Feedback sought on how small we can make the entrance for our stoat traps around burrowing seabirds. We had the unfortunate experience recently of a diving petrel caught in a DOC 200 double set tunnel trap. They are quite small and the standard stoat trap entrance size of 55-60mm is just the right size for small petrels. From data we collected some time ago measuring stoat skull size, large males have a 35mm skull width. So we will reduce the entrance size of our traps to minimise the risk to small petrels. We propose 40-45mm entrance diameter. Any comment please.
If you decide to reduce the size of the baffle to that extent, be sure to file down the mesh, to avoid predators getting poked by the wire, because they’ll have less room to work with.
I’ve had a lot of success trapping rats and mustelids using hole entrances in plywood. The holes that I’ve made have a diameter of 50mm, but 40mm holes would give large male stoats enough room to get through them. You could make 3 or 4 entrances to see what kind of response you get from stoats, recording kills and/or using trail cams. If you discover a fresh kill, rub the stoat’s fur on the plywood. The presence of fur oils and fine hairs will act as natural attractant and should make stoats more likely to use the hole.
With burrowing seabirds, hole entrances should be more attractive to them than baffles, because they look more natural. A way to offset this, I think, would be to only cover half of the mesh with the plywood that the hole is drilled into. The mesh half of the entrance keeps the tunnel cool during hot weather and allows the scent(s) of lure(s) to escape.
I’ve made the hole entrance(s) in several of my tunnels about 10cm above the ground, in an attempt to reduce the amount of debris that gets inside, primarily splashes of mud when it rains. Would the seabirds be able to climb up a flat,10cm surface and then crawl through a hole?
Note: I do kill the occasional bird (usually blackbirds attracted to meat) in the tunnels that have hole entrances at ground level, but none in the holes above-ground.
What are you using as lures?
Could some seabirds be attracted to the lure(s)?
Could it just be curiosity?
Good luck!
Good comment thanks. Having the entrance off the ground makes lots of sense and we’ve seen elsewhere that stoats use raised entrances ok.
Hard to see the lures as an issue but worth considering, especially for fishy lures.
Thanks again.