Thread: Bird Predator Control

can of sardines with holes punched in them....works for cats and ferrets

I don't know what it is but I love seeing feral cats taken out !!! I got one a couple of months ago it was feeding at the carcass pit, didn't hear me creep up with the 12g and 2 meters away cat had a window view thru the middle of it.

Had a quiet wander round the Park this morning for three hours - checked about thirty trap stations - got nothing - trapping is a frustrating business where you are torn between wanting kills or not wanting kills
The GN gas operated rat trap is an interesting device - designed to attract rats with the odour from a lure bottle on the top - they suggest you give it a squeeze each month to push out some fresh lure
I find the lure dries out, gets a bit crusty and then has little odour - so I remove half of their product and add orange possum paste and olive oil - sometimes some aniseed - chuck it in the microwave to get it more fluid - stir it up and get lots more odour - it also allows the lure bottle to dribble down the barrel for several weeks - I also add some GN possum paste inside the barrel - note Goodnature do not recommend this practice inside their device
The barrel is always clean when I come back - not sure if it is mice or rats - sometimes the odd rat under the trap, sometimes some blood - seems that mostly they get cleaned up by other rats

I find ferrets easy trapping, just time consuming. Over a couple of months just chipped away and got around 15 ferrets from one house.
The trick with them is to keep the bait fresh, they aren't interested in anything to stinky, rabbit works very well on them with tunnel traps.

Cats don’t leave much behind - but I will get her - soon

Not quite what I had in mind this morning - but I will take him - I guess that where there is a mother cat and kittens - there must be one of these buggars - but the old girl is still around somewhere - they just never stop coming up off the main road carpark - they take the cat on holiday and let them out with the carpark bantams -

Poor pussy - I really want out - hope he enjoyed half a rabbit -


Nice size - but not huge - he never hissed once which is strange for a feral - usually they make heaps of noise in a cage -

Good work Time Out

When I was home last Dad was having trouble with the local minor bird population.
Being spring they where eating a load of eggs, new chicks etc.
Shot two off of the front step, then made up some small cradles out of some fencing wire sat them in it.
Placed them out on his front lawn and put up to poles and a bit of camo cloth as a screen. Got a nice seat and a load of 7 shot. Spent the afternoon and ended the day with 48. They decoyed in a treat. Had the good wife supplying me with coffee and calling out when they where coming in from a blind spot off on my left.
Dads place is a long way from the neighbours so no problems with noise or scaring someone who no nothing about guns or pest control.
Dad told me later that the local small bird population was now doing very well.
If you look on some of the pigeon shooting UK sights you can get an idear on how to make your own cradels.
You can do it with magpies as well. Good for getting your eye in before duck shooting

find out where the mynar birds are nesting. get there just before light with a mate and a couple of shot guns. just as you hear them getting started up for the morning, ( just on light) put a shot into the tree and be ready! they all lift en mass and let them have it. usually about 3 months or so before they head back in. works a treat. First did it up kaiwaka on a mates farm I was working on a few years back.

Originally Posted by kruza

find out where the mynar birds are nesting. get there just before light with a mate and a couple of shot guns. just as you hear them getting started up for the morning, ( just on light) put a shot into the tree and be ready! they all lift en mass and let them have it. usually about 3 months or so before they head back in. works a treat. First did it up kaiwaka on a mates farm I was working on a few years back.

Hi Kruza
Do your best, we don't need them coming down south.
So that puts you on the coal face so to speak.
KH

don't even get me started on sparrows, starlings, pheasants and gawd knows what else.

Originally Posted by kruza

don't even get me started on sparrows, starlings, pheasants and gawd knows what else.

kruza, as long as you're started, many are not.
Some have racks of firearms and mostly all they see is gun oil or a piece of paper. So don't get me started.
KH

I'm starting to like these live traps.
There is a lot more cats out there than I realised, just scoping the terrain and stalking.
But what really surprised me is that this didn't trip in the wind last night.

I'm experimenting with the traditional design but altered it, so the cat pushes past the trip stick (which usually has the bait wired to it) to the left side, to bait at the very back of trap. The stick balanced on the trip stick and has the noose and rope attached to bent sapling then pulls to the left. (Traditional is set to center) Hitting cat in face as it starts to close noose. Cat keeps backing out in hurry as noose tightens and the left hand entrance stick which is barely in ground (it's the rocks to the right that stop it pulling out same lever principle as trip stick) comes loose, the entrance pops out of ground and sapling it totally free to deal with cats weight. Only been in a couple of days so probly still stinks of me setting it up.

Have you enlarged the opening on the timms to fit cats?

Back in the day, if one of our ferrets went walk about, we would leave fresh liver out overnight to attract it. Always worked for us