Thread: Bird Predator Control

I guess many of you have tried out most of the snap-back rat traps that are available on the market - there is a wide range of traps from good quality to junk – most of them work and either kill or frighten the daylights out of Mr Rat
I say Mr Rat as some of the buggars are big and take a bit of killing – if you just frighten them – they may not come back.
I don’t use a camera, so I don’t know a lot about what happens at a trap site – perhaps KH can help, I often find traps that are tripped and there is no victim or lure to be seen. Maybe he pulled out, got eaten by his mates or a cat, or maybe it was a clean miss.
If you want killing power in a snap trap – it is hard to beat a Victor Pro – it will clamp and hold most large rats or give them a severe head knock that kills them close to the trap. If you want an easy to operate plastic trap there are plenty of options but top of my list is the Kness Snap-E – followed closely by the Victor Power Kill. I have tried a few other plastic snap traps and rate them from soft and near useless to very powerful and almost dangerous to the user. I tried about 20 Gorilla traps as they have a steel trigger that will not break – but they were difficult to set, often tripped for no reason and our users disliked them – so they got hammered or biffed.
The Envirotools D-Rat traps with their safety hoods are powerful, user safe and would be good for tree trapping – but a bit more expensive.
I have tried most of the options on trap lines that are serviced by others (including my wife), and I always come back to the Kness Snap-E trap. It is user friendly, reliable and generally hits them around the head or neck providing a humane kill – but not always - perhaps due to the age and condition of the trap.
The line that I look after at the Park, is generally free of public so I use a simple core flute open ended cover - held on a log or tree root with a single screw so I can tilt it back to service the trap. Some of the covers have been chewed by rats and are a bit scruffy but they keep the trap dry and direct the rat to the front of the foot plate. The traps are held on roots and old logs with two screws - but some logs are rotting and the screws are getting pulled out by rats that are a bit pissed off with the process – I need to tidy up and get some longer screws or shift the trap position. I recently lost the last of my Gorilla traps that was only held by a single screw – we are pleased that the bastard thing is gone - I replaced it with a Snap-E.
Our trap lure continues to be GN Possum Paste as it does not go mouldy in winter and the cinnamon flavour is quite strong - but in summer I revert to Connovation blue smooth in a tube – if available.
Around my street lines I generally use a peanut butter/rolled oats mix as it is a low cost option.
So where to purchase traps – plenty of options but Carol at Grantley Imports (also trades as Dead Rat Ltd) is my first call, she has the best prices and a great range of products – www.deadrat.co.nz
Just in case you get sick of multiple pictures – I put a few of the Kness Snap-E pics on one page