MINK TRAPPING

[mole catcher 1]

One of the more common pests im called to deal with is Mink, they are on the increase here in suffolk more so than many other pest. Firstly when looking for trap site i will look for the minks meens of getting from one area to another. His prefered method is by way of river, ditch or dyke

Once i have found a sutible site, one that has shown signs of mink ie. dropping, footprints in soft mud and the unpleasant scent of musk i will go about preparing the site as folows. Firstly i will dig out a ""cave "" going back in to the bank, at water level deep enough to allow the trap to sit in both the sett and sprung position

Any earth that i pull from the ""cave"" i will use to form a ramp giving the mink easy access to the trap site. The cave will also be deep enough to place a lump of bait, such as rabbit liver or fish at the back of the cave

The trap i use for mink is the fenn MK6, NOT THE MK4 AS IT DOESNT HAVE ENOUGH POWER IN ITS JAWS TO ADMINISTER A HUMANE DEATH TO ADULT MINK. With this type of trap it is important that the prey animal places its foot on the trigger plate in order to spring the trap, if it were to skirt round the trigger plate in order to gain the food and touch the trigger plate with its hind foot a capture by the hind leg would happen. TO INSURE THIS DOESNT HAPPEN i will place two uprights of hazel at the outer edge of the trigger plate and work my way to the outside edge of the cave, thus forming a wall with only a gap over the trigger plate

Finally i will add wet earth to the hazel sticks and bits of foliage and grass to make the trapsite look as natural as possible. What you cant see in this set of pics is the solid anchor pin that i allways use to stop the trap being carried off down stream by the dead mink. I have caught many mink in this way and for the short amount of time it takes to prepare the results are very rewarding. I favour this type of trapping as appossed to live catch but on many of our local rivers we now have otters so this method is only used were a amount of certainty regarding the lack of otters can be assured.

[Yokel Matt 918]

Thanks MC... Very informative post. Good pics as well

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Nice one mate .Show us some results as and when .

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

Nice, interesting post,..

Edited March 30, 2007 by CHALKWARREN

[DUCKWING 302]

WELL CHALKIE ,

 

FROM LENGTHY AND IN DEPTH CONVERSATIONS WITH SNAREMAN , IT SEEMS THE MK 6 AINT UP TO THE JOB WITHOUT THE DROWNING WIRE ...............

 

THEM CONVERSATIONS I HAVE WITH " THE MASTER " HAVE OPENED MY EYES AND MADE ME LOOK IN A NEW DIRECTION / LIGHT AT THE SUBJECT ....... DEFINATELY ALL FOOD FOR THOUGHT

 

A LOT OF LADS COULD DO WITH GETTING HOLD OF THE MINK TRAPPING FILM HE DID .... I THINK IT WOULD OPEN A FEW FELLAS EYES

 

NOW THEN MOLECATCHER ............ YOU AINT DOING A STEVE CAPLE ON US ARE YER

 

 

ALL THE BEST

 

DUCKWING

[john b 38]

Not withstanding the question of a MK6 I think this is a very instructive post so thanks for taking the time to put it together mole catcher.

It's important that you point out not to use a MK4 because of course they are not approved for mink and so illegal. Whether it does the job or not, the MK6 is approved and legal for mink.

I have to agree with Chalkwarren though in that my recent experience of MK6s has been disappointing. I put this down to them being cheap imitations but perhaps there is more to it than that.

I'm about to start experimenting with body gripper - are there other traps you would suggest CW ?

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

The Mk 6 is a good ,easy trap to set John b,..but I have reservations about their ability to kill quickly...

I prefer the Kania,...but obviously , for many operatives,.cost (££ ) is of paramount importance....

I can understand this....

Edited March 30, 2007 by CHALKWARREN

[john b 38]

I never thought of using the Kania for anything but squirrels Good idea.

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

The Kania is actualy a Mink/Sable/Martin trap,...we chose to use it for grey squirrels....

Edited March 30, 2007 by CHALKWARREN

[moley 115]

we don,t have the mink around we used to have , i think its because of the numbers of otters we have, i just got my first mink job in 2 years at the weekend on a local pond, i set both fenns and bodygrips 2 days ago ,nothing yet but i,ll get the buggers, all traps for mink should have a drowning wire on, just incase its not a perfect catch, i don,t use cages as i think they cause too much stress to the trapped animal, i have had loads of mink over the years with broken teeth and nails ,sometimes thou you have no choice , like gardens with pets and small children

[mole catcher 1]

Just came back to see what folk have posted in reply and guess what.........CW has deleated his input quicker than the govenment at raising taxes is that man.

 

Reading between the lines i guess the good old mk6 has come under some flak regarding not being up to the job to be honest i cant say that i feel they let the mink suffer. the majority of those ive caught have not been in the water on my return. Sadly we have to work with what the law allows.

[gnipper 6,526]

Nice one, now lets have a general tunnel trapping thread with all your little tips and tricks on it

Gnipper

[OldTrapCollector 377]

Just came back to see what folk have posted in reply and guess what.........CW has deleated his input quicker than the govenment at raising taxes is that man.

 

I missed them too . . .

 

OTC

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

Just came back to see what folk have posted in reply and guess what.........CW has deleated his input quicker than the govenment at raising taxes is that man.

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2007 by CHALKWARREN

[micky 3,325]

Just came back to see what folk have posted in reply and guess what.........CW has deleated his input quicker than the govenment at raising taxes is that man.

 

Reading between the lines i guess the good old mk6 has come under some flak regarding not being up to the job to be honest i cant say that i feel they let the mink suffer. the majority of those ive caught have not been in the water on my return. Sadly we have to work with what the law allows.

what wouldyou allow ?