mink trapping

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121698086#Comment_121698086

Styrofoam, and ply wood. Marine ply is better, buy ordinary ply will do. You'll get a few years out of ordinary ply.

Those other box's your talking about, don't work very well, but the bodygrip traps are legal here.

Eddie B

I've caught mink on most things. At the end of the day, most anything will attract mink. Rabbit, fish, bird carcase, tinned dog/cat food, feathers, oil, lure. They all work.

Personally, I like to use different baits, to change things up a bit. Some mink are very cagey. Pardon the pun, but they are. I've seen tracks leading right up to a trap, and it just continued on its way. I feel this happens, more often than we think. Un-baited tunnels, can often be the answer, for those hard to trap mink.

What's good about oil, and feathers? A, as mentioned by minktrapper, they are light. B, you won't end up with a maggoty mess with them, in the typical Irish mild weather.

minktrapper

Did you ever try the mink cage from Pest Stop I think it's called. Has a big paddle in middle of the cage. Must be over 2.5 feet long and the doors can be opened at both ends. I have one here. Would be worth making a tunnel out of it and placing it in the correct spot.

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121698932#Comment_121698932

I've seen them uses that way, with good success. I have two but ended up just using them as single door baited traps. P Marten can make bits of them though. They are flimsy enough.

minktrapper

I presume mink are attracted to tunnels in their search for food.. And a drop of fish oil every now and then. The steel is soft in them it seems . I see where a bar is bent on it. I presume a mink. Where are you getting bodygrips from?

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121699996#Comment_121699996

Last time I got them, they were bought by the gun club off that lad on Facebook called Ultimate Traps. Think his page is no longer active. The gun club gave them out to some of the members. Fourteenacre was always my go to place for anything trapping related, but customs is probably an issue now. Haven't bought a trap in several years now.

Eddie B

Lads regarding the mink bounty. I've heard it finished some years ago. Is that true?

minktrapper

Goodnature A18 mink trap. It isn't really a trap but designed for squirrels. Anyone got one.

Mink bounty €3. Pathetic.

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121742588#Comment_121742588

I read in an article recently that the bounty is finished since 2019.

I've heard good and bad things about the goodnature. Some say they are a great trap. Others say they are useless. Rats, squirrels just ignoring the trap altogether.

minktrapper

They are expensive. They would want to be good. Are they 100% waterproof? If the river flooded would it be ruined.

Would it be powerful enough to kill a mink especially a big one.

J.R.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121742588#Comment_121742588

https://www.irishexaminer.com/farming/arid-41094967.html

.....

J.R.

https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/IWM40.pdf

Page 20

Bounty Schemes: Historically, bounty schemes do not work (Wittenberg & Cock, 2001). Bounties are considered to be counter-productive to more efficient, longer-term options, utilize resources better spent elsewhere, have the potential to result in fraud, and usually result in no appreciable reduction in the number of pest animals. This is particularly the case where individuals make an income from them and, in order to maximise their profit margins, will remain in high-density mink areas and avoid low-density areas. This has been the case in Iceland (Hersteinsson, 1999) where mink populations have continued to grow despite there being a long-term bounty scheme in place

minktrapper

How are they to be controlled so. The few I catch is only covering a small area. A dedicated team in each county?

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121745929#Comment_121745929

Firstly, I don't think we can compare bounty schemes in different Countries. They would be done very differently in say Iceland, than what was done in this Country.

Here, we have gun clubs trapping their own townlands, and that is done throughout the Country, and not just paid trappers focusing on mink hot spots.

Funny enough, that review mentions Icelands bounty scheme not working. Here is a more recent article stating that mink numbers are dropping considerably, in that Country.

https://hakaimagazine.com/features/the-mysterious-decline-of-icelands-american-invader/

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121746922#Comment_121746922

The dedicated teams, are supposed to be the gun clubs. On paper, that should work well, but where that falls short, is area's that don't have clubs, and built up area's like towns and city's where nobody tend to set traps.

