Need some advice.I have a new rat job and there are some major restrictions on how I can place my traps.

I can use foot holds colony traps and BGs. The foot holds need to be on floats or stools and have to be 5' or farther from the shore. This Is a city park with major human activity with dogs on leashes. So setting feed beds and toilets Is a no go. I have had minimum success when using floats or stools here In WI. But they are an option.

Colony traps are a no brainier but lots of times runs and den holes can't be found. I can use body grips In dens and runs close to shore as long as they are under water. I can use exposed baited body grips as long as I'm that 5' or more from shore.So for those that have used exposed baited body grips what kind of a success rate have you had? I've had some success with a baited exposed body grip right close to shore but never used them out In open water.

The other question Is I have to deal with all the resident ducks and geese in this park. Would they be attracted to a baited BG? Would the amount of trap sticking out of the water make any difference?

Bait and lure suggestions?

Thanks for any help.

Tough call without seeing it here I’d look for the runs and set colony traps under the water and hook them out or 110s on steel rod or lath supports as much out of sight as a guy can get. I have a mossy pond I can look to the bottom and see where they keep the sandy bottom clear of vegetation. A colony trap won’t get you in trouble like a 110 might.

Could you take some of your colony traps, wire the doors up attach the trap to a stake, either on the side or from the top through the bottom and put a big clump of fresh vegetation in the center with a trap on each end and then put the top of the colony at the water line or just above say and inch above the water. I would use 1.5 coils or 1 stoploss (which ever would fit) and then you would not need to put slits in your colonies. Hopefully if the traps and bait are 3-5 inches below the water level that would minimize ducks, but I don't know if that is the case or not. A lot like a float but with a lot less likelihood of waterfowl catches and others as well. If they have feed beds or resting spots along the shore, one could check where they are approaching from and dig down that approach deep enough to place a BG trap and have it submerged, you can fence that if you need to. You could do a colony if you have a long enough lead and submerged but you can't fence that set.

Bryce

sounds like a tough problem, hope you getting paid well. John Ehn had a method in high theft areas where he would look in the cattail and other vegetation for under water diggings, where they would dig for the roots, fresh diggings would be muddy. He would then set a number 3 or 4 long spring with a baited pan of the that type of root on the bottom the triggers had a push pull trigger filling system. there were no conibears in those dats so you could use a conibear today

i have seen where rat trapper would take a shovel or just use there hand to make a fake rat run, put a colony trap in and cover with weeds, looked real good as some of the competetion would put conibears in front of the colony trap think it was a rat den

Also back in the 30s, a mfg marketed a net trap similar to a colony (MORE LIKE A TURTLE TRAP), they were supposed to be popular in Canada, used in big runs and sometimes baited.

I am not a big lure user but was testing some lure for John Houben, it was very effective on rats coon and beaver. you could float a lure over these under water sites.

I do prefer oil of sweet flag

Some guys in the big swamps use a white or yellow plastic disk on a 220 trigger when trapping thru the ice

Good luck.

I would like to use 160s and keep them about 3" above the water line with the bait just out of the water. Duck killers maybe?

I'm not worried about catching ducks on floats or stools. I trapped 1000s of rats off those devices with 1000s of ducks In the marsh and never caught a duck. But I guess It could happen.
Any foot hold type set has to be at least 5' from the bank.

I like that Idea of using my colony traps with a foot hold In each end. I could make them Into floats and bait and lure them. That way I could keep them all close to the banks and have a better chance of catching some rats. They would be duck proof and dog proof.
I'm wondering If It would be legal to bait them since In WI we can't bait a colony trap. But Is It still a colony trap If It's above the water line and the doors are removed or wired open or just laid upside down?

I could also put a wire cover over the stool platform and make It dog and duck proof. A little grass or pond debris over the wire would make It more inviting.

This job Is going to be a pain In the butt.

Who has tried it before you ?
they have walked from it as well I presume.
one of Jonathans threads he has a floating set with a flip center and a drowning chamber in the center, once there are some stools they become sucessfull

Far as I know It's never been trapped. The city has spent a large sum of money restoring the banks and planting native grasses and other wild plants. And It sounds like the rats are enjoying the fruits of the cities labor.
Lets say I find a toilet or a feed bed along the shore. Do you think I could put a cage over that feed bed or toilet? Lets say It would be about 7" wide and 7" high and about 12" long. Both ends would be open with the trap set like you would set any toilet or feed bed but the trap would be enclosed In the cage. The cage would be staked down with a T stake so a dog If fooling around wouldn't be able to move It. Do you think a rat would still use that toilet or feed bed with that cage In place?
I'm just looking for any option that will catch these rats.

