I was gonna try to use colony traps for muskrat this year but not much experience using them. Can anybody enlighten me? I was thinking of using them as like bottom edge traps.

Can also be set in runs or at den entrances.Just make sure the trap is totally submerged.
Tom

You could use them as bottom edge traps. But I normally use them as Bogmaster stated, in den entrances mainly.

If your water is low in the summer mark some of the tunnels/ trenches in case the water comes up, just a dead willow stick will due
pre-planning

But if it’s sticking out of a den entrance 2 feet, won’t the muskrat now want to go in.

They will still go thru them.

The rats for the most part are already In the den when you place your traps.

Buy the book I wrote on MUSKRATS ... it shows how and where to use them and even how to make folding colony traps.

Garry-

Better yet just take out Actor and absorb some of his wisdom this fall. You might even get an autographed book on that trip, if you follow the rules.

If you can legally trap culverts just fill that culvert with colony traps and get ready to skin some rats. The best culverts are those that are completely submerged. Ones not completely submerged aren't as good. In these the rats seem to swim on the surface.

Funnel traps are better for culverts.
I prefer funnel traps to colony traps if trapping out of a vehicle,or when trapping a multi species line.
If set in the right place a funnel trap will catch a lot of rats.They are a lot bigger and bulkier than the colony traps but you dont need as many of them.

But Boco who wants to carry around 100 funnel traps. You would need a trailer to haul them around. While you can build 3 different sizes of square colony traps and nest them together and be more efficient and take up a third of the space. How many funnel traps can you use for den trapping or rat runs. The answer Is NONE. And the there Is the cost of building funnel traps. Try using a funnel trap In 8" of water.

The trick In using regular colony traps Is to put cage wire wings on them. Lets say we are working with 7" traps. What you do Is put 2 7"x 7" wings on the traps. With a few zip ties you can attach the wings on to the leading edges of the trap. They fold up during transport.

Lets say your trapping a 18" culvert you place the trap In the center of the culvert and spread out the wings and the mouth of that culvert Is completely fenced off.
The same deal goes for den entrances and rat runs.
Boco you should come out to ND and I'll show you how to trap rats. LOL

Beav your ND trapping is spring and not dealing with ice. Those nice square 3 in 1 would not go into each other after pulling out of frozen situations daily.
Old fridge grates work wonders as gates for fencing.
Boco does not have to travel out of his province to get into good rat populations along the great lakes marshes

I tried them last year for the first time. Had good luck with them in small runs coming over the beaver dams where the water was deep enough and really narrow.

I have been using mine in some streams with fairly hard bottoms with pretty good current so runs and dens are not easily found. I have been doing the bottom edge setting, looking for points, obstructions etc. Two years ago I did OK, but not great. This year my catch percentage was way, way lower. Don't know for sure if there were fewer rats or just not good placement. I put the traps mostly in the same places and I had a few more to set.

Bryce

Trap smarter not harder. Trap open water.

if you truly trap smart, it happens all season.

Most give up to easy.

7 inch traps are for 7 inch runs or states who have a size limit.

Mason, any place a rat will swim and is legal to set is a good place for a colony trap

auto correct, just had to
Some of my best catches have been in hot water tin shells with doors on them.
Some of the east coasters call them otter traps and saving the Brook trout's of the streams

Your book Sir, Makes it fun to Trap Muskrats Again. A 'SIMPLY' Outstanding Book!

Here are a couple shots:


The trap was at a den, but not at the bank like you normally would set it. You can see the muddy run that the rat traveled. I set the trap from the first bend in the run to the second bend. I didn't use dive sticks, because the top of the trap was right at the top of the water, therefore it was breaking the surface tension of the water the same a dive sticks would have. I pulled the trap out of the water to show the rat in it.


