Tweaking Fenn's

[badgeroy 3]

I've got a rat / rats in the garden i normally deal with them with the air rifle but have'nt seen it/ them lately although the wife has, I set alittle nipper type trap baited with peanut butter and bread and with a 6" nail through it into the soil that has worked before but the little bugger has sussed that and dug under the front of the trap till it fires and then takes the bait, then the other night a fox turned the live catch over and got the bait out of the side, thats now secured down. I then baited the mk4 Fenn's that have been in place in a made tunnel for the past week and it looks like the rat has dug under the tunnel entrance and taken the bait (peanut butter on the plate) then dug even more to get out the same way and covered the trap still set. What i want to know is how to tweak the mk4's to make them more sensitive and also what size do you chaps make the access's in the tunnels. Thanks for looking.

[shaun dee 7]

sounds like a clever rat that haha atb hope u get it sorted. shaun

[Matt 160]

Don't bother baiting your fenns, just place them in a suitable tunnel (either artificial or from natural materials). I think it's also unlikely that a rat would 'bury' a trap to get bait - could be a hedgehog or other varmint nicking your bait.

 

Rats are 'neophobic' so will not go near anything new in their environment until they've got used to it. Permanent tunnel traps are a great way of picking up the odd rat before they get to settled into your environment. Ditchshitter wrote an excellent post in the 'living off the land' section some time ago.

 

I always 'tune' my fenns so that the trigger plate sits a little higher than the standard factory finish. It's easy to do by removing the brass trigger and grinding some of it off. Don't go mad with the grinder though!

 

I know that some folks simply bend the plate upwards, but I prefer to do it my way.

 

I've got some new traps here waiting for a tune up, so if I get the chance I'll video the process and put a link up on the uktrapper forum.

[stephen58 1]

About bloody time Matt I asked you this on 18 /4/09 on the uk trapping forum how it was done , still waiting was down at Dave,s ( Trapworks ) on Sunday with Pigeon Phil having a look at the horse paddocks , where he has taken nigh on 200 rabbits off during the summer ( what a night~mare job ) using various methods , best regards STEVE

[Matt 160]

About bloody time Matt I asked you this on 18 /4/09 on the uk trapping forum how it was done , still waiting was down at Dave,s ( Trapworks ) on Sunday with Pigeon Phil having a look at the horse paddocks , where he has taken nigh on 200 rabbits off during the summer ( what a night~mare job ) using various methods , best regards STEVE

 

Hi steve

 

I know, I'm sorry......... but (here come the excuses)

 

• My workbench was still in the construction stage
  
• I had already tuned all my traps
  
• I've been a bit busy.......
  
• I still haven't got a clue how the video camera works or how to edit any film.
  

 

Anyway, glad to hear old Dave is getting a grip with the bunnies. I'm suprised that Ratsnatcher hasn't been down there to show him how a real pro deals with em.

 

Anyway, I'll let everyone know when I've done it.

[stephen58 1]

Hi Matt , excuse,s excuse,s if you have a technical problem with your camera ask a 15 year old , they will sort it out in minutes best regards STEVE

[badgeroy 3]

Well after the start of the thread i reset the fenns and baited the plate with peanut butter and left the tunnel where it has been for over a week and lo and behold got the little buggar last night. After another look at the way i set the traps i realised that i had pushed them down into the soft earth to keep the upper part of the trap level with the ground not realising that the soil was stopping the plate from being moved when the rat went on it DOH so removed the soil under the trap and hey presto. The little nipper type trap was baited again with a piece of bread with peanut butter firmley hooked onto the spike and set as sensetive as possible without going off, this morning the bread was gone and the trap not sprung again

Matt the rat, the rat did'nt cover the trap with soil before taking the bait from the plate it covered the trap after taking the bait, digging more soil on its way out of the tunnel making me think i need to make the access's a bit bigger, what size access holes do you chaps use on your tunnels?

[RatSnatcher 0]

Anyway, glad to hear old Dave is getting a grip with the bunnies. I'm suprised that Ratsnatcher hasn't been down there to show him how a real pro deals with em.

 

Dave the snare doesn't love me anymore, hes been hiding ever since he let me down

[RatSnatcher 0]

I'm away in selsey in the caravan, the crazy golf area is riddled with rats, sometime you just can't switch off

[badgeroy 3]

Well after the start of the thread i reset the fenns and baited the plate with peanut butter and left the tunnel where it has been for over a week and lo and behold got the little buggar last night. After another look at the way i set the traps i realised that i had pushed them down into the soft earth to keep the upper part of the trap level with the ground not realising that the soil was stopping the plate from being moved when the rat went on it DOH so removed the soil under the trap and hey presto. The little nipper type trap was baited again with a piece of bread with peanut butter firmley hooked onto the spike and set as sensetive as possible without going off, this morning the bread was gone and the trap not sprung again

Matt the rat, the rat did'nt cover the trap with soil before taking the bait from the plate it covered the trap after taking the bait, digging more soil on its way out of the tunnel making me think i need to make the access's a bit bigger, what size access holes do you chaps use on your tunnels?

 

Can anybody give me an answer instead of hijacking this thread please.

[Matt 160]

It depends on the set, but usually 3 inches.

[badgeroy 3]

Thanks Matt.

[Rolfe 2]

Well after the start of the thread i reset the fenns and baited the plate with peanut butter and left the tunnel where it has been for over a week and lo and behold got the little buggar last night. After another look at the way i set the traps i realised that i had pushed them down into the soft earth to keep the upper part of the trap level with the ground not realising that the soil was stopping the plate from being moved when the rat went on it DOH so removed the soil under the trap and hey presto. The little nipper type trap was baited again with a piece of bread with peanut butter firmley hooked onto the spike and set as sensetive as possible without going off, this morning the bread was gone and the trap not sprung again

Matt the rat, the rat did'nt cover the trap with soil before taking the bait from the plate it covered the trap after taking the bait, digging more soil on its way out of the tunnel making me think i need to make the access's a bit bigger, what size access holes do you chaps use on your tunnels?

 

Can anybody give me an answer instead of hijacking this thread please.

Thats the sort of tunnel i use for small ground vermin if that helps.

[camies 1]

Nice tunnel, any hope of dimensions?

[badgeroy 3]

Continuing on took another rat last night with the same setup in the same place, and yes i know its the bird feeder that attracts them but at least i know i'm getting the local population down, thats 10 shot and 3 trapped in the last 6 months in the same area.

 

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc128/b...yoftrapped1.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc128/b...oy/trapped1.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc128/b...oy/trapped3.jpg