Thread: Possum trapping

Hello all, im new here and was looking for information on trapping possums. Ive searched the forums and have found a lot of good information on lures and so forth and i have tried pretty much most of the combinations of different lures without any luck. I know how to check for possums as i normally just shoot them but i have had no luck in catching them in traps. I am using Victor no1 traps i have 30 of them set over 3 nights at the moment and i have had a 0% catch rate... do i need to get more traps? I know the possums are there because i shot 12 last night in the trees above the dam traps when i was out checking the traps!..My last lure i tried was icing sugar and flour 1 part icing sugar to 5 parts flour. I have the trap set on the tree base around a foot away from the trunk and put the lure on the tree trunk. I have used this method for all the lures i have tried and i havent caught a single thing. any ideas on what im doing wrong?

Take some pics of a few of your sets and post them.

If you have monkeys in a tree a trap is set on, it is likely your are missing the approach or something is putting them off your set.

Has your lure been touched?

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Ill post some photos later on today, and no the lure is not been touched

Nunga have a look around second hand bookshops for Possum trapping by Graeme Marshall. I go for a highly scented flour and cover the pan of trap only as it catches them high up the leg with no skin break.Not a fan of smear of flour up tree trunk as i want them in trap not feeding them.If public land minimum trap locating marker to cut down on stolen traps,if private a strip of white plastic or shopping bag hanging above the trap so they get nosy.

The traps need to only be about one hand span from the tree ,about maybe 6" or 150mm max . As for a lure you need to use a decent amount ,have a look on youtube there are plenty of examples .

I went out today and got some shop lure its called good nature possum paste its orange in colour i have put this on all my traps. here is a photo of what most of them look like.

Stick your lure about a hammers length up the tree so the possum has to reach for it and catch his back leg in the trap


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Originally Posted by Nunga

I went out today and got some shop lure its called good nature possum paste its orange in colour i have put this on all my traps. here is a photo of what most of them look like.

Attachment 49619

Yeah. Get trap as said above, a hands span from tree. Set as pictured above will result in a low percentage.

I just use flour with ground cloves for lure.
Smear a line starting 2 foot up the trunk about a foot long above trap.
I also might staple something to peak their interest like a length of shopping bag or a thin length of white plastic sign board also 2-3 foot up the tree.

Don't be afraid to cam your set up a bit as well. Doesn't need to be perfect.
Look for marks that indicate the side a critter will climb tree and in turn approach the set.
Guide them in to your set with with logs and rocks etc.

Keep at it and you will work out a strategy.😆


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I got 4 possums with those 30 traps yesterday this time. changed the sets to what you all have said and im about to go back now to check to see if that has helped i will let you know the outcome.

some areas hold poison/trap shy coons just a matter of upping your game a little as R93 pointed out don't be shy on covering the traps a little especially with them all nice & shiny ! first time I cam across it I was in waipori falls a Farley remote village in the bush but I guess others had the same idea as me so end result was difficult possums to catch I tried a few different lures curry powder , cinnamon , aniseed & peanut butter none worked that great in the end I got my hands on 15 prefeed stations & 6 bags of cinnamon pellets kept them topped up for a week then crushed up a bunch of pellets put a handful on the ground infront of the stations small blobs of poision then covered in the cinnamon mix & bingo only down side if your to far off the beatn track theres a bit of work involved ...good luck
also don't move the traps that are catching only move the ones that aren't

yeah, the traps that seem to be catching are all on the south side. I have 10 more traps going in that area tomorrow. I got 6 this time round.

I have another question. how far apart would you recommend placing the traps? and how long should i leave the ones that are not catching in place?

how far apart....on any good trees...10mtrs not too close where heaps of sign but 25-30 would be norm around a fence line. get right down and look hard for where possums are walking....bit like a sheep track but more subtle,place trap on this run and you should be good. looking at photo,personally I would think possums are going up one leg or the other so will miss your trap completely,work out which leg they climbing and put trap beside that and see how you get on. G.Ms book is full of good info.

also when you "dong" your possum and its dead and peeing let it do so around your trap..the scent will help up your catch rate.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

how far apart....on any good trees...10mtrs not too close where heaps of sign but 25-30 would be norm around a fence line. get right down and look hard for where possums are walking....bit like a sheep track but more subtle,place trap on this run and you should be good. looking at photo,personally I would think possums are going up one leg or the other so will miss your trap completely,work out which leg they climbing and put trap beside that and see how you get on. G.Ms book is full of good info.

Which book is this?

i think it is Possum trapping by Graeme Marshall?? oh yeah by the way im trying a new lure. i have got Maple syrup Cinnamon and flour to thicken it up into a paste and i have put this on the traps that i know caught things in to see if that works. ill let you know the results tomorrow.