Yeah, I didn’t think it was realistic!
Hi,
I’ll get some beef fat next time I’m in Pak n Save, thanks. You might like to try storing the fat in a LureGard?
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A piece of tallow should work well in LureGards, especially if they keep out small rodents.
Drippings are much softer than tallow, which is firm and wax-like, so it could be tricky to make pieces out of it using a tool. If you melted drippings in the microwave, though, you could pour it onto wax paper to make small lures. Another option would be to dip another lure into drippings to give it a coating, like a small piece of pet food.
For rats, peanut M&M’s would be a great lure for LureGards.
Welcome to the community!
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That’s what I did - I dipped pieces of erayz and frozen rabbit meat in melted dripping and then refroze them for a while. As well as the lures I smeared a bit of solidified left-over dripping on the box walls near the entrances as a “pre-feed”. (Double-trap boxes.)
The dipped rabbit smells like a good lure to me, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say. Will stoats and cats eat it? We shall see.
I’ve bought a bunch of disposable/biodegradable tea bags from AliExpress to try, to see if bagging the lure keeps flies off. Must get around to trying them this summer. If it extends the working life of the lure it would be good for the more important traps, along the park boundary. Lots of things to try - the vinegar soak as well.
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Rabbit coated in pure fat. How could that lure not attract mustelids like a magnet?
If mice nibble away some of the fat, then the scent of the rabbit will be easier for mustelids to detect. Female mustelids, especially, will be attracted to the sights and scents of rodent activity, including the scent of their saliva on the lures, because it’s a sign that a good source of food is present inside a tunnel.
You’ll be happy to hear that I have yet to find a fly on tallow. Blowflies are looking for nice, soft flesh to lay their eggs in, not fat, which usually has a tougher texture (pork rind is akin to leather). Ants and cockroaches both like tallow/drippings, but the insects here rarely have the opportunity to eat it, because predators find it quickly. In warm/hot weather, when tallow/drippings are easier to smell, it will be even easier for predators to detect. When fat lures are left alone for a while, I know that I’ve suppressed predators to low levels.
I suspect that vinegar-soaked flesh is harder for blowflies to smell than fresh or rotting flesh, which is what they’re evolved to zero in on. Many insects are attracted to apple cider vinegar, but white vinegar doesn’t have the same appeal, due to the absence of sugar.
Please let me and the trappers reading this post if you have any problems or successes.
Good trapping!
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Interim update on dripping-dipped rabbit pieces:
No catches so far, but that may be due to a very successful poison bait drop a few months ago, and to not servicing the most likely line for re-invasion (the park boundary). Also I am back at work and have less time for trapping, so have only used about 120 or so.
The baits seem to last longer than undipped rabbit and very few of them went mouldy after a month. I’m going to keep dipping them.
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I’m glad to hear that the lures were mold-resistant for so long, mimicking my results.
The combination of having to return to work and low predator populations after the poison drop, won’t make this a good summer to collect data, unfortunately, but I do think that the fat-coated lures will allow you to trap far more predators between checks than you would with fresh rabbit. The new lures will remain attractive longer than uncoated fresh rabbit and the fat should make them way more attractive to start with.
Good luck!
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