Cruz and Chris motivated me to go and buy some Victor professional rat traps that i have baited with Goodnature possum paste, cinnamon flavour. Question please... have you ever considered that the big plastic plate needs trimming ?
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Cruz
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Re: Stoat trapping seminar Reply #167 - Dec 10th, 2017 at 9:18pm
I am not sure if you can see my photobucket pictures these days - I used the fix outlined by Alan - so I can see all my historic posts and pictures I have had a good year on mustilids around my rural lifestyle block - 1 ferret in a doc250, 3 ferrets in cages, 1 stoat in a Snap-E trap, 1 weasel in a Snap-E trap - I cant remember how many cats in cages but must be close to 10 - God knows how many rats The point I would like to make here - is try to find the sweet spot around the farm - along shelter belts and in warm dry spots - my best spot is under a short shelter belt in a windy saddle four rows of trees to try to stop the wind - the pheasants and quail love it - as do the cats and now this ferret - I saw a cat slope off a couple of months back and it took me about a month to get her and another week to get him - they often live in pairs and sometimes with kittens This ferret was a nasty buggar that would fly at me from one end of the cage to the other - he could snarl and bark - had to be pacified with the Cooey After many years of trying to create a haven for birdlife - we succeeded - but we failed through not living there - this year we found too many plastic wads and lost too many of our pet roosters - so we have sold the property and I will revert to trapping Public land - the Te Puna Quarry Park and I will also join the Friends of the Blade group on Doc land Sad to think of what will happen to our birdlife, but I will try to get the new owner involved - five weeks to take-over - so I might be able to squeeze in a few more pictures of cats and mustilids
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Re: Stoat trapping seminar Reply #168 - Dec 15th, 2017 at 1:18am
Cruz and Chris motivated me to go and buy some Victor professional rat traps that i have baited with Goodnature possum paste, cinnamon flavour. Question please... have you ever considered that the big plastic plate needs trimming ?
Not a bad idea for more targeted strikes. The modified victors work on that principal and get more consistent strike locations on the head & neck with rats & head with stoats.
Putting paste bait in front of the bait well on the yellow treadle could result in non-lethal nose strikes. I have seen a DOC youtube clip showing trap baiting this way. I reckon it is better to have your bait in the bait well.
Trim 6 mm off the treadle all the way round & see how you go. Part of the fun of trapping is experimenting with lure & trap sets.
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Great time of the year to be thinking about trapping some bird predators before your game birds are nesting - some pics below to give you some ideas - If you are wondering about traps or trapping - take a look at these - all you would ever want to know - also masses of great information within this thread
If you are getting ready for the duck season and perhaps setting up the shooting stand - have a think about how you might nail some rats, hedgehogs, weasels, stoats, ferrets, cats or possums. It is amazing how easy it is to trip one up - even with light weight trap gear. Hard to believe but a weasel, stoat or hedgehog in a rat trap is feasible. I have only ever got a ferret in a Doc250 or a cage - but maybe a Doc200 would kill one - they are really good for rats and hogs. Take a look at some pictures in this thread - must be some good ideas there. Don’t forget to save any mustilid tails for the H&F Swamp Comp - great prizes every year. I am not sure where all of the trappers have got to but I know Salmoner is still out there doing it.
Rat in a Victor Pro Ferret in a Doc250 Possum in a Possum Master Possum in a Timms Hog in a Doc200 Stoat in a Snap-E Rat in a Victor Pro Weasel in a Victor Pro Rat in a Snap-E
Have you ever thought about having some of those trophy-rats, mounted Cruz? . Good to see you are still at it. We were over in the scrub for eight days, to listen to the doncs hehawing, got mainly prickly hogs in the traps, plus a couple of possums and a rat. Nephew saw a stoat on the track, so I have left a trap handy to where he saw it, baited with the dead rat.
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I reckon the weasels get into rat traps because a mouse has had a leak in the trap box and the weasel has gone in for a look and then got the bad news. Bliimin good traps those Victors.
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Re: Stoat trapping seminar Reply #174 - Aug 30th, 2020 at 9:12am
Its been a while since I posted on this site but good to give this thread a bump and a great time of the year to think about controlling bird predators prior to the nesting season. It’s hard to imagine where the predators hang out – but a neighbour saw a ferret run across his back lawn down by the harbour estuary – so I put a cage down there on the edge of the water where my neighbour could watch it from his house – seven ferrets so far in last two months – there will be more. Its easy to catch them in a cage with a rabbit leg for lure – got a bit slow so I have been adding sardines – irresistible. Imagine the damage they would be doing to the birdlife around the estuary – ducks, Parries, Canadas, Royal Spoonbills Quail etc We have collectively removed around 350 predators from around the street of 29 houses using the PFBOP system during the last 18 months – improvement in birdlife has been amazing