Thread: Bird Predator Control

Mice can definitely eat the peanut butter off a trap without triggering it. You should really use cotton to force them to apply more pressure when attempting to negotiate the cotton.

Originally Posted by Finnwolf

‘Something’ has been eating the peanut butter off my grey plastic mouse trap, the piece of bread I sat beside it was unmolested.

This is not the first time this has happened, I doubt the trip plate is sticking but think more it might be an insect doing this as the bait is completely gone but the trap not sprung.

Any ideas anybody?

How are you getting on ?

Originally Posted by Finnwolf

‘Something’ has been eating the peanut butter off my grey plastic mouse trap, the piece of bread I sat beside it was unmolested.

This is not the first time this has happened, I doubt the trip plate is sticking but think more it might be an insect doing this as the bait is completely gone but the trap not sprung.

Any ideas anybody?

possibly leopard slugs if you have any in your area, plentiful up north, have an appetite and not usually heavy enough to trip trap but occassionally one does get chopped.

Most rat traps will catch a mouse if they are forced to walk on the front of the foot plate in a narrow box – most of them can also be hair trigger set with some risk to your fingers – Victor Pro and Victor Power Kill are great for mice
I use peanut butter/rolled oats/vegetable oil to create a very sticky molten mix that will drop off my gloves onto the trap in a heavy blob – also plenty around the entrance to the trap – you need to get them keen on having a good feed before it kills them
I don’t use large blobs of GN Possum Paste on my trap lines in the bush – just enough to hide in the bait cup – or birds see it and peck it
I have just done a trap line in the Quarry Park – maybe 50 sites rat/possum – traps are still set but bait is gone – but I got a very rare possum on another line a few days back – but no rats – no idea where they have gone – I guess there is an end to them in winter/spring
No mice or rats on my rat line close to home – ended up with 7 ferrets in the estuary cage – plus a couple of big rats plus a few hogs – my neighbour shoots the rats but lets the hogs out – then tells me to put more sardines in the cage – I might have to shift the cage along the water line to where I can manage it better
I have been getting a few rats up the top end of the street – they are coming up out of the avo orchard – it looks like they feel safe with bodies around the trap – the D Rat trap is working well and they seem happier to walk up a ramp rather then enter a nearby box – pics are from last four days - might have got the cannibal

Originally Posted by sore head stoat

How are you getting on ?

Well neither of the traps have been sprung and the wheat I hot-glued to the plates is still there so I can only guess there to mice around?

(I figured the extra weight of wheat grains plus glue would make the trap even more sensitive?)

I have also had rats getting eaten in the traps. Is it just rats that do this or something else?

The local reserve is proving a great resource for pests. After 6 weeks I'm still getting 2-3 rats a week. I have just taken delivery of 4 Timms traps. The possums are hammering the Totara. One 6m tree provided 3 in 3 days. I have run out of tomato plants to put them under. The plastic Victor traps are proving to be very reliable also taking mice if you preload the paddle a bit.

Predators are where their food is – especially rats
We have about 20 chestnut trees in a group about 100m long down one side of the street properties – a large kiwifruit orchard alongside the chestnuts – I got about 20 rats there this time last year. The ground is covered with sharp, prickly burrs that have now opened with masses of nuts available for hungry rats. The burrs are lethal and can penetrate gloves so I don’t know how rats move through them – I generally sweep runways to clear ground to the trap boxes.
I am using a couple of PFBOP boxes with Victor Pro traps as well as six coreflute boxes with Kness Snap-e traps. BillyXmas546 designed the boxes and had some made – he gave me 6 to try out – I reckon they are a real winner – so easy to shift them around and the rats seem to enjoy the internal features of real estate advertising, Snap-e or Victor traps and my peanut butter lure mix.
In the last couple of weeks I have killed 23 Ship rats and may have wounded a few more that pulled out.
Predator free BOP is a distant dream for the future – but I guess it keeps a few people employed and some of us active.
I had a look at a YouTube clip that was on the Predator Free sites – The Cacophony Project – it is a bit slow but worth a look and might explain why our traps are often empty – it seems that 90% or more animals walk straight past our traps - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mAF...ZLandcareTrust
So we cant assume we have got them all – we never will.

