Has anyone here tried the PoaUku lures from BoffaMiskel/Connovation?
I’m interested particularly in the mustelid one, to hear how your catch rates were affected and your feelings about longevity of them.
I have just purchased a bunch of these lures to trial so will let you know! 
1 Like
Can’t comment on the mustelid baits but put rat and possum bait out in late March and we are still making kills.
1 Like
Yeah I’ve used them, no observable increase in catch rates.
Wow lasting well, I might add some of those to my next order.
In addition to things like mayo, peanut butter, erayz
1 Like
Hi there - yep I bought a pack of the mustelid ones and one of the rat ones… made no difference at all. In fact to the point that I have ignored them and reverted to Erayze and PB etc as normal. Wouldn’t buy again to be honest.
2 Likes
They were a fail for us. They work fine for the first week or so (rats in DOC traps), but they seem to lose their scent pretty quickly, although I’m sure the predators will pick it up for a bit longer. Then they developed a think dark mould on them.
The one on the right is one I tried to clean so I could re-scent it, but too much work.
The little red ants took a liking to it which probably aided the removal of the scent.
No plans to use these again.
2 Likes
Thanks for the pics! I wouldn’t want to chew that 
I see you have a wire on one which I persume hung from mesh or lid of box so its not an airflow issue…makes me a lille concerned about ones I placed on floor of boxes.
What time of year and how far north are you?
The one with wire was used in a double-ended cage trap in case something tried to run off with it.
I started using them in late March in Sth Auckland. The mouldy photo was taken on 8th June.
1 Like
This is a bit disappointing. There shouldn’t be anything in the ceramic or the lure to cause mould formation. Is it a mould or more like a lichen that you find on a decramastic roof? It could be result of the surface roughness of the ceramic trapping spores (pure speculation).
My use of smooth terracotta lures Terracotta lures for Victor traps continues to catch rats at a similar rate to food lures. I have not have any problem with mould over a year or more. The lure continues to attract rats for at least six weeks, at which point I soak them in the lure again. I couldn’t say for certain how long the actually continue to attract for, but long after I can smell anything!
I have not tried a salmon, or similar, Connovation scent lure for mustelids, but I would certainly like to. Only the cost of buying another bottle of lure puts me off. I currently use the Chocolate lure. At the rate I am going it will be many years before I need to buy another bottle.
We’ve had good experiences with the PoaUku lures in DOC boxes… we tend to use them to augment other lures so that there’s always something in the trap. They last well down here in the deep South.
One word of warning. Don’t be tempted to use them in Trapinator or Flipping Timmy possum traps. If you hang the PoaUku lure off the bait bar, they hang down too low and so a possum can set of the trap before the head is fully engaged.
1 Like
Hi @camthelegend. Thanks for your feedback on the lures. We’re keen to know some more details about where they were (weather conditions etc) when they went moldy as this never happened to us in trials (and shouldn’t happen to a ceramics). If you do put them on top of an area which has high spore counts (e.g. where moldy baits have previously been in a trap) then the spores will get on the surface (only) of the block. Hanging on the inside of traps using a nail/wire also helps with that potential issue.
We do have an option we can add to the recipe to address mold though, so this is useful feedback. I don’t think red ants would make a difference as the scent penetrates through the entire block. If you want me to send you a free batch with an extra additive to trial (at no cost), please let me know.
This is our first year of this new product and we’re very dedicated to making them work and tweaking them as necessary to ensure attractiveness and longevity. Feedback from users is super useful for this
Happy to chat further of you can contact me directly if you want on helen.blackie@boffamiskell.co.nz
Many thanks,
Helen
2 Likes
I have been trying them since February. My experience is that they are good for rats although I am using them on a free range chicken farm. However not one mustelid. I have only just changed them for new ones as I thought their catch rate was falling, only for one of the old ones to be still catching rats. My complaint is that I can not refresh them.
I think that it is possible to get them refreshed. Helen Blackie’s e-mail is listed in her reply to camelthelegend from 10 days ago. They’re a great idea for a long-term lure, but they still need some work.
Hello all. Continuing this thread 18 months later.
I’m part of a group that has been operating since 2005, managing 325 hectares of land in the coastal Coromandel - from sea level to 275 m asl.
We have been using Poauku over the last year in double set DOC200 trap boxes, approximately 100 sets. Initially we put the Poauku on the egg stand in the bottom of the boxes. Some of these poauku lures went mouldy - so we drilled a small hole in the box side and used a square drive screw to hold it off the floor (note hole is bigger than the screw - so this can be removed by hand).
Thanks @ngatapa_station for your advice around the mouldy spore issues, (one of our older trappers doesn’t think its a good idea to clean a trap box of old baits - the smell may remain, as do the mould spores!)
While the Poauku have been left in the trap boxes, we have also used other attractants including erayse, eggs, beef fat, meat lovers paste on a rotational basis to try to provide a different scent.
I also have a Salmon lure spray which gets applied every couple of months direct onto the lure of the traps I manage.
Our catch rates for mustelids prior to using the Poauku were 2-4 stoats a year (across 325 hectares).
During this last 12 months we have caught 7 stoats and 7 weasels. Plus 137 rats and 7 hedgehogs (and 1 cat !).
We are fortunate of having matuku / bittern breeding in our area, so a big focus in on managing our trap network around the swamp / estuary areas. This area also includes spotless crake, banded rail and lots of Matata (fernbird).
As we are now over a year since these lures went out, what advice do other people have about “refreshing” these Poauku lures? Rather than throwing them out - we would like to re-use them.
Can they be refreshed (washed then soaked) in Salmon oil, and then re-used in the field?
1 Like