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Coote

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Everything posted by Coote

  1. Coote
    It has been a while since I visited this forum. I just wanted to thank everyone for the good information and entertainment I've had from this site. And I particularly want to thank Pegandgun, Glen Waters and David Holdaway (TrapWorks) for the information they've shared privately about trapping. I've recently had some success snaring rats in my garden. They've been avoiding conventional snap traps, and the primitive deadfall traps that have worked for me in the past. Brass wire isn't readily available here, so I've used some 0.38mm 'tiger tail' nylon-covered stainless steel cable fo
  2. Coote
    I answered a call from a lady wanting to get rid of a couple of rabbits she's been seeing in her garden. After visiting her, I realized it wasn't a place where I could safely use my .22. I thought it would be a good opportunity to make a couple of rabbit gums to try. I understand that these traps are called 'gums' because sometimes they were made from hollow logs, and there is an American tree called a gum which evidently has a lot of hollow wood in it. I've seen versions of this trap which have slots cut into the side walls to provide a secure track for the door to
  3. Coote
    Swamp Thang.... Thanks very much for posting this. I've got a keen interest in primitive traps, and I've never seen this one before. Best wishes from New Zealand... Stephen Coote.
  4. Coote
    Very encouraging. Good on you. I agree that you get good advice on this forum. I will be interested to read some more on this project.
  5. Coote
    Aye Hob&Jill, it was a good day out when I look at the big picture. A disastrous day trapping is better than most days working. Dang Danielt, you got me thinking about my first rabbit. I'm told I shot my first one when I was five....and I wouldn't be surprised if I bust the crap sack on that one with the bullet. That was a long time, and many animals, ago. I've busted many crap sacks in my time on various animals. I try to be really careful nowadays, but occasionally the knife goes in deeper than I intended...or I pull too hard... or I simply do it right from the start with a bul
  6. Coote
    My cousin knows that I like to trap, so she told me about a field full of rabbits near her. I committed myself to having a go at getting a few. Well yesterday I decided to I should look at getting the rabbits seeing folks had been kind to arrange it for me. I did this instead of going after a pig, which I would probably have rather done. The area was far from ideal... there were allegedly up to fifty rabbits living in a little strip of thick brush alongside a road and a drainage ditch. I couldn't use my greatest strength - sniping from a long distance with my Anschutz and silencer
  7. Coote
    Aye.... I do need more tomatoes on the plate, but I figured if I piled up the normal serving the meat wouldn't be seen in the photo. I am concerned about trichinosis and I always take pains to cook pork well, and to encourage other people to cook it well. I do not recommend barbequeing it, or cooking a whole pig on a spit... it is too easy to have undercooked portions (but people do it all the time, so the risk must be minimal). I am interested in making salami and this uses raw pork. I've researched the subject a bit. My missus plays music with a lady from a family that makes salami
  8. Coote
    I haven't seen any trees here with a sheet metal sleeve fixed around them to stop the possums climbing, but we do have a lot of sheet metal sleeves around our power poles. Darn possums will climb a pole and possibly touch two wires... and electrocute themselves. Nobody cares too much about the possums, but often they cause a power cut when it happens. Brought home another wee hog this morning. I shot it just before dark last night. It ran off after I shot it, but I knew it was a good shot and it shouldn't go far. This morning I found it maybe 20 yards away in a patch of gorse. I got
  9. Coote
    Yep LocalYokel, many possums have been taken using a spotlight and a .22 with a scope. I've shot a few myself in the past. Nowadays I'm a bit nervous about shooting at night unless I am absolutely certain that there is nothing around that could be harmed by a stray bullet. Folks do a lot of spotlighting, and I shudder to think about how casual they are about shooting into the dark where they cant see outside the range of the light...or worse still, shooting possums out of trees. I'm inclined to think that a .22 bullet falling out of the sky after going its full range is not likely to be h
  10. Coote
    I occasionally may use a foot trap. My most common way of trapping possums is to set snares on propped poles or sloping branches. I use a lure to attract the animals to the trees where the snares are set. I also might use the occasional baited cubby... and this may become more common when I trap in areas where there is a lack of suitable trees in which to set pole snares. Although I haven't trapped a lot of hogs, I do use bait in a big swing-door cage trap.... or I may place bait/lure somewhere near a snare on a trail. In my attempts to catch stoats, I use a steel clap-trap (a
  11. Coote
    Thanks for your thoughts. What animals am I after? Well the main thing I want is to understand about how lures work generally. But I will be applying this knowledge to what I want to trap down here. My main quarry is the Australian Brushtailed Opossum, which is generally a vegetarian but I think it has been known to eat meat and birds' eggs. But I also am interested in trapping other species like stoats, feral cats, rats, feral pigs and maybe goats. And if I ever get the opportunity, I wouldn't mind having a go at catching foxes if I travel to Australia. Do I want a bait or a l
  12. Coote
    I've never used any form of animal lure and I know relatively little about them. Some animals would obviously be attracted to a good lure made from urine or glands, but would some desirable animals be repelled by the odor? If the lure was made from the urine or body parts of a dominant female, is it reasonable to think that this lure might attract males but also might frighten other females away? (And vice versa if the lure were made from male urine etc?) What preservatives are needed (if any) in making these lures? Thanks in advance.... Coote.
