the_commoner Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 I keep a few hens at the bottom of the garden and recently there has been a huge increase in the number of entry points under the coop. There used to be 1 or 2 now there is probably 7 or 8 entry points under the coop from 3 runs. The runs come from right under 2 big holly bushes so are pretty inaccessable. I decided it was time to get hold of some fenn traps, ordered them from north east fieldsports, arrived in good time and i have left them outside for a few weeks to 'weather'. I had some plywood tunnels made up at work and yesterday evening decided to set the traps. I set 4 tunnel traps and one in the top of the compost bin because the other day i opened it to put some scraps in and saw a rat diappear down the side. See pics which i took this morning anyway went down this morning and checked the traps, live trap was untripped, 4 of the fenns were untripped, but got to the last one which is on the busiest run and hey presto TWO littleuns caught in one trap, the one was only caught by its tail so i had to dispatch it, made me jump at touch when i lifted the tunnel off though i can tell you, didn't expect to see any let alone one caught by its tail jumping around !!!!!!! only question now is how do i get the ******* out of the trap !!!!!! first time i have set these type of traps, i now know that they need to be set across the run as opposed to in line, but thought they were worth putting up especially because there are two in one trap, god only knows how Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeh Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Haha! good work. I hope you keep a lid on that compost bin, thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stamford Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 We've just noticed rat activity with our chickens. I laid in wait the other day with my BSA 22 air rifle.. Must have nicked him as there was blood but no sign of the ****** and havent seen anything since. Hoping its just a one off but rats being rats, I'm sure they'll be back for more soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_commoner Posted March 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Haha! good work. I hope you keep a lid on that compost bin, thought... i do keep a lid on it i just took it off for the pic, the rats get in at the bottom and have tunneled up to the top to take the fresh scraps !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbob Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Your needing to turn that trap round and i lay mine on the top of the soil not level as i think they go to jump it and land on the trigger and it might compensate if you have set them a bit to hard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_commoner Posted March 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 another in one of the fenns caught last night and one a touch bigger !!! the trap is 40cm long ....................... thought the dog was gonna chew through the cage this morning trying to get at it !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dusk2dawn Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 Excellent post and result with Rats, I hate them with a passion, good to see you have restricted the ends of your tunnels to exclude our friend Mr. Tiggywinkle. Most important thing to remember is always, always wear gloves and then keep those gloves out of the way, rats pee everywhere and its not nice if you have a cut or graze on your hands. Rats are intelligent, before long the survivors will figure out that the tunnels are bad news (they will see their buds in the traps), when this happens leave the tunnels in place baited but remove the traps for a week, keep baiting, after they have resumed feeding THEN put the traps back in the tunnels. Nasty, dirty, things keep it up!! Rgds D2D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_commoner Posted March 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 (edited) i hate the filthy egits too..................not sure i hate them as much as the dog though, she was going mental this morning with the live one in the trap before i dispatched it i got hold of surgical gloves and use them when i am setting the traps and removing the rats and then chuck the gloves away each time i am hoping to pick up a few rats for the first couple of weeks to get the numbers down............then i will keep me eye on any new runs / entry points and hopefully would have made a good dent by then........... 4 in two nights suggests maybe a few more rats than i first thought as for mr tiggywinkle - he usually meanders around the lawn from 9pm ish onwards, so yes definately restricted to make sure he doesn't get nipped Edited March 25, 2009 by meinderby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPARKIE Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 NICE 1 MARV COULD DO WITH THEM OVER AT RAYS LOADS OVER THERE LAST TIME I WENT OVER... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
410PHIL Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 I wouldn't take the traps out of the tunnels just make them safe,the remaining rats can feed in peace for a few nights and be confident about feeding from the traps without getting splatted. After a few nights take the safety catches off the traps and you should in theory catch in every trap every night for a few nights.Then move the traps and set them live and then after a few nights set with the safety catches on and repeat the process again. Rats are Neophobic meaning they are very wary of new things and change so by leaving the traps with the safety catches on after the initial kill of young inexperienced rats you should start to make a dint in the adult population. Hope this helps All the best Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_commoner Posted March 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 NICE 1 MARV COULD DO WITH THEM OVER AT RAYS LOADS OVER THERE LAST TIME I WENT OVER... you fancy going over with the air rifles one night next week for a ratattack !!! I wouldn't take the traps out of the tunnels just make them safe,the remaining rats can feed in peace for a few nights and be confident about feeding from the traps without getting splatted.After a few nights take the safety catches off the traps and you should in theory catch in every trap every night for a few nights.Then move the traps and set them live and then after a few nights set with the safety catches on and repeat the process again. Rats are Neophobic meaning they are very wary of new things and change so by leaving the traps with the safety catches on after the initial kill of young inexperienced rats you should start to make a dint in the adult population. Hope this helps All the best Phil cheers for the advice phil, all quiet this morning, i am going to leave them until the weekend then probably set them with the safety on for a few nights as suggested see if it works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullet boy Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 They say where you`ll have Chickens you`ll get Rats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_commoner Posted March 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 right then guys thats a couple of nights without any catches in any of the traps and without any of them being trip, i backfilled the entry points under the coop earlier in the week so i could see where any new runs were, but nothing this week ........................ would the fact that i have had 3 in the fenns and 1 in the cage trap have made the others (if there are any which i am sure there are) wary are they likely to stay away for a few nights until they get hungry and then maybe come back again ? i have not baited any of the traps but am thinking that i might do as suggested and block off one end and bait the tunnel to try and pick up some more of the filthy egits its that or just leave em 24/7 and keep my eye on any new entry points that they dig in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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