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In from below. Rat behaviour.


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The other day I'd set a Fenn in a plywood 'cubby' with a base also made from ply and baffles to guide the target onto the trigger, which I'd baited up with a pile of nuts. The box was placed up against the outside wall of a shed, next to a burrow entrance.

By and by, I get a call from the customer; She said 'I can hear the rat in that box making a right racket'.

I thought it had managed a foul catch and was in its death throes. 'Don't worry,' I said, 'It'll soon expire.' I was thirty miles away at the time and there wasn't much I could do about it.

I went there today and found the rat caught fair and square. What was interesting was the hole it had noisily chewed in the base of the box. It had also burrowed beneath to create a tunnel giving it direct access and the luxury of coming and going to Nutsville without ever having to show itself to the outside world.

Although it succumbed to the tender mercy of the mk 4 in the end, I can't help but admire the ingenuity.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Useful information and I guess this confirms that rats don't like moving around in the open and will go the some lengths to avoid it. 

With your agreement, I'd like to mention your story on my rat trapping guide at www.trrapbarn.com

Edited by Tomdhu
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It goes to show that in certain situations it is better to have the trap in a cubby tunnel without a floor, although in this particular instance, the rig was located at a site where there could be no chance of somebody investigating the trap as kids were present, hence a fully enclosed box.

The proper entrance on the box was only inches from the burrow mouth, and I find it really interesting that the rat went to the effort of knawing through 12mm of plywood in order to create its own 'private' access.

 

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12 hours ago, LuckOrJudgement said:

It goes to show that in certain situations it is better to have the trap in a cubby tunnel without a floor, although in this particular instance, the rig was located at a site where there could be no chance of somebody investigating the trap as kids were present, hence a fully enclosed box.

The proper entrance on the box was only inches from the burrow mouth, and I find it really interesting that the rat went to the effort of knawing through 12mm of plywood in order to create its own 'private' access.

 

I've had rats tunnel under traps in a three sided tunnel to get at the bait. Especially bodygrips. A clever rat can test your skills for sure.

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Has anyone here ever used a fenn ,set on its side for these under trap diggers .Glue a bait to the pan and rest up right in a tunnel .If they dig ,trap falls on them but most times they must put front feet on pan and get caught .Old boy showed me years ago .

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Had a few tunnelers in the past but put the trap on a solid base (slab or wood etc) with a stop end and have the fenn before the bait. Only speak for myself but I don't like baiting tunnels, nice dark run through in spots that look likely is what seems to work best for me.  

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On 24/02/2020 at 20:04, foxdropper said:

Has anyone here ever used a fenn ,set on its side for these under trap diggers .Glue a bait to the pan and rest up right in a tunnel .If they dig ,trap falls on them but most times they must put front feet on pan and get caught .Old boy showed me years ago .

That's a good idea. Wire a bit of bacon to the pan. Also gives you more options on disguisinging the trap, and the design of your cubby box.

20200201_090700.jpg

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