This trap was set in a place that the stream narrowed from about 8 feet to about 6 inches. The actual stream was still about 8 feet, but water weeds had it almost choked off. You can see the use of the dive sticks in the photo. The use of dive are because rats usually swim on the surface when traveling from one point to another. They see the dive sticks as an obstruction and dive under them right into your trap. I usually place the dive sticks about 4 inches away from the trap.


I found the overflow pond the day day before and saw where the rats were feeding it and had bank den and 4 or 5 feeding locations. There was no ice on the pond when I set the trap. At the upper end of the pond there was a small spring run that emptied into it that stayed open unless a really had freeze lasting a number of day. There is another pond that this pond empties into. I checked the traps I had in the other pond and as I came up over the bank a muskrat ran ahead of me and jumped into the spring run. I watched it swim down the run into the pond and watched it go into the colon trap and drown. I t took about 30 second, to drown, because it kept coming to the bottom side of the ice a inhaling the air bubbles that were trapped and you can see.


This mink was caught in the same trap on another day, in the same trap as you see in the second photo where the weeds have choked off the flow. The trap I believe was probably a 30 inch trap.

Garry-

Thank you for those most kind and thoughtful words. I tried my best to make it interesting as well as educational. When I suggest it to some young buck or to someone older that just wants to trap rats, it isn't that I am being braggart, I firmly believe they can learn something that will be helpful to their education on the subject.

Garry-

What is your book called and where can I find it? Also how do you identify runs compared to a bald strip in the vegetation? Also what do you recommend as a standard size? I really appreciate all the info and I’ll try to get me some rats in colony traps this year. One more question, do you ever set colony traps to target mink? Thanks again for all the helpful info.

A run is usually identified as depression or bare trail on the bottom of a body of water, where a water animal travels. I have seen runs, with nothing more than vegetation removed to a depression a foot or more deep. I make all of my own folding colony traps and usually 6 x 6 or 7 x 7 and 30 inches long. No, I don't set colony specifically for mink... BUT... when I set a colony where I think I might catch a mink, I set a colony with a re-enforced doors, otherwise they can sometime push the gate out and escape.

Garry-

I was also taught to cover some of the colony trap with local vegetation draped over . Mink will sometimes get in them when they are chasing or hunting muskrats too.
And also I was taught to use a short t stake to stabilize them if the local vegetation was not heavy enough.

Can you imagine the rule change this year for Michigan DNR.

Stating its OK to trap mink in a colony trap this year and on!!!

I would like to ask them, how was I supposed to avoid them in the past?

More examples of MORONS that apparently never used one at all. Now they say its legal!?!

I use 3 sizes. 5", 6" and 8"x36". The 5 & 6 are 24".

I will say if rain is expected shortly after setting, use a 3/8" re-rod down through the side of the trap.
Not to impeded the doors though.

The only time I use an additional stake to stabilize is in a small choke point where the water is swift and I want it to stay in one position, or in a pond that has a drop off into deep water. I learned that the hard way. I had a set at a bank den... the run was only about 3 feet long, water about 8 inches deep. Then the run ended and water dropped in about 6 feet of water. Went the next morning and trap was gone. After studying the site for quite a while I decided the trap had been pushed out into deeper water. Next morning took a deep water fishing rig with very large treble hook. On the third cast was able to snag the trap and with some effort drag it back to within reach. It had 3 extra large rats in it.

I have never had to cover a trap for muskrats or mink. I consider all mink caught in them to be incidental or even call them blind sets if you will. By using the dive sticks when away from den or bank sets, if the mink are swimming, they will be on top of water like muskrats, but will dive where there is an obstruction in the water.

I think I have have size and shape trap imaginable. I think the largest I have is a 9 h x 12 w x 40 l. When I would find a place that I was trapping year after year, where I would have to set side by side or traps on top of another one, I started building a single trap to handle the situation. I prefer 1 x 1 inches mesh, but that is sometimes hard to find, so I use 1 x 2 mesh. I prefer #12 wire size, but last couple times couldn't find it, so had to use #14.

