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OldTrapCollector

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Everything posted by OldTrapCollector

  1. OldTrapCollector
    HB, First of all, if the pheasants from over the road are in your wood then they will return after you release them - they obviously prefer your wood to their own . . . Anyway; a pheasant is an easy thing to catch and you can catch them in just about any type of funnel cage trap really. If you want to make one for the purpose I would suggest making a wooden 6 foot square framework about 2 foot six high. Cover the top and four sides with mesh and leave the bottom. Then cut out two entrance holes about 18 inches wide at opposing ends and make a wire netting tunnel about the same depth, i
  2. OldTrapCollector
    He sounds like a biggish dog and probably won't get into his stride in a short blast on young rabbits, which will inevitably cause him (and you) to get frustrated in the medium term. You would do better listening to the other guys and give him a long run on rabbits over stubble or longer grass to get any results or risk ruining him. OTC
  3. OldTrapCollector
    Rew, I would use 15 meshes wide all the way from start to finish, in 2 1/4" mesh. I would also knit a line of heavier selvedge on top and bottom afterwards to make it more durable, before fitting the top and bottom lines. You could start the net off as normal on a ring and then cut it off (?) or start on a split ring and unthread it. I don't start a long net off on a ring at all but just knit a row and the cast off to row below (a bit like knitting a net one row wide) - you will have to experiment with how many rows to do as it will reduce by a third - but when you gather up all o
  4. OldTrapCollector
    Sam Despite having many cage traps set over the years I have never caught a live stoat in one. My cages all had 1" weldmesh construction and I doubt a dog stoat would be able to squeeze out of it, so why did I never catch one? What I think is that you would have to use a live bait in order to attract a stoat into a trap or a very fresh one at least. Live baited traps are obviously illegal in the UK, but I wonder if a just killed half young rabbit would work if placed in an area known to be frequented by stoats? As for a site, then a natural runway is always the best option, and can e
  5. OldTrapCollector
    I recently got an email explaining that someone had attempted to gain access to my PayPal account for a large amount, from an International IP address. Being fairly wise to 'phishing' I went into Paypal.com from a different pane from the one I had open and found nothing untoward in my paypal account at all. What the originator of the original mail had intended me to do was to follow the attached link to access paypal whereupon they would have had my PP address and password and quick as a flash, there goes your cash! You have to be on your toes with the modern fraudster. Check every ema
  6. OldTrapCollector
    John, I think it would operate more effectively if you used higher grade mesh (ie thicker) and used a dome shape rather than a square cross section to the 'tunnel'. That way there would not be any spare space above or around the trap for the victim to squeeze into on firing making it more efficient and humane. A Mk IV Fenn will work fine in a square bottomed, but arch shaped tunnel 6 inches wide at base and same height. It will need to be tweaked very slightly for a Mk VI. OTC
  7. OldTrapCollector
    I'd far rather starve than eat one of those disease ridden things personally :sick: :sick: OTC
  8. OldTrapCollector
    I would not try to pick off a tick as the mouth parts will be left inside your ferret's skin to fester. Any alcohol such as methylated spirits should be painted over the tick, within a couple of small applications the tick should quickly die and in doing so will extract himself from his host, leaving no imbedded parts. An application of antiseptic cream or ointment after the tick has gone will stop any infection at the wound site. OTC
  9. OldTrapCollector
    I stand corrected then That is all news to me, I really did not think it would be possible, especially to have fertile hybrids. What would keep the bloodline pure if the interbreeding was commonplace? Food for thought . . . OTC
  10. OldTrapCollector
    Wife, The cross between the mink and the ferret you speak of is not genetically possible as far as I know. Mustela Vison (Mink) and Mustela Putorius Furo (Ferret) are seperate species and cannot interbreed. The cross with the Mustela Putorius (European Polecat) is possible because the ferret is a semi-domesticated sub-species of the same animal. The same is true of apparent crosses with the Stoat (Mustela Erminea) whose existence is also fictional. I have a feeling your friend is either having you on, or the creature he has labelled a mink is not what he thinks it is . . .
