ferret boy charlie 0 Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 (edited) hello all i have a m4 fenn and was just wondering were is the best place t set for squrriels ? and should i put bait aroud the trap ? might sound a bit stupid but im a nowbie to trapping cheers Edited October 6, 2008 by ferret boy charlie Quote Link to post
Matt 160 Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 hello all i have a m4 fenn and was just wondering were is the best place t set for squrriels ? and should i put bait aroud the trap ? might sound a bit stupid but im a nowbie to trapping cheers It depends on where you intend setting the trap. Firstly, you will need a tunnel. Fenns by their very action 'throw' their victims upwards, and in order for the trap to kill effectively, a tunnel is needed. It is also a legal requirement (even in a loft). Providing you make the tunnel natural looking and attractive, there is no need to use bait. Squirrels are inquisitive by nature and will investigate any new tunnel in their foraging area. If you only have one trap, I would make several permanent tunnels, and move the trap about between them. You will be surprised how many foraging rats you also trap, so a pair of rubber gloves are essential on the trapline. Plunge your new trap in boiling water to remove any oil and grease from the manufacturing process before you set it up. Make sure you only use genuine Fenn traps, or Springers, or even the new Solways, as the cheap copies you see on evilbay are not legal to use in the UK and are rarely man enough for the job. There is a very good thread by OTC pinned to the top section of this board about tunnel trapping. Good luck. PS - Written permission should be obtained from the landowner, even for pest control. Quote Link to post
ferret boy charlie 0 Posted October 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 hello all i have a m4 fenn and was just wondering were is the best place t set for squrriels ? and should i put bait aroud the trap ? might sound a bit stupid but im a nowbie to trapping cheers It depends on where you intend setting the trap. Firstly, you will need a tunnel. Fenns by their very action 'throw' their victims upwards, and in order for the trap to kill effectively, a tunnel is needed. It is also a legal requirement (even in a loft). Providing you make the tunnel natural looking and attractive, there is no need to use bait. Squirrels are inquisitive by nature and will investigate any new tunnel in their foraging area. If you only have one trap, I would make several permanent tunnels, and move the trap about between them. You will be surprised how many foraging rats you also trap, so a pair of rubber gloves are essential on the trapline. Plunge your new trap in boiling water to remove any oil and grease from the manufacturing process before you set it up. Make sure you only use genuine Fenn traps, or Springers, or even the new Solways, as the cheap copies you see on evilbay are not legal to use in the UK and are rarely man enough for the job. There is a very good thread by OTC pinned to the top section of this board about tunnel trapping. Good luck. PS - Written permission should be obtained from the landowner, even for pest control. cheers is the mark4 up to the job ? or do i need to get a mark6 ? Quote Link to post
Guest jbswildlife Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 hello all i have a m4 fenn and was just wondering were is the best place t set for squrriels ? and should i put bait aroud the trap ? might sound a bit stupid but im a nowbie to trapping cheers It depends on where you intend setting the trap. Firstly, you will need a tunnel. Fenns by their very action 'throw' their victims upwards, and in order for the trap to kill effectively, a tunnel is needed. It is also a legal requirement (even in a loft). Providing you make the tunnel natural looking and attractive, there is no need to use bait. Squirrels are inquisitive by nature and will investigate any new tunnel in their foraging area. If you only have one trap, I would make several permanent tunnels, and move the trap about between them. You will be surprised how many foraging rats you also trap, so a pair of rubber gloves are essential on the trapline. Plunge your new trap in boiling water to remove any oil and grease from the manufacturing process before you set it up. Make sure you only use genuine Fenn traps, or Springers, or even the new Solways, as the cheap copies you see on evilbay are not legal to use in the UK and are rarely man enough for the job. There is a very good thread by OTC pinned to the top section of this board about tunnel trapping. Good luck. PS - Written permission should be obtained from the landowner, even for pest control. just a added thought if this is your first time trapping practice setting the trap in your garden when folk are about. It can be hard getting a fenn of your fingers with one hand. Quote Link to post
