Everyone on here seems to have traplines and far more sophisticated trapping objectives than me.
But I have only one Flipping Timmy and one Good Nature 24. The flipping Timmy has caught 4 Possums in the 5 months I have had it. But now, I know there is at least 1 possum nosing around, he/she will simply not put their head inside. I see on the camera a lot of interest and any extra bait is taken, but nothing more than that.
Using fresh apple, the cinnamon bait from Good Nature and I even added some peanut butter last night. They’re certainly interested, hanging around for ages.
The Good Nature 24 has caught a few rats, but I think maybe it is time to move it as my counter has stayed the same for a while.
Any ideas to entice the possum inside the Flipping Timmy?
Beth
Hi Beth – I only have one Flipping Timmy – it has caught a few but possum numbers are low so we don’t get many from about 20 possum trap sites – I have had a lot more success with possums climbing tree trunks and putting their head in Sentinels – but our team hate Sentinels for safety reasons - so the last of our ten Sentinels is ready to be replaced with a Vertical mounted Timms – I should have stuck with Flipping Timmys or Possum Masters but the team like Timms.
Try putting some jam on a piece of carpet on the bait rod – and plenty of jam around the entry hole outside – they might learn to like jam!
I hear from a lot of disappointed owners of GN A24 traps who catch very little – but with some variation of lure and mounting positions – they can be quite successful for keeping numbers down in hard to get to places – but a snap trap is likely to achieve better results if the site is easy to get at.
I like to mount the A24 on a ramp – a tree root or a log – sometimes on the ramp so they can walk in or else vertical at the top of the ramp. I tried the A24 chocolate auto feed system for many months in 10 traps – then gave up - I now only use GN possum paste in a GN A12 lure bottle. I mix a small amount of vegetable oil in the new possum paste lure bottle to help it dribble down the barrel of the trap – I give it a squeeze now and again when going past. I have always had an A24 mounted on a simple wood frame that I could move around the farm or now just around the home section.
But fiends swear by GN chocolate lure in a tube or an A24 bottle – so it must work well for most people.
Thanks Mindie - I will definitely try the jam idea.
And thanks too for the picture of the portable setup for the GN4
I’m not familiar with Sentinels or Timms - I will look them up.
I do worry about the open face snap traps. I set one up in my orchard and managed to snare a blackbird with the GN nut lure, so I haven’t had the piece of mind to try it again!
The jam sounds like a plan though - we obviously have plenty of possums down here in North Canterbury - I see them every night on my camera!
Thanks
Hi Beth
You could try cutting a hole on the top side of the trap and covering it with wire netting, so possums can see through the trap. I did this with my ground based Timms, and caught 16 possums in 4 traps over three months (plus 35 hedgehogs and two rabbits). I had caught very few previously despite obvious possum sign.
cheers
Peter
We don’t have any Flipping Timmy’s - we use Timms, SA Cat traps & Trapinators - but have the same problem and have seen it on game cameras. Have found that moving the trap a little bit or rotating it helps and use a variety of bait rather than just the same thing - peanut butter, dried apricots, feijoas (freeze when plentiful for later use), anything aniseed flavoured. And sometimes you just have have to be patient and persistent.
We also have all our traps mounted in a board with the board screwed to a post or tree at about a 45° angle. Have had more success with this than having traps mounted directly onto posts or trees.
Hi Beth, same problem here. Possums refuse to go into the flipping timmy. Changed the bait, into lemons now. I placed a ground timmy next to it both with a lemon. The camera showed it was interested in the flipping timmy, with the lemon and didn’t go in. I have seen that many times over. However it did end up into the ground timmy. It might be some possums just prefer one trap system over another.
Welcome to trapping mammalian pests. Anyone with cameras sees all of the various pests investigate traps but fail to get caught in them.
Sometimes they just walk right past.
Often they will investigate: Put their heads partially in; Hop on top; Go round and round the trap; Try to burrow underneath it; Sometimes manage to steal the bait without setting it off.
And on and on.
We are NOT going to get to Predator Free by 2050 with our current traps. They only catch a fraction of what’s out there I reckon.
Gudday all. Further to this bait discussion…something different. I also use a polystyrene tube…hollowed out and filled with cat biscuits Thread this on the Timms trigger then a few drops of my salmon oil lure. Im surprised at the results
Did you get your possum(s), @beth27? You could try curry powder, if cinnamon isn’t working - a carrot dipped in curry powder, along with curry powder added to the blaze, was the lure that finally attracted a possum to my trap instead of its usual meal of one bite from each ripe grapefruit on the tree.
