Just out of interest, how many trappers have killed stoats and/or weasels in snap traps or inside DOC tunnels with PB as the primary lure?
If you have, how frequent are the kills?
Cheers.
I’ve caught a Weasel in a Victor trap in a wooden tunnel baited with PB. The trap had killed a number of rats in the recent past so I assumed it was their scent it was lured in by.
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hello. We use DOC150 traps and catch stoats and weasel regularly with peanut butter. There is no rhyme nor reason as to when we catch them. Sometimes it is a busy week and we get 10 or 12 usually in traps close to each other.
We also use golf balls. They seem to do the trick more than you think. It seems the golf balls are a bit sparkling at night and lure in the stoats, weasels and rats.
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Nice to hear. Like every other lure, the results vary from place to place.
When you get a cluster of kills like that, they’re probably siblings. I trapped 5 juvenile weasels over the course of a week, in 2 tunnels that were only about 100m apart from each other. There must have been a nest not that far away.
I also use golf balls, which work great. One of mine has spent so much time in a tunnel that it’s partially split, which has given it an egg shape.
Cheers.
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I have caught a weasel in victor trap / tunnel with PB, but wasn’t a clean kill. It was still actively alive when I came by, as I check those particular traps every day. Stoat traps (BT200s or DOC 200s) are my main traps for stoats and weasels using mustelid cubes, golf balls, eggs when available from our own chooks being too productive! I am always surprised to catch them, whatever trap. There was a time when I first ramped up my trapping and I was catching masses of mice and rats in 4 electronic Rat Zapper traps using small dog biscuits as bait. I would quite often look out the bathroom window in the middle of the night, and see red lights going crazy in the woodsheds, indicating a catch in progress. Big surprise when I found a weasel in one, most likely attracted by the smell of rodents, as others have mentioned, rather than the dog biscuit! cheers, Tony
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Fortunately, I very rarely find dirty kills or predators that are still alive, perhaps 2 rats a year (out of 250+). Knowing when to retire traps makes a big difference.
Predators’ curiosity can definitely get the best of them. It’s like that trapper that uses red ping pong balls instead of eggs to lure mustelids. I’ve also read that pet toys can interest mustelids.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the weasel that you trapped was also interested in the dog biscuit, because they almost always contain animal ingredients. Vegetarian pet food probably wouldn’t garner as much interest.
Cheers.