Matt 160 Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 The Mk4 is designed for rats and other 'small vermin'. It will kill squirrels, but the Mk6 has more 'man' about it. What sort of place are you intending using them? Given your age and experience, I would advise some Mk4's to begin with. The real skill is in selecting sites and building permenant tunnels. Once you have a 'network' of tunnels, you should start introducing traps. The rail sets (as described by Little Lloyd below v )are also very sucessful, and can account for lots of squirrels. For rail sets, I'd recommend the Mk6, or a magnum though, as you are also likely to pick up the odd mink. You will also need to anchor your traps properly. There is a good article by Snareman on cheap anchors in the pinned section. I always used steel wire with fishing line swivels on top, so that for every tunnel, there was an anchor point already in place, and it was a simple process to attach the trap when it was needed. A simple basis for a tunnel is a three sided wooden tunnel. From that you can build your natural tunnel around it. Have a good read on here. There was some excellent posts from a guy on his trap round in the early days of this board..... Quote Link to post
ferret boy charlie 0 Posted October 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 cheers all for the advise how many times should i check them i was thinking twice a day atb charlie Quote Link to post
Guest jbswildlife Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 cheers all for the advise how many times should i check them i was thinking twice a day atb charlie every 12hrs is good practice Quote Link to post
ferret boy charlie 0 Posted October 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 cheers every one your all really helpfull sorry t be a pain but can you recomend a cheap place to get some more fenns ? cheers Quote Link to post
Guest jbswildlife Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 cheers every one your all really helpfull sorry t be a pain but can you recomend a cheap place to get some more fenns ? cheers essex rodent control great at having quality traps. bought some mole traps which catch without weathering Quote Link to post
Matt 160 Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 cheers all for the advise how many times should i check them i was thinking twice a day atb charlie every 12hrs is good practice I'm going to put the cat among the pigeons now........ There is no legal requirement (in England)to check spring traps every day unless they are set for rabbits. Best practice, and common sense, is to check any traps at least once in every 24 hours. My advice? For what its worth; check 'em at least once in every 24 hours. I used to have a 'morning walk' and an 'afternoon walk'. Quote Link to post
Guest jbswildlife Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 cheers all for the advise how many times should i check them i was thinking twice a day atb charlie every 12hrs is good practice I'm going to put the cat among the pigeons now........ There is no legal requirement (in England)to check spring traps every day unless they are set for rabbits. Best practice, and common sense, is to check any traps at least once in every 24 hours. My advice? For what its worth; check 'em at least once in every 24 hours. I used to have a 'morning walk' and an 'afternoon walk'. 12hrs live catch 24hr instant kill. but when i set a trap 12hrs is longer than i can bear Quote Link to post
ferret boy charlie 0 Posted October 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 cheers ads for all the advice it all paid off as this moring checked it and i had a nice big buck squrriel i will put pics up later cheers Quote Link to post
ferret boy charlie 0 Posted October 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 it was quite a day as i let the dog of for his run as i walked towards the trap i looked inside and there was the squrriel pulled it out then i heard a lod of flapping turned round and my dog is standing there with a pigeon in his mouth lil while later walking home some twat ses OI COME ER i thought here we go another stupid anti twat so walks towards him he goes youve been setting gin traps ent ya so i ses no i have been setting traps on permission so he goes on to ask my addres threatend two call the police as i had my lamping kit on me in a bag he said open the bag in the end i told him to feckoff and walked away Quote Link to post
stubby 175 Posted October 6, 2008 Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 it was quite a day as i let the dog of for his run as i walked towards the trap i looked inside and there was the squrriel pulled it out then i heard a lod of flapping turned round and my dog is standing there with a pigeon in his mouth lil while later walking home some twat ses OI COME ER i thought here we go another stupid anti twat so walks towards him he goes youve been setting gin traps ent ya so i ses no i have been setting traps on permission so he goes on to ask my addres threatend two call the police as i had my lamping kit on me in a bag he said open the bag in the end i told him to feckoff and walked away its always a good idea to have written permission on you, that way, it can be produced in times like that Quote Link to post
ferret boy charlie 0 Posted October 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 its always a good idea to have written permission on you, that way, it can be produced in times like that cheers stubby will do Quote Link to post
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