Hi all!

I'm new here at the trapperman forum and wanted to introduce myself. My name is ''Waidman'' ( I live in the Netherlands where i work as a fulltime muskrat and nutria trapper. Not for furs, but for the damage they do to our watersystem. Besides having a job for a hobby (and the other way round) i also hunt quit a lot, fish and like to travel...

I hope to learn from you, and hope to have a nice time here!

Best regards,
Waidman.

Welcome to show

Welcome! I'm sure we would all be interested in sering what traps you use in the Netherlands, and also what methods and set ups you use.

Hi! and thank you!

I will soon post some info and pictures on the traps and methods we use... In the meanwhile i can tell you trapping muskrats here in the Netherlands is a fulltime business with countrywide over 500 fulltime trappers, which operate from 22 different organisations which we call ''waterschappen'' The one i work for is located in the upper most north of the Netherlands. We work with 24 fulltime trappers covering 15 000 kilometers of waterways, canals, lakes and so on... 7 years ago we trapped 24 500 muskrats. (countrywide over 150 000) With the help of new trappers, and new techniques like E-DNA and smart traps (traps that can see if the animal that walks in a cage is a muskrat or, for example is a duck or coot) we managed to reduce our numbers to under 2000 cathes each year. Last year our gouvernement decided that we should try to exterminate muskrats from the Netherlands, and so money is been reseved to do so...

My day begins from home... i drive to my working area (1200 km waterways) and do my rounds... usually i can get round once a year. For that i use a quad, canoe, boat and do a lot of walking. I have 500 + traps that i use... from conibears to colony traps...

welcome to t-man. looking forward to seeing some of your traps and methods. i cant imagine rats being that thick anywhere. id love to see your country someday.

Thanks! and will do!

Yes, we have had a lot of muskrats years ago. Just found another hotspot this week in a piece of marsh in a national park... Big huts! Will post pictures soon!

Hope corona is over soon, so you can come visit the Netherlands!


Best regards,
Waidman.

Welcome ! Please feel free to post in the general form as well ! The international forum here can be kind of dead at times lol. Everyone is fairly friendly and I'm sure would love to chat with you!

Too bad you have to toss the fur.muskrats are saleable to the fur market and some years bring good prices,even for second grade goods.
Muskrats are a staple in the fur market.Since you cannot sell the fur,do the taxpayers have to pay for wildlife management?
if you exterminate all the muskrats will you still have a job?lol.

Welcome Waidman to T man I can only imagine how busy things can get for you at times .
I've never delt with any nutria but really enjoyed trapping muskrats when I was younger now the irrigation company runs a trackhoe clean the return water ditches of silt and cat tails which has pretty much wiped out the minnows ( fishing bait ) muskrats and mink and takes away some of the nesting area's for waterfowl.

I look forward to reading more about the trapping you do .
Allan

Thank you! Will do! exited to learn from you all!

Welcome spring muskrat (rat) season coming here soon.

Thank you! and good luck! Here we already are in full swing with the spring migration of muskrats...

You need to get some of these fun little critters. LOL

You guys use any of the funnel/colony types of traps in other countries?
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We don't have muskrat here, but came across this video from The Netherlands, showing some interesting float designs

Yes, we do use a lot of colony traps... now, in this time of year muskrats migrate... because we have a lot of canals, ponds, lakes, streams and other waterways which are mostly connected to each other by pipes, we use colony traps to cut off the muskrats in there migration routes...(by placing the trap in a pipe)

The cage used by my colluague in the video above is a 'appelkooi' also knows as a 'lokaasvlot' or 'kuiperkooi'
Its essentially a colony trap, only the muskrats have to choose to go inside... we lure them with sweet apples... like elstar. Once inside, the only way out is by going under water... when there are a lot of rats.. they catch very well, when the population drops, so does the succes of this type of trap...

Best regards from the Netherlands,

Waidman