Thread: Bird Predator Control

Been out of action for the last month with a knee sprain so staying off the hills. Still checking about ten traps around the street but nothing for three weeks. Cleaned out about 30 rats and mice under the chestnut trees - then they just stopped - I thought they were all gone - but persistence and about a kilo of my peanut butter mix seems to have paid off - a rat came back today - poor buggar didn’t even get a feed. Its hard to keep peanut butter on traps when ants and other insects are around - the rolled oats help to keep something on the bait tray - the Victor Pro is a great trap even for mice and huge slugs that crawl all over the traps.
Don’t ever get tempted to plant chestnut trees - they are lethal for dogs feet all year around - one of those spikes in the top or bottom of a foot will cost you Vet surgery while they try to find a hidden spike in an infected foot. I need to find a dog boot solution right now - wish I knew what boots to get.
I just had a rummage through the freezer and found 2 ferret and 2 stoat tails - time to get them into H&F for the Swamp Comp - always amuses me how the sales staff turn up their noses when I put them on the counter for tail counting.

I lent a couple of DOC 150 traps to a mate.. they have just bought a 10acre block..
The traps are set and for a week nothing. Then Sat morning he has a stoat in one of the traps. Sunday morning another stoat is in the same trap. He checked the traps this afternoon and both traps have dead stoats in them ! Be interesting to see what happens tomorrow ?

Making a few of us look like amateurs, lol.

Tomorrow , which was yesterday he had another stoat in each trap !!

That is 6 stoats in 4 days from only 2 traps !!!

A little bit of advice please...... Which live capture rat or mouse traps are the best bang for buck? I don't want anything that will rust out but also haven't got megabucks to spend on them either..... It's hard as there are so many on the market and you never know whether it's a good model or not.... Thanks :-)

I wouldn’t want to be a mustilid anywhere in your neck of the woods “sore head stoat” - you are no amateur! - I love getting your text messages with a picture of the next victim in a trap - I can’t resist posting your pictures of your 65 tails on the top of your freezer and your last stoat (hope you don’t mind) - good luck in the Swamp Comp - you should do well - you do some amazing work for the birdlife around your patch - hope you can tell us more about how you do it




Not much to report around here - I strained a medial knee ligament - almost repaired it but tripped on the sore leg and tore it all apart again along with some inner knee parts - I never realized how critical knee ligaments can be - had a steroid jab on Monday so hope that fixes it
So if all else fails - draw up some plans for some easy trap lines and send my Wife out to check them - not sure why she can’t follow simple instructions cause it seems she is doing a bit of bush bashing - but the dog is loving all the new places she gets to go - my wife can manage a Doc250 and a Timms but thank goodness she hasn’t had to reset a Sentinel yet - mainly hogs in doc200/250s - yuk! - buggar all rats around at present
I got itchy feet one day last week and decided to drive around all the easy doc200s - no victims but found a young possum in a Timms on my favourite log - Mindi is not sure about possums - so in the freezer for dog training later - she is not keen on fur yet

Awesome, hope that knee heals fast @time out and you can get back to it proper in the new year. And great work @sore head stoat you doubled my tally so feel free to share any tips, great pic I can smell those tails from here.

Oh the last stoat was actually a weasel.. I have never seen a weasel that colour before.. i wondered if it was a variant colour or an old grizzled weasel.

I would love to catch a pure white stoat or very close to it. I have caught them with a a lot of white but [ sorry i am hopeless at running a computer so cant post photos ] not pure white. The white of these stoats is white white not the usual cream, quite stunning. You may be able to see one of the winter stoats in the middle of the right hand side of the pile of tails. Half of the tail is white.

To get my 68 tails i run 2 trap lines a local line and a high country line.

My high country line is to try and protect the crested grebe. My local line is to try and help local birds. Locally we have a few fantails esp in winter and waxeyes. Bellbirds are close by but we have seen none where we live. We also have finches, nesting mallards, quail and odd pheasant. Roughly the tail split is 50/50 split between local and the high country line. I have 50 traps in the high country and roughly the same locally. Most are 150s with the balance 200s. I also have several Victor Pros locally. Its a waste of time having them in the high country as mice steal the bait and or trip the trap. I am currently catching truck loads of rats in my high country traps with the mast year even though there is minimal beech where i trap. Locally it appears h hogs are the go to animal at present.

My main bait is eggs as they dont get moused unless they are cracked. I try and replace my eggs every 3 weeks. Winter is tough on eggs in the high country as they crack when they freeze which could be days on end. I have tried the Erayze type bait but mice give it a hard time unless you use a mouse excluder. I have tried dried salted duck and pukeko that i either hunt during the season or get as road kill. What i have found extremely successful is duck feathers. I place them in the trap end of the box so the treadle/plate is completely covered. Feathers have a great smell for a day or 2, maybe more ? The downside is not every trap is suited to feathers, if the trap is exposed to rain they go soggy and loose all the smell and can interfere with the operation of the trap, if the trap is in a windy location they blow out. I guess 1 in 15 places where i set my traps is ok for the feather treatment ? However those traps catch mustelids. I only run single set traps, no double sets. I do like the idea of double sets but roughly 1/3 of my mustelid catch would be weasels.. i do wonder if you can set a double set trap finely enough for weasels ? I often catch stoats in consequtive traps which suggests they are travelling in pairs or groups and that is where double sets work well catching the 2nd animal. Another thing i have done is cut a notch in the top of my trap box, i tie a piece of orange flagging tape to the handle on the kill bar and it comes out of the notch , does this make sense ? i can then see if the trap has gone off from quite a distance... if the flagging tape isnt showing the trap has sprung. My local traps i check pretty much daily as i bike past them looking for the flagging tape, its very quick and time efficient.

I am close to 2 other trapping groups and look frequently at Friends of Rotoiti site. I love getting feedback from other trappers and find it extremely motivational. I very much value time outs input into my trapping and thank him for posting the photo of my tails.

Unreal you guys

Just catching up on the forum and the above posts are all truly inspirational.

Good stuff you three, thanks heaps for posting !!
@sore head stoat....that's real interesting about the duck feathers !!

Merry Christmas and keep catching



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I know exactly what this rat is thinking!

What you don’t like my new necklace bling
I’m sure I look good in this?

Last Check for 2019 in the estuary had the team out early to beat the tide, better return than of late 3 Stoats, 1 Weasel, 1 Hedgehog and a big Ship eat.

Merry Christmas all and keep smashing em in 2020.

Spotted a dead duck on the side of the road yesterday, so along with fresh eggs a few of mine got duck feathers today





Cheers for the tip, stoat's beware

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Hey kukuwai how did you get on with the feathers in your trap ?

I got a good haul of 4 weasels and 2 stoats just before Christmas in my high country traps and less than 2 weeks later got exactly the same plus a rat and hhog.

Originally Posted by sore head stoat

Hey kukuwai how did you get on with the feathers in your trap ?

I got a good haul of 4 weasels and 2 stoats just before Christmas in my high country traps and less than 2 weeks later got exactly the same plus a rat and hhog.

Checked them a few days ago and there was a big old rat in one of them so sure fooled that fella. They still look bloody good. Easy to see how it fools them, very realistic

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Damm it just realised I forgot to put my tails in for the swamp comp