Rattie

[tommy the cat]

I can't get the trap set sensative enough! ! Although there seems to be young rats now!!
I think it's got to be a friends air rifle now!

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[tommy the cat]

Ahhhh think I'm getting the hang of it know! !! Yesterday I caught a baby rat and a sparrow! !

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[British Red]

Excellent - if it triggers for small birds, its more than sensitive enough - its just a matter of the right bait and the right place. If they are robbing the bait, try something you can wire in place!

 

[xylaria]

This thread is really informative thank you. A lot posters have gone to a lot effort to describe the various ways of co trolling rats in great detail.

 

[British Red]

Just thinking Dave - try bacon rind wired onto the trigger plate for bait

 

[tommy the cat]

Thats a great idea BR! Only trouble is only Quorn in the house!!!
No joking apart great idea.Ive moved the trap more to the hedge line as Im catching mainly dunnocks!!!
Its still a bit of a faff to set as Ive not got it quite right which means it takes a bit of patience to get it set sensative but Im getting there.
I think my friends offer of an air rifle may just be necessary as at the rate Im catching them theyll be breeding faster!!
Thanks again for the advice D

 

[British Red]

No worries. We have problems of our own with cotton tailed bandits at the moment so I have decided to try a really large cage trap and see if I can live trap one. I've slotted the odd one with a 410 but need to step up the pace as well. I've placed mine in an area where they "bolt" when I startle them and created a couple of small "funnelling" fences out of chicken wire to hopefully push the young stupid ones into the cage.

Lets see who gets one first

 

[British Red]

I win

Cage Rabbit Trap with "funnel" by British Red, on Flickr

Young Rabbit Caught by British Red, on Flickr

Cute little bandits huh?

Stick with it Dave. Trapping is a skill like any other. Sadly in the UK the opportunities to learn it are few and far between. Its not a matter of "buy a trap and stick it anywhere". Scent management, site, trigger tuning, non target species (like your Dunnocks) all comes into play. It just takes practice and thinking and not getting frustrated. I got lucky here but as the man said "the harder I train, the luckier I get". I knew where the young bunnies like to run, baited the trap, put in the funnel to force the rabbit into the tunnel and left it over night. I expected nothing but aimed to startle some in the morning hoping they would bolt into it. As it happens, there was already one in. That's because it was young and dumb. I'll need to work harder for the adults.

Red

 

[tommy the cat]

Bugger! Just another sparrow here!
Got another method of control today borrowed off my mate.
I'm 'enjoying' the chase but I'm really concerned about trapping birds and leaving them for a large period of time, so I'm only setting he trap when I'm around to check it every few hours max most.
Dave


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