I've stated here before, that mink numbers are way down in my area. Last four years have seen a huge drop in numbers. Wonder what the NARGC figures are for tails handed in, say the last ten years. That would be a very interesting chart to see.

minktrapper

And fishing clubs. Not working too well where I fish. I am not the only trapping mink and yet there seems to be an endless supply of the critters. An increase in the bounty would help cut down on numbers you would think. Let lads make a few quid on them. Help pay for petrol,traps etc.. It's trying to get the straddlers might be the problem. Don't catch them and the cycle begins again.

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121748079#Comment_121748079

Yes, they really need to be hit in spring/summer, before the young are born. Also the bounty should have been paid to anyone, whether in a gun club or not. That would entice more people to get involved.

minktrapper

Would there be any advantage in setting two traps side by side.

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121778463#Comment_121778463

Well, not exactly side by side, but in close proximity, yes. Gang setting is common enough in the USA. In "hotspots," like around bridges, where a drain enters the river/stream, tree riots, rock piles etc, its worth setting more than one trap, incase a second mink passes through, after a catch, or if you catch a rat, and a mink passes through afterwards.

Make sure the traps are not set too close though, or you'll end up with one mink, in two traps. That results in a disadvantage. Causes a mess, and time wasting.

minktrapper

As you mentioned a drain going in to a river. Would the drain be a better place for a cage or the main river.

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121779111#Comment_121779111

Right where both meet, is a hotspot for a any trap to be used. Its a junction of mink travel ways, and you'll often see mink scat around these junctions. They stop here, and mark their territories.

Doe Tiden

I remember years ago a few of the farmers local to me tried trapping mink when we were having hassle at lambing time and mink were being blamed.

but they used to say after a mink is trapped he p*ss’s all over the trap and the smell stops other mink going near it. Any truth to that?

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121779175#Comment_121779175

No, quite the opposite. The best, bar none, mink bait/attractant, is another minks smell. You are more likely to catch another mink straight after a catch. Sometimes you'll get three or four mink in a row, in the same trap. It is that good, I often bring a fresh caught mink, around to different area's I'm trapping, and rub it around my other sets. Rub until you get that lovely mink musk smell lol.

minktrapper

Is the Goodnature A18 mink trap legal in this country? Would it kill a mink?

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121789956#Comment_121789956

It will kill a mink no problem IF a mink is willing to stick its head into it. It would be legal. Not a foot hold trap, and kills outright, means it's legal. Doubt it would survive a bit of flooding mind

minktrapper

Would it survive a being drenched. What can go wrong with it if it gets a drenching.

Have you handled one Eddie.

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121790133#Comment_121790133

Rain wouldn't affect it at all I'd say, but submersion due to flooding might cause problems. Rusting of the inner works for one.

I've never handled one myself. I've heard positive, and negative things about them. A lot of lads who've tried them over here and the UK, have said, that rats totally ignored the trap.

When it comes to mink, the biggest thing is that you may have no idea whether you've killed a mink or not with this trap. A mink will flap around after being struck by the bolt, which is how this trap works. He will flap around, and probably end up in the river. Same goes for a rat or squirrel. You'll have lots of hits, but little to no carcasses.

minktrapper

But would a mink stick it's head in? I don't want it for rats. What bait would you use for a mink. Pity the CO2 cylinder is sticking out. Very prone to getting damaged

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121790563#Comment_121790563

Yes, that's what I'm wondering. Would he indeed. Doubt it! I don't see them being used for wild ferret in New Zealand.

Bait, they tend to promote special paste for rats and squirrel. I've not seen any promoted for mink. See these pastes last for ages in the trap without going off, and without having to be changed or refilled. Goes with the whole idea of the trap not having to be reset, for weeks or months at a time.

minktrapper

If the trap was disguised or surrounded by something like ivy, I bet a mink would put its head in out of curiosity to check the bait out. They have a more aggressive nature compared to squirrels which is why it is so easy to trap them. Surely someone must have tested it out on mink.