North of 50 I think I read something about that type of set. It may have some merit. Thanks for the tip.

My experience with baited BG's(open and under ice) is under .50% open at best(luring them helps a lot), depending on competition for food. I have never caught waterfowl yet but it is a possiblity. I have actually had best success open setting near bottom in areas where m'rats are digging(if they can be found). One other waterfowl avoidance set I use is a cubby(approx 6wx8hx12l) made of wire mesh or chxn wire covered with veg placed in shallow water(1-2"), baited, lured and foothold set back inside. I believe they are as interested in ariel cover as bait especially if made in open areas of activity.

I have some Wire 160 coni boxs about that size. I'll have to run that system past the parks people. But It sounds doable. Dog proof and duck proof.

July is the month when female muskrats come into estrus for a second time here (in Northern Nebraska), and it seems from my experience, that it is linked to rainfall and water levels (lots of food and escape /nest cover). With a low water or drought situation, my observations have been that the stress level probably triggers the pituitary to stop any reproductive process and she will not come in season....... What does this have to do with trapping a restricted spot? Well if the water is at normal levels or above I would get some rat musk or a lure with it heavily laced and forget the food lures. If the water is low and the rat population is stressed, a food or bait lure set would be worth the try. i used strips of WHITE clorox bottle fasted to the trigger wires of a body grip with a rat gland wrapped on it and caught enough to know that "Love Conquers All" in the spring or summer when the hormones are at work. A lure with heavy rat musk in it seems to attract both males and females for me. Orient the strip to face the area the rats maybe working and set it with the size of BG you like (a 6X6" model works for me). Use a commercial bracket or a homemade one to keep the trap at the correct height. Don't know if it will work in WI but it has for me when the rats aren't struggling to stay alive in short water................ my tip.................... the mike

Great Info.

The lagoon system has a controlled inlet and outlet so we have constant water levels. At this time of the year the lagoons are weed choked and there Is so much floating debris (scum) that I wouldn't be able to make any kind of set and there would be no way I could find any sign. So I'm going to have to wait till things clear up and that will probably be late fall.
I'm leaning toward a baited / lured 160 set close to shore. Setting stools and floats 6' from shore seems like a crap shoot. So do you feel that It would work to use both a food lure + a gland lure? I like polar bud oil as a food lure and lennons all call has always worked well for me. Not set on what bait to use I think something visible would help. Maybe a chuck of poplar would work. Maybe a poplar pole stabilizing the 160 would be the way to go along with a baited trigger. I know It's a killer In the spring. I'm not a apple fan they just go bad In hour or so and lose their odor and their color.

Any thoughts?

rat trails in scum are a straight line, were as ducks wander back and forth and close in after a day or two
submarine just floating 2" under the submerged vegetation (duckweed?)

It's like a green carpet probably 2" thick and the whole lagoon system Is like that. Looks like a fall job at least the hides will be a little better. Too hot to be trapping rats at this time of the year and I'm busy doing wood chuck work right know.

With that situation I have had good success suspending colony trap just below surface(with a series of lengths of pipe foam, perpendicular across top of trap, one each end for dive bar, to float trap not larger enough for m'rat to climb on) in straight area of surface trails. Not sure if that has complication with your restrictive colony regs though. Just submerged 160 could be set probably in those trails as well(with enough pipe foam or maybe thin swim noodle) heavy weed cover on each side should help support trap. My 160's are single spring so they are lighter(easy to do, and replaceable). Never say never but floats rarely produce here unless there are no other crawl outs around or in spring when they will mark every floating thing they can get on, but we have no open season then except removal jobs.

Can you trap it through the ice? And if so would you be willing to do the extra work with ice. Late fall with the scum gone, the water will clear up a lot and with typical lower rainfall in the fall the runs etc. should start to show up. I am guessing these rats use bank dens year round. If they build houses or structures over 5 feet from shore that should give one some options. The other nice thing about through the ice is far less human traffic and no incidentals. I would talk with the town or towns people. They may offer more for winter trapping when you explain the extra work you are willing to do to minimize the human, waterfowl and canine interactions.

Bryce

No through the Ice trapping. It's a big ice skating spot.