Trapping mink,small ground predators and corvids

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Hi all,

 

Have just started trapping this year on a shoot which has been left for some 10 years and is full of predators. Have had good success with trapping squirrels in fen traps by the feeders but haven't caught any stoats etc. although i think they might be about as something very small burrowed under the ladder trap and killed the crow that was in there but left the dead squirrels etc that was in there. The hole was very small and no way could have been a fox or badger or anything like that. So i presume it was a stoat as it was a fair way away from the nearest stream. Which is right at the bottom of the field where the ladder trap was, and its a pretty big field. There are hedge rows running up though which i suppose it could follow, i dont really know much about mink or how they travel.

 

The ladder trap was closeish however to the woods and its connecting hedges which is why i thought it more likely to be a stoat, any ideas?

 

The other day a mink was spotted jumping over the stream and then sat and stared at my friend on the bank on the other side for a while. Its only a very small stream and was a suprise to hear that there was mink about.

 

I was wondering if people have any tips for where is best to place tunnels to catch these small ground predators and where are good places to site tunnels to catch them and if any bait is recomended? If you have any pictures etc that would be a great help to.

 

I have had great success with catching magpies via larsen traps but since catching the first crow which was killed by something when it was placed in the ladder trap have had no luck in catching any more crows as i dont have one as a call bird for the larson, any ideas on how to get one i know its getting a bit late now.

 

I was also wondering what peoples thoughts on keeping call birds where, do you replace them regulary with newly caught birds or do you keep the same call bird, obviously two schools of thought, one that replacing the bird with a new one is more humane and the other that the regular call bird becomes tame over some time so is maybe more humane to keep this one that to keep putting new birds in the traps. What do you think?

 

Look forward to hearing on your thoughts.

[salukiwhippet 6]

A fenn in a suitable tunnel on either side of a gateway is a favourite of mine, I build the tunnels from bricks and tiles and dig them in, they soon become part of the landscape, helping to keep your traps safe from two legged vermin. Stoats etc feel vulnerable on open ground, so try to dash across and into cover as quickly as possible. If the first bit of cover they encounter is your tunnel, happy days!

 

Where I was in Norfolk, every gateway had a tunnel at one or both sides, and the traps were moved about from time to time. We used to run 200 at a time (We were a wild game estate.)

 

Rail traps can be very good for mink, but bear in mind you must use excluders and that Mk.4 Fenns aren't approved for mink - magnum 116 or Fenn Mk 6 only!

 

HTH, James