Cats and ferrets are at the top of my list of bird predators – both very clever animals that rarely show themselves in daylight. But we must assume they are around, and we should set traps that can catch them. Kill traps are the simple solution – for me, the DOC250, Steve Allen, and Possum master traps have worked well.
On a previous property where I could check a cage daily, I found that a cage was more effective than a kill trap. Placement was important and under a dark hedge seemed to work best. I then found that a total wrap of the cage increased the catch rate significantly - in a large seed bag, wrap it in carpet or wrap it in black polythene. Just be careful that the wrap does not interfere with the trip mechanism.
These animals hunt at night, and a dark cage is an ideal place to have a feed of rabbit or sardines. I recall getting a serious fright when I crawled under the hedge to look into a tripped cage – an angry ferret hit the mesh at full speed right beside my face – I didn’t do that again. A .22 subsonic is a simple solution.
Kia ora Mindie,
Wow thanks for the tip! I’ve got 4x cages that I’m operating and haven’t got a mustelids yet, just feral cats and hedgehogs but will give this a try
On a side note, i’m not sure if anyone else is doing this at the moment, but I’ve been playing around with sensors on the door that alert me when the door is shut. This has enabled me to put the traps up in the hills and remote areas where it wouldn’t be easy for me to check every day. There is a bit of initial investment but has made life so much more easier for me!
Predator Free Franklin do Smart Cages which have sensors on them. They connect to a LORA network and it all integrates with trap.nz. You might want to look into those.
Can you tell use more / link to the sensors you are using?
Hi,
I’m using the Milesight Tilt sensors that know that X / Y / Z position: https://www.gowifi.co.nz/milesight-iot/em320-tilt-915m.html
@lenbok Shop – Predator Free Franklin
Keep in mind the NZ designed trapping specific sensors are designed to work within the MPI good practice guidelines. Wheronet, Celium, and EcoNode are all integrated with Trap.nz for notifications and traps status reporting.