Mustelid Traps

Description

• Mustelid Tunnel with a Doc 200 combo for a range of pests.

Target Pest(s)

• NAWAC approved for ship and norway rats, stoats, and hedgehogs
• Will also catch weasels and ferrets, but not NAWAC approved.

Pros

• Plastic, easy to clean and lightweight
• Tilting hood, making it easy to access and set the trap
• Catches a variety of pests

Cons

• A question as to how durable (plastic)
• More expensive than a wooden tunnel

Our Comment:

Love this trap! Easier to bait and set because of the hinged lid and easy to clean. While not approved we have caught 4 ferrets and a weasel in this trap.

Description

• This is the classic all around trap, in differing sizes

Target Pest(s)

• DOC 150 – Norway rats, stoats, hedgehogs
• DOC 200 – As above, plus ship rats
• DOC 250, as above plus ferrets
• We’d expect all to be suitable for weasels.

Pros

• Traditional and proven tunnel design
• Durable
• Catches a variety of pests

Cons

• Heavier to carry in the bush
• DOC 250s are beasts to set

Our Comment:

These traps are the workhorses of most trapping efforts, tried and true! They are durable, and if you build your own boxes, relatively inexpensive. Go for the Doc 200, the all around performer.

Description

• Double entry – tunnel trap for live capture of animals and pests.
• An excellent cat trap, possum trap, animal trap, magpie trap and pest trap for humane live capture of most animals. sizes

Target Pest(s)

• Feral Cats, Possums, Ferrets, Stoats, Weasels, Rabbits, Hedgehogs, Rats
• No NAWAC approval required, as this only captures the pest

Pros

• Particularly good for trapping, trap shy animals
• A little fiddly to set, but you get used to it
• Catches a variety of pests
• Excellent door design, many cheaper traps have weaknesses allowing pests to escape, especially ferrets and stoats

Cons

• Short Supply
• Legislation requires traps to be checked at least once a day within 12 hours of daylight the day after it was set
• You have to kill the animal. (Note that drowning any animal is a prosecutable offence under the Animal Welfare Act)

Our Comment:

We’ve used these successfully to capture ferrets and feral cats, even ones that had escaped a previous less effective trap and were very trap shy. They are not cheap, but they are the best!

Description

• A new product from Trapinator
• Mustelid Tunnel with a DOC 250 Combo is the most powerful of all the Traps.
• Designed and Humane rated to Kill Ferrets, Stoats, Weasels, Rats and Hedgehogs. 

Target Pest(s)

• Ferrets, Stoats, Weasels, Rats and Hedgehogs
• NAWAC approval not known

Pros

• DOC 250, will kill anything!
• Lightweight, low maintenance plastic tunnel.
• Price is competitive for a DOC 250 trap

Cons

• DOC 250s are beasts. Buy the option with the setting tool, unless you have an iron fist!

Our Comment:

We’ve not used this yet, but Trapinator make good gear, we’d see no reason why this isn’t a good piece of kit at a good price.

Description

• Said to be a more intuitive solution for mustelid and rodent eradication

• Comes in two variations, a dead fall trigger and a treadle trigger

Target Pest(s)

• NAWAC approved for ferrets
• Designed to capture, rats and stoats also

Pros

• Easy to install
• Easy to set, especially as it is a DOC 250!
• Easy to see as if the trigger is up, it’s still set

Cons

• Size maybe? Hard to carry into the bush.
• Cost, but seriously, not that bad for a DOC250

Our Comment:

We’ve only tried these traps on a course, but they were surprisingly easy to set (for a DOC 250) after an attempt or two. We think they are worth a try. They are being used by PF Banks Peninsula.