Hi, I have just bought some Nara blocks as I had good experience of them being used as bite blocks covered in possum dough and used in Possum Master traps. I was wondering if anyone uses them as delivered (blue, vanilla variety) in possum traps or rat traps and how successful they have been? I’m always looking for a bit of variety from time to time! cheers
There are a few posts about Nara blocks. Use the search function to find them, entering Nara.
Cheers.
Hi, I previously asked a similar question without any real response. They do sound like a good option. Ultimately I made my own terracotta lures which serve a similar purpose and have proved very durable and effective on my section (Wellington bush).
Thanks Dan, I’m out in Whitemans Valley. I do trapping over a few different properties and am just setting up for possums during a quiet spell for them. So, I’ve just renewed my stock of Nara blocks which I have used successfully for using as a bite block in PM traps with possum dough on top. Also in Timms and Flipping Timms with an additional attractant of possum dough or GN possum lure used liberally. I was just wondering if anyone had used them as ordered, in a doc200 or similar to attract rats. Thanks for your interest …Tony
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Please see update below, I remember we had discussions a few years back! Thanks for your interest … Tony
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Hi I’m at a bit of a loss to why you people are spending money on Nara Blocks then covering them with Possum Dough. ?
The original method for make your own was to take pieces of Dowel drill a hole length ways for attachment and soak the Dowel in what ever you wanted plenty of natural oils out there, Aniseed Cinnamon etc.
Thanks for your input Dave … I guess some of us are just “handier” (and younger!) than others. The main thing is that we are all working hard to reduce the number of pests, enjoy the additional birdsong and hopefully stop any more of our valuable species becoming extinct. Keep up the good work, cheers - Tony
I don’t know what you mean about “see update below”. Is there a feature that I can’t find?
Hi Willowflat_warrior, I was being lazy and just wanted you to see the reply I made to Dan Bush, copied again here. cheers, Tony
Ah, now “update” makes sense!
How frequently do you usually have to replace the blocks?
I’d expect rats to like something tasty to sharpen their teeth on.
Have you tried using the blocks without a lure on them to see if possums were interested?
I haven’t used Nara blocks in any traps/tunnels, yet, but winter’s the time to experiment with them, so I’ll investigate it.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers.
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We use Nara blocks and poauku lures as ‘secondary’ lures… to ensure that our traps remain baited for the whole of the two week cycle. Because we’re getting on top of rats, we have a surge of mice on Motupohue (Bluff Hill) and mice will eat the rat bait within a day… so the Nara blocks act as a long term lure. Why both baits? Because Nara blocks don’t seem to be as attractive as licorice or aniseed or peanut butter.
We’ve actually stopped using Nara blocks in favour of Poauku. The main reason is that we’ve noticed that mice do gradually nibble away at Nara blocks, particularly if a trapper smears smooth blue on the block - so we’re worried about microplastic contamination. Poauku obviously don’t have that problem… BUT Poauku must not be used on the bait arms of possum traps because they’re too long and enable a possum to bite down when their head isn’t fully engaged in the trap.
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Hi Tony,
I bought some vanilla flavoured lures and used them on rat and mouse traps. I never caught a thing. I experimented with “side by side” traps baited with “smooth blue” and Nara lures and the “smooth blue” won every time. I have given up on “as delivered” Nara lures. They might be alright as bait blocks but there are all sort of things that serve that purpose. Cheers, Dallas.
Thanks Dallas. I haven’t actually tried them as delivered, so good to hear your experience … on the up side, I placed 2 Timms traps in a small reserve recently where possums had been reported. The first week both traps had their bait eaten - I had used a raspberry flavoured cube that had worked successfully elsewhere. I added a Nara block to each trap, with possum dough on top and caught a possum within days. I am due for a follow up, but that was encouraging. cheers, Tony