I am running 5 timms box traps and 2 old gin traps (with jaws reversed) in boxes to get rid of ferrets/ stoats/hedgehogs and rats. so far the old traps are dynamite on hedgehogs. is anyone else doing this and if so any tips for a newbie to this? I trapped possums as a young fella so know about gin trapping but thats not allowed any more (thanks a heap you plurry tree huggers) very ironic when you think about it. the info on the net is varied as to what to use for baiting traps.If I can find some fenn traps I will really be into it as they are supposed to be great, just have to find some cheap cheap.

Hey Elvis
I'll call a mate of mine and get some advice from him. I remember him saying that he uses snares for short-tailed weasels (ermine) which are like ferrets.

now there is a concept I hadnt thought of.

Ditto on the snares for weasels. My F-I-L trapped for years and he made hole sets with snares and also Conibear traps after leg holds were barred. Can't remember the bait but for some reason fresh fish comes to mind.

My wife said to use canned sardines in oil and also marshmellows as bait.
She was a government trapper with the rabies unit in Ontario and they had pallets of sardines when they were live trapping and innoculating for rabies of raccoons, skunks, fox, coyote and feral cats. She said to use marshmellows in the barns to keep the local cats from coming to the bait station/trap.

Now thats one thing I have not yet tried.
I always want to do some trapping, maybe one day I can do it.

Elvis, can you post some pictures of the traps?

gelandangan wrote:

Now thats one thing I have not yet tried. I always want to do some trapping, maybe one day I can do it. Elvis, can you post some pictures of the traps?

Check out Utube for info on the traps mate...heaps on there. I am very familiar with Gin Traps, used them for years. We call them rabbit traps and they are now illegal to use in many parts of Australia...don't know why because they are a good trap, albeit maybe a bit painful for the critter (but we are going to kill them aren't we?) Not familiar with the Fenn Traps, but they look good. I have heard of the Conibear Trap, although I am not sure if they are commercially available in Australia, they wouldn't be too hard to make though.

The other option is to learn how to set snares. I learnt a bit about them whilst I was in the Army...never had a need to use one, but they are pretty easy to set so long as you do it correctly. There is plenty of "guidance" for snaring on Utube as well.

Gin Traps

Fenn Trap

Cheers, Vince

gee you do have the goods Vince . check out the timms traps, they are simple as to use and very safe.
Sardines and marshmellows aye... well I guess she will know I will get SWMBO to get some in the groceries for me, thanks for the advice.

Those Timms traps don't seem too bad mate...and they also use them for feral cats. Good stuff, but nowhere near as much fun as a head shot with a high power rifle.

Cheers, Vince

you should see the fun and games with a big buck possum in one on the back lawn!!!!! KERTHUNK scratch scratch..... silence, they are easy to pet proof you set one and when the pet walks past you kick the side of the trap and boom off it goes, very loud and the dog/cat give them a wide berth in the future. utube would be great but snail speed dial up makes it impossible. a simple email takes 10 minutes to see if it has pictures and video footage is just a joke.

of course! yes I have seen these before.
Some of them are sold in gun shows.


I guess what I had in mind were called snares rather than traps.

Make the snares yourself mate...the inner cable from a bicycle brake works a treat...so they tell me.

Cheers, Vince

Heavy braided picture wire will make a good snare. Stainless solid wire is even better as it doesn't kink as easy and is stronger. Unfortunately it has been banned here as a conversation measure for the local pine martin.

I have been snaring hares for years. Find a run, cut a snare stick as an anchor, tie/twist on the snare, set the stick into the ground and then set the snare about a half a hand breadth high and 3-4 fingers open in diameter. If the snare is tied to a fixed branch etc. it increases the chance of it being broken off and makes for more searching for the animal. I usually get several grouse in snares each year as they often use runs made by hares. Now and then a small hare will actually jump through a snare and get caught around the middle. They will stay put for a day or two and if it has snowed it is always a surprise when you haul up a buried snare and find a wiggler on the end. At the end of the season I simply close the loops and leave the snares in position to mark the runs for the next season. Runs are generally used year over year unless underbrush or other vegetation changes make the hares abandon them.

The only other technique used on occasion is to lay out a pile of birch branches in an open area close to/surrounded by good cover. Wait a few nights for the hares to find the nice tasty birch then put snares on every run you can locate in the surrounding cover. Sometime we use sticks and branches to narrow in a run so the hare is forced right into the snare.

When I took my wilderness survival training many years ago I was told that you can snare anything from a mouse to an elephant. I believe it.

Mac,
assuming you're using a snare because you dont have a firearm, catching an elephant would fall under the old dog chasing car story, "now you've caught it, what are you going to do with it"........
Not many elephant running around the wilds of Canada, moose would give the same dilema, they're just as cranky.

dhc4ever wrote:

Mac, .............. moose would give the same dilema, they're just as cranky.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada...60511.html

I have personally seen a moose dead in a snare made of aircraft cable. It had torn up the ground and everything around it trying to free itself. The cable had cut into its neck muscle. I was with a veteran game warden and he was as sickened as I was. I can't imagine coming upon that moose alive and being able to set it free. The people responsible were never caught even though we both had our suspicions.