  11. OldTrapCollector
    Very interesting DVD VV. What has been the reception from the anti trapping brigade? OTC
  12. OldTrapCollector
    Mixy is spread by the rabbit fleas, and is encouraged by the warmer weather. Once rabbits start to move closer together underground at the end of the Summer then the disease spreads like wildfire amongst the population via the fleas. This accounts for the small pockets of healthy rabbits that you sometimes find amongst the infected ones. It is an annual cycle, the worst time appears to be July to October when the populations are at their highest. OTC
  13. OldTrapCollector
    In the thick cover I work then I would lose more than I caught with such big nets as they would not purse up properly in the tight spots. In open buries or grazed hedge bottoms I am sure they work well but I do not have such privileges unfortunately. Horses for courses! OTC
  14. OldTrapCollector
    I have tried it and have also had the same results as Ditch speaks of - you'd have as much chance trying to train a stoat to sit quietly in your hand as a poley X. Just use a well bred stock ferrets from known workers and there should be no need to 'fire up' the blood line with the 'real deal'. OTC
  15. OldTrapCollector
    A brand new Ferrite Rod would cost you under £2 from a reputable electronic components company like Maplin. I just cannot see the justification for spending £40 that's all OTC
  16. OldTrapCollector
    Ditch, Shame about your Fenn cage - I will keep a look out for another one for you. They are almost too good to use for mink! I will look forward to see what the next plan of attack will be . . . T F That jelly stuff has something to do with frogs. It may be that it is unfertilised spawn or something but I am finding it all over the place, but never too far away from the frogspawn filled ditches and puddles. OTC
  17. OldTrapCollector
    I have always used hemp or braided cotton for rabbit nets, in 3 foot size for thick cover. Four foot nets don't purse up very well in the thick stuff and some of us don't have endless open buries to ferret I have used heavy hemp or more recently spun nylon for fox nets, in 5 and 6 foot size. OTC
  18. OldTrapCollector
    Sean, I used tunnels about 2 foot across narrowing to 1 foot on my corvid traps - any smaller and they won't go in. Remember to put curtains of netting to hang down from either side of the ladder otherwise all the jackdaws will go back out the way they came in You can use it as a pheasant catcher at the end of the season too OTC
  19. OldTrapCollector
    A nice picture Sean. They say a weasel can pass through a wedding ring OTC
  20. OldTrapCollector
    I live in a 1895 built farm barn conversion (not as swanky as it sounds!) in a very small hamlet with the open countryside and rolling hills in my back (and front) yard. The location is not as ideal as I would like though (not enough rabbits in my garden hedge!), but it is better than living the townee lifestyle. Keep the city smog, you're welcome to it . . . OTC
  21. OldTrapCollector
    I have tried many different ways to drop nets over the years, some successful and some not. It is up to you and your own situation to find a way that will work for you. Two words of warning though - be aware that your beloved net can easily go walk about or get vandalised if it is in an area where others might find it, and take care that it cannot drop itself by accident. This happened to one I set up and I ended up with a long net full of rabbit chewed holes and a load of impossibly tangled hedgehogs in the meshes!!! OTC
  22. OldTrapCollector
    And what do they do to your finder for your £40? I mean it is basically a graduated transistor radio tuned to your collar frequency, so other than maybe re-painting the graduations on the black wheel, and having a quick 'hoover' round what else can they do? Sure enough if the box is faulty then I could see diagnostics or replacement parts would cost, but a service?? I would ask them what exactly this super-tuning entails before you send them . . . OTC
  23. OldTrapCollector
    I have had all shapes, sizes and colours over the years with little to choose between them, but I do prefer good average sized jills for loose workers and I suppose whites over polecats. So long as they are well bred and cared for, then they all have their place - from the biggest hobs to the tiniest jills. OTC
  24. OldTrapCollector
    Hi lads (and ladies), I 'found' this Fallow Buck head late last year and have left it out to weather the skin and flesh off it but I don't know what to do with it now. Are there any taxidermist tricks I can use to clean it up properly or finish it off ready for display? Should I use different methods to clean up the antlers as I do with the skull? Should I cut it off flat to mount or leave it as it is? Your comments and opinions welcomed OTC
  25. OldTrapCollector
    I have caught several fox cubs and buzzards in mine but never anything small. OTC
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