I’ve had pretty good success with trapinators using possum dough and Goodnature lure. Some people bait these traps with fruit which I think can make it hard to set off or result in a non humane kill.
Thanks for all the info guys. I’ve got a couple of trapinators which I retired because of lack of success but I’ll redeploy them now to see how it goes.
What i do is squeeze the bar and it pops out then with a hole that it poped out from i put the end that needs bending up or down in it and bend it that way. Really easy to do i wi try and upload a video or photos today
1 Like
That comment reminded me of another reason why I got rid of the Trapinator, the one time it did actually manage to catch a possum I heard it go off, went down to have a look with a torch a few minutes later, and the possum was still struggling. The Timms break their necks and it’s over very quickly, the Trapinator choked it slowly by pushing its head into the V-shaped slot in the plastic and it definitely wasn’t a humane kill.
You’re joking if you think the Timms break their necks quickly. There is a reason they came with stakes…
I have picked up plenty of timms with possums still in them with the stakes pulled out and the trap and possum down the hill it just depends alot on the size of the possum and if its a buck etc. I cant say ive pulled an adult possum out of either with a broken neck? They both work well i just thought i would share my success with the trapinators i find them easy to set and have been efficient for me and still catches possums up to a month after baiting
I’ve occasionally had traps pulled up too, but mostly there’s just a dead possum hanging out of one with no signs of a struggle. The traps near the house have vibration sensors in them so I don’t have to slosh through mud to check them every day or two (having rotting possums next to a residential area would cause all sorts of problems) and they reset after 60 seconds, I don’t think I’ve ever had them trigger more than once so even if in some cases they don’t die instantly, they don’t live long enough for a second trigger. OTOH the one in the Trapinator was still struggling after quite some time.
I would like to just add my 2 cents worth. I have also found Timms traps down the bank with the stakes pulled out, can’t decide if done by death throe of the possum or dragged by another predator.
On the other hand have had a lot of success with trapinator, I have checked kills with a camera. Yes there is a lot of activity for a short time but dead in a short time. Have assumed these are also death throes. I am also reminded of the chicken that runs around after having it’s head chopped off…
Gruesome stuff but we do want humane kills.
2 Likes
Ok i uploaded a video to show how i set the bar on the trapinator traps. Apologies for the one handed filming
4 Likes
A couple of summer’s ago( we didn’t have one this year) also a big F-U to cyclone Gabrielle. I started using Trapinators exclusively, I was catching possums every night for a solid 2-3 weeks. All good kills, no escapes and only using manky old peanut butter. I mount them about a metre off the ground on some pretty hefty Totara trees. Maybe I was just lucky, but I really rate them.
1 Like
According to my QE2 rep, the Timms trap was designed to cut off the blood supply/oxygen to the brain. the trap isn’t meant to break the possum’s neck.
1 Like
We just bought 4 trapinators about 10 days ago ( mainly because of the price - and a recommendation from a friend in the Coromandel ) since installing them we’ve caught 13 possums - inc joeys. We can’t fault them - so far . We use a home made dough pushed into the bite bar and haven’t noticed the bait missing and trap not set off as others have mentioned. We’ve mounted ours on boards so they sit flat on the tree and don’t twist , the boards also make them easy to move around
1 Like
The photos of the currently-sold Trapinators look different from the ones I had some years ago so maybe they’ve updated them to make them more effective (meaning less useless)?
As for mounting the traps on boards, that’s really the only way to go, as you say it makes them much easier to position and move around, and you can do the 45-degree slope trick that others have described to make them more enticing to possums. If you’re using prefeed you can also put the prefeed on the boards rather than the trees, there are two kowhai down below the house with damaged bark where the trap was either from the prefeed itself or from the possums eating it off the tree trunk/branches.
1 Like
In warmer weather, when insect activity ramps up, you may want to try Goodnature’s Possum lure, because insects don’t eat it and I’ve never found a slug or snail on it, either. It’s water-resistant and long-lasting, which doesn’t hurt.
Rodents still like it, though, and I’ve had some luck with it in snap-traps. It’s such a different smell from conventional lures, that I think it grabs the attention of some passersby.
Nice possum totals, BTW. I’ve trapped several males lately, testicles on display, so I may be able to take advantage of mating season. Last year, I knocked off more in 1 week than I had in the previous 6 months.
I need to retrieve some of my Timms to mount them on planks, because it’s clearly a technique that pays off.
I also lost a summer to Gabrielle. It wasn’t all bad, because the germination rates of native plants went through the roof and the older plants had a break some harsh summers.
I live at Willowflat, which is next to the Mohaka River. We had to rely on choppers for some time, because our road to the highway was in really bad shape, with washouts and slips all over the place.
Cheers.
Having said all that good stuff about trapinators … Look what i found this morning ( it’s war now ! )
1 Like
That cheeky bastard!
Get him!
2 Likes
This is a great thread!
I have been using kill traps for about 20 years on various BOP rural properties.
About ten years ago, I started working in a nearby Park. I found there was no birdlife – it was full of rats and possums. We poisoned and trapped the rats – most years we trap killed in excess of 500 rats and fed out many buckets of toxin.
I got 10 Sentinels, a few Timms and Possum Masters. I like the Sentinels but others who joined our pest control team hated them – they use the Timms and I use the Sentinels. I started using peanut butter on the Sentinel bite block and cleaned out the easy ones - but as possum numbers dwindled – I then changed to solid state tubes tied to the lure tray. I sloshed some possum paste on the lure tube if I went past and the trap was always there waiting for the next possum that came by.
A few years back I did a line at the nearby Puketoki Reserve where they had just installed a hundred Possum Masters – replacing Warrior traps that we all hated. The pest control manager developed a nifty idea of clipping a piece of carpet on the bait holder – strawberry jam on the carpet along with other external lure such as treacle green. Puketoki is a 100 acre block of pristine residual native bush and is isolated from the Kaimaiis - they still get around 40 possum invaders from the Kaimais each year using jam on carpet.
In the Park where I trap – for the last couple of years, I have found it quite difficult to trip up a possum on apple in the few Timms, Possum Masters and Sentinels we were using – apple doesn’t last long in hot weather – so I thought about the Puketoki strawberry jam treat and I changed the lure on all possum traps to jam on carpet – it is working – two or three possums most weeks. Carpet clipped in the Possum master, tied to the bait tray in the Sentinel and speared onto the rod in the Timms – the special treat is Pams Strawberry jam – awful sticky stuff to apply.
So there is a few ideas if you have a possum that needs a special treat. Hope the pictures tell the story.
2 Likes
Carpet is a great idea. We use squares of corflute and do well, but carpet looks good for holding the lure.
Here’s a shout out to Connovation for their Smooth product. Three months old and still tasty.
Thank you for reminding me to try carpet in my Timms traps.
Apple pieces in traps last a lot longer when they’re coated with something. With a coating of cinnamon, my apple pieces last about twice as long in the summer, because the cut surface isn’t exposed to the hot, dry air, and the wind. The evaporation occurs through the skin of the apple, which takes longer. Also, ants and slugs and snails dislike cinnamon. In wet/humid weather, cinnamon delays the onset of mold, because it’s so dry.
Cheers.
1 Like
Does Connovation’s possum lure go moldy?
Cheers.