  13. Coote
    Here's a picture of a variation of the figure four trigger that I found to be quite successful. The difference between this and the standard figure four is that the diagonal stick is tied to the bait stick. The string should be kept quite short. I think that the tied version can be a little less tricky to set. Also, the bait stick is possibly more likely to be flung clear of the deadfall when triggered because it is tied to the diagonal which rotates quickly as the trap fires. Having said that, my current favourite is the shortened figure four as shown in the rat picture. By shortened
  14. Coote
    We've got a small shed in the garden where we store a bit of junk. Noticing the droppings everywhere, my missus hinted it was time to set a trap. I've had great success using a deadfall with a figure four trigger for mice, and I reckoned it was time to try it on rats. As you can see, it worked. I think it is important to split the end of the bait stick of this trigger, and to force bait into the split. This makes the animals push harder to get it out. Another thing to consider, is to set the trap with its 'back' closest to the place where the animal will run to where it thin
  15. Coote
    Our possums have quite nice fur. I classify them into two main types... the dark ones similar to the one shown in the picture below, and the silver-greys (which seem to be less common in my area). At present, the best price I know of that one can get for a pelt is NZ$14, but most would sell for less. Currently we are being offered NZ$90 per kilo for plucked fur. It takes the fur from maybe 15 possums to make a kilogram. Possum fur is hollow which makes it fairly unique... and good for insulation. However I guess it also makes it frustratingly light when you are trying to get a few ki
  16. Coote
    Dang... that simple eh? Just slice fresh apples and sprinkle salt on them? That is well worth a try. I guess the rabbits don't know about the salt until they taste the apple, so the apple provides the attractive fragrance. I thought that maybe there was some special recipe that had to be followed...like soaking apples of a certain stage in ripeness in a specially formulated brine. I trap the occasional rabbit, but my main targets are generally Australian Brushtailed Opossums. I am always looking for new ideas. I think that pre-feeding with the salted apples (or whatever) would b
  17. Coote
    Salted apples ?? They sound interesting Victoria. Can you please tell us more about them ? How are they made ? How do you use them ? What particular advantages do they have ? Thanks very much in advance... Coote.
  18. Coote
    Thats interesting thanks Mitch. What else do you try to trap beside foxes? It is good to see some real soil in your pics. When I was living in Aussie (Albany, WA), what they called soil was actually sand. Some of it seemed to grow stuff alright, but it was very gritty.
  19. Coote
    Good post Mitch. Down here in NZ we often have baits dropped from the air for possums, and I suspect that the powers that be are trying to get feral pigs and deer as well. They use 1080 poison, and I am not at all happy about it. I much prefer the idea of trapping, or maybe even bait stations if necessary....but wholesale drops of poison from the air seems to be a fairly unenlightened thing to do. When I was a teenager, old-fashioned gin traps with toothed steel jaws were commonly used to catch possums. It was quite common for young folk living in the country to set these possum traps.
  20. Coote
    So why is a drag more cruel than a fixed anchor? To me, the unpleasant thing of this whole trapping business is that a free-roaming animal finds itself trapped in one spot. And whether a snare or a leg-hold is used there will inevitably be some discomfort to say the least. I'm not at all anti-hunting (unless it is done by thoughtless dorks who just like killing for the fun of it). I do prefer, whenever possible, to use the most humane means to catch and kill an animal. Sometimes steel traps attached to a drag might be the best means available to catch something. I'd certainly be op
  21. Coote
    I don't know for sure what the official version is of how the morepork got it's name. I assume it is because one of the main calls these birds make sounds like they are calling "more pork" if you use your imagination a bit. Rats certainly do seem to get caught in traps that are baited with eggs. My main targets are stoats though, and eggs are recommended as a bait for them. I'm told that the eggs should not be treated in any way, and that if you use ordinary poultry eggs it is best that they have white shells. A lot of stoat traps get set in national parks. I was told recently t
  22. Coote
    I generally throw the unwanted bits of any animal I catch into the scrub....and that was the case with these rats. I wonder if owls would eat dead rats? In fact, I wonder what the native owls ate before man introduced mice and rats to this country... hmmmm.... I have been surprised to find hawks eating the possum carcases that I have discarded in the bush. They must have terrific powers of observation to spot them under the trees. Somebody suggested that they can smell the carcases, but I am not sure if birds have a sense of smell.
  23. Coote
    I have never heard of a Kania 2000...but it is quite possible that somebody will have at least investigated the possibility of using them. A lot of creative thought has been working on the problem of stoat eradication. Yes, the results certainly are conclusive when an animal touches the trigger pan of these traps. They go off with a heck of a 'clunk'. Here's another rat that they couldn't revive: I enjoy getting out and setting/checking the traps. The other night I was out until after dark and managed to snap a quick photo of a morepork owl. We often hear these birds, but se
  24. Coote
    A while back I got involved with a group who are working to restore a nice patch of native forest in a gully not far from my home. There are quite a few undesirable pest plants in the area, and one of the main tasks is to remove these. The worst plant is a vine called Old Man's Beard which seems to grow rampantly in this part of the world. It smothers trees and really changes the nature of the bush. I think it is a type of clematis...and I imagine that our ancestors brought it here from Britain. The subject of pest control came up.... and I found that to be much more interesting than lo
  25. Coote
    Thanks Fishaben.... I will keep my eyes peeled for poo. I guess there is a bit of a science regarding the crap factor. I know that pigs seem to have rules about where they take a dump, and although rabbits might not have the same inclinations as pigs they might have some habits that could help us understand how far they are from home or whatever. There is always something to learn. I've shot heaps of rabbits, but now that I am trying to snare them, I realize how little I know about the animals and their habits. Our rabbit population was severely damaged when somebody illegally introduc
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