agent signs 100mm wide - close to full length - cut a slot for the egg to sit or for your finger to pull it out
Currently using Victor Pro traps - a couple of office staples through the slider into the trap - or a couple of small screws through a Snap-e trap into the slider
Another alternative might be a couple of slits in the slider around the length of the trap - slit it sideways and bend it up to catch the trap as you slide in and out
A 450 length box is a bit long but 3 cuts through the 1800 paling is simple - build a nest inside for the egg if you want the natural look
Bait to suit your taste - as always - I use GN Possum Paste - one of my traps pulled in a stoat a couple of days back - he wasn’t dead and didn’t give up without a scrap - I wasn’t around so had to get one of the Girls to clear it - LOL - two rats killed at the site in the last few days - rat piss is a very strong stoat lure!!!!

Bag the tails.

I'm keen to get a few traps out around the garden/garage/water race and see if I can deal to a few rats before they make it into the ceiling. However there are a few friendly cats about that I definitely don't want poking at the traps, so I assume I would need to set up some tunnels or boxes to keep them out?

Any recommendations for setups?

You can't go wrong with the victors in the boxes as the guys have done above , people do make tunnels out of core flute or you can buy them
also if you don't have time and have budget farmlands are doing the victor trap in wooden box for $30 at the mo , not sure if thats cheap but is handy.[URL="https://www.traps.co.nz/pcr-kill-trap-tunnel-for-stoats-weasels-and-rats"]

One A-grade bodge-job later using whatever I had lying around in the garage (Mainly old pallet wood)

Plus a trap that caught my eye to remind me at Pak'n'save after I forgot to visit Mitre10 for a victor while across the other side of town. (At that point I just want to leave town again, not make another trip across..)

Set in the garden beside the compost bin now, will see if it's fit for purpose.

Nothing in the rat trap yet after 2 nights out, but my also-bodged mouse trap has finally earned a gold star after a week or so sitting in the corner of the garage..

Two floaters today..


I gather the best setup for a bucket trap like this would actually be a drink bottle or can on a wire (as long as it can spin freely on the wire), but on my way to track a bottle down I spotted an old funnel while walking past some shelving "That'll do for a test". Popped a couple of washers over the bar, that tuck into the tube of the funnel slightly. Any movement dislodges the washers and causes it to drop slightly, hopefully enough to shake them off. Hopefully it will also spin them into the water if they depart from the centreline by much. Pop a bit of peanut butter on the outside so they have to reach for it and unbalance the whole setup.

The real benefit of a trap like this if you can get it working correctly (Don't use mine as a good example..) is that it's essentially unlimited in how many it can trap, and doesn't require resetting between kills.

It’s hard to find something exciting to report - mostly it is just rats and hogs but a few young stoats starting to show up at the Park - clamping them across the shoulders in Snap-e traps that don’t kill them - we put out a small sample of Contrac in all bait stations - some is gone in a few days - the total trap kill this year is 198 pests.

Back to “Back Yard Trapping” with PFBOP - we are doing well around our street - 29 houses - about 24 PFBOP trap boxes as well as about another 15 trap boxes owned by individuals.
The street total is now 87 pests killed in 6 months - all varieties from ferrets to mice - if they have four legs and fur or prickles on their back - we will trap them - except for cats.
Yesterday I tripped up a monster Norway - on the perimeter track around the street sections - orchard one side and houses on the other.
I got the Norway in a box with a Victor Pro - he got whacked on the head - confused and ran down the wrong end to get out - but then he had a rest. The box is 450mm long so that buggar had to be close to 420mm and must have weighed half a kg - I should develop a Morgan score for rats.
Take a look at the PFBOP trapping map - our street is out towards Omokoroa and has the biggest yellow blob - interesting to magnify various blobs to see what is happening - the blue house icons have a trap - the yellow blob is a kill or kills - click on them to see numbers or type of animal - it is good software
https://www.predatorfreebop.nz/

That is a pretty cool initiative, and that app is a great way to keep track and people keen, hopefully other councils including mine will follow suit.

Over the last 3 weeks I've caught 18 mice and a rat in my vegetable garden. Just an open vector (no tunnel) against a brick wall.