Not alot of a future for rats in your neighbour hood LOL. well done , great effort.

Originally Posted by time out

Most rat traps will catch a mouse if they are forced to walk on the front of the foot plate in a narrow box – most of them can also be hair trigger set with some risk to your fingers – Victor Pro and Victor Power Kill are great for mice
I use peanut butter/rolled oats/vegetable oil to create a very sticky molten mix that will drop off my gloves onto the trap in a heavy blob – also plenty around the entrance to the trap – you need to get them keen on having a good feed before it kills them
I don’t use large blobs of GN Possum Paste on my trap lines in the bush – just enough to hide in the bait cup – or birds see it and peck it
I have just done a trap line in the Quarry Park – maybe 50 sites rat/possum – traps are still set but bait is gone – but I got a very rare possum on another line a few days back – but no rats – no idea where they have gone – I guess there is an end to them in winter/spring
No mice or rats on my rat line close to home – ended up with 7 ferrets in the estuary cage – plus a couple of big rats plus a few hogs – my neighbour shoots the rats but lets the hogs out – then tells me to put more sardines in the cage – I might have to shift the cage along the water line to where I can manage it better
I have been getting a few rats up the top end of the street – they are coming up out of the avo orchard – it looks like they feel safe with bodies around the trap – the D Rat trap is working well and they seem happier to walk up a ramp rather then enter a nearby box – pics are from last four days - might have got the cannibal
Attachment 148674

Attachment 148675

Attachment 148676

Attachment 148677

Attachment 148678

Attachment 148679

if neighbour is releasing HH...its time to set a DOC 250 ....release is problimatic when they are used....

I believe anything getting eaten is eaten by stoat/ferret I had couple of ferrets eaten then caught a HUGE ferret....maybe make up a double set box eg trap at each end or place dead rat in back of box so whatever wants to eat it has to climb over trap to get it...works a treat with DOC250S and hedge hogs....the more rice like the bait the better...

I thought maybe we could look at what modifications we do to traps and what traps we build ourselves. I'll start with what I'm doing to my Victor traps. Remove the yellow plastic treadle get a 1 lt milk or drink carton
put a piece of wire or half a dozen nails in the bottom to let the oil under the trap,put the trap in pour in some boiled linseed oil and let it soak for a week. I bought one back from the bush after 3 or 4 years and it was still in reasonable condidtion. The pic shows a sinker on the trap to stop it from floating.

Originally Posted by BillyXmas546

I thought maybe we could look at what modifications we do to traps and what traps we build ourselves. I'll start with what I'm doing to my Victor traps. Remove the yellow plastic treadle get a 1 lt milk or drink carton
put a piece of wire or half a dozen nails in the bottom to let the oil under the trap,put the trap in pour in some boiled linseed oil and let it soak for a week. I bought one back from the bush after 3 or 4 years and it was still in reasonable condidtion. The pic shows a sinker on the trap to stop it from floating.
Attachment 151335

That boiled linseed has a real attraction, especially on wood.
KH

Originally Posted by sore head stoat

How are you getting on ?

We eventually something tried my trap with the hot glued wheat - and I caught the little bugger!
First mouse for ages (first rodent of any sort!).

And there’s still some hot glued wheat left for the next one...

I have been using A24s for about eight years – with varying degrees of success – we have eleven in the Quarry just over three years old – I am just in the process of installing new gas bottles – put a test shot through a couple a week or so back to check the counter – one split in half and one cracked. Not great for a high quality device – but GN have been great and replaced the two broken ones. They broke while I was holding them loosely so I could look down the barrel and tweak the trigger with a twig. The third one did not split but I decided to hold the barrel tightly in my left hand to absorb some shock – dumb arse trick – hurt like hell as the shock waves went through all the joints in my hand. I think I know what Mr Rat feels like as it massages his head.
Rats have become hard to find lately - but hogs still keep finding their way into my doc traps - 250s don't always kill the big ones.