Garry-

I found using an 8 foot fiberglass paint pole with a short roll hook can snag out most cage traps from the shore.

The one I finally purchased after cheap 5" ones was $20.00 w/extension of about 6'. Just untwist, slide it out and tighten.

I even set some of the colonies from shore with it. Like at a crossover into a field. Stand over the culvert and feed it down and in.

One on each end works well.

Be careful when setting culverts with any current. Your traps can and will get washed back Into the culvert. You can either tie them off or just set the lower end of the culvert.

Yes, I forgot to say what I do, which like you do... except I use small willow stakes the 1/2 or 3/4 inch dia. vertically placed halfway between to gates on one or both sides through the first row of mesh. Set in bottom good and at least 5 or 6inches above the trap, or more depending on location and situation.

Garry-

X2 These pictures are the best way to describe the use of colony traps. They must be under water with either a dive stick or iced over to be effective.

Most of the culverts I set have a metal or concrete apron sticking out In front so getting a stake In is not going to happen. In these situations I either tie the trap off or at times I have used a piece of heavy steel that has been cut to size and Is placed In the bottom of the trap. Never had one get washed away when doing this.

ALWAYS adequately secure your colonies! Larger creatures get in them only part way sometimes, otter, raccoons, even waterfowl and away they can go. Even if you stake thru them do so at an angle. Watched an eagle pull one up off a stake and I was lucky it was heavy enough with captured m'rats that I caught up to it and chased it off. Eagles here have learned quite well how to recover submerged m'rats, if they can see them, even a couple feet deep.

Ditto . Lol Great explanation Garry!

My problem is if otter find them they roll them up the bank and extract their dinners. Once they learn how to......there is only one way to solve the problem.

I use fender washers and attach mid-colony with cable and have drilled into the culverts and left a roofing screw and washer to attach the traps to.

At freeze up the last areas to freeze are inside the culverts and the rats climb up on the ice shelf and eat their meals there.

Those culverts really shine In the spring.

Colony trapping is fun, I always stake with 3/8 t bar, so when creek floods it there after

A few pictures and comments

Traps I use 5x5-6x6-12x6- round colony 12x30

These are my favorite. Dropped in front of a small rat hole. Contrary to some beliefs rats float under water

6x6 dropped in front of a hole. Works in a run the same way. Carry a spade and dig out a run and I fit any trap where I want it to go

You can fit a lot of rats in a round colony. Make sure they have a gate at the end of the funnel

Works in spring,fall and winter

Small colony's will catch multiples as well they just fill up faster. Best place is in a culvert for round colony's



You'll catch mink

Fish

Fish and muskrats



I rigged up a drying system for my truck


The rats drip dry and spin around while I'm checking traps. The bars are remove able. Once the back rack is full I move it to the front of the truck.
Put a new bar up and start hanging more rats


Bars are transferable and carried from the truck to the skinning room


Finished rats are hung up higher in the skinning room where the heat is and with a fan blowing on them


Stack up the rats


Milk crates work good for storing rats


Save your rat glands. Lots of people will buy them

Fire is hard on colony traps


Rats are easy to catch. Easy to flesh and dry,and fun to catch. You need big populations to catch lots of rats........but if you catch one or ten they are a fun animal to trap

Oh yeah watch out for bears. Bears get mad when you run out of fresh muskrats for bait!

Great pictures, Saskbone. It appears you catch a few rats now and then.

Wow! Lot rats there ! Fantastic pics! Most i ever got colony was 4 rats, this happen more once. Oftentimes 1, sometimes 2, lot less often is ,3, 4 at a time. Maybe once or twice a season

Best I ever did was 22 in 2 traps on a single day check. One culvert 2 winged 9 X 9 X 30 traps. 12 In one and 10 in the other. I think we caught 40 some rats out of that culvert In about 3 days.
If I could find a 100 viable culverts In good rat country I wouldn't even set a foot hold or BG.

If any WI wardens are tuned In I was trapping rats In ND.