I have a lot of catnip and other herbs growing in my garden. I was wondering if anyone has had experience using a particular herb as an attractant? I've notice that domestic animals like to sniff in the catnip, mint, etc.

We have catnip growing wild here. I've picked it and dried it. Makes our house cat go crazy. I tried tinturing it and it has very little effect on her. I know mint is used in some lure formulations. I've heard of garlic oil and cilantro oil being used in formulations. There are other food seasons/ herbs used in lures.just depends on what species your targeting and testing to see what the critters response is to it

That's an interesting observation about the house cat. My cat shows some interest in fresh cut, but when its dried she goes crazy for it. I was wondering about drying a bunch, grinding it up and using a little to "dust" a bobcat set.

Dried / Ground wild or domestic catnip in volume is a good additive for lures/bait to appeal to specific targeted animals. Tincturing needs to be strong to have the desired effect. I use and grow large amounts of catnip, spearmint and some other herbs. Sprinkling some dried material around sets can be productive.

Caution> feral and roaming domestic cats can be the down side of using catnip in the dried/pulverized form.

Danny Clifton sent me some valerian root powder to play with for cats. He really recommended it and has more experience with Bobcats than me. It makes our cat act crazy too. Have some valerian oil or tinture that doesn't get much reaction.

There are several powders and ground herbs that have good effects on animals as a stand alone material. It takes some time to learn this, but once you do it can add some fur to the stretchers.

If you want to read some interesting research on catnip and valerian, read this article:

Responsiveness of cats (Felidae) to silver vine
(Actinidia polygama), Tatarian honeysuckle
(Lonicera tatarica), valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
and catnip (Nepeta cataria)

https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-017-0987-6

And for those of you that say, "Well, domestic cats aren't bobcats," there is this one.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure...r-vine-powder-between-her_fig6_315113929

what I like about powdered valerian root is you can just add it to stuff and it still holds attraction

I dont know if anybody remembers but I was talking about silver vine several years ago. cats sure enough do like it. I just never found a real good way to use it except dry and all by itself.

FWIW some good heavy guiding works as good as anything else. I am not opposed to blocking down a dry wash like people do creeks when otter trapping.

Danny, where can you get good valerian powder?

I will say silver vine works great up here. Cats come into our cubbies and push the back of the head into the pan. Guessing but there hasn't been more than a couple refusals in the time using it

800-669-3275

Folks using silvervine are you tincturing? Adding it right to the lure powder form?

Neither

Tracy are u still selling it? Seems ur website is down

Lasarus, is the expert! He must be busy today. He has said too use it dry in a tea bag at the trap set for best results. Their is good information about silvervine on the M.T.P. website under lure ingredients. You have to be careful mixing silvervine with other ingredients?

I only sell products to MTP and F & T. Actually, my source for silvervine in China quit producing when COVID happened so I no longer have a source there. Maybe someone else will find an outlet. Good luck. I took down my website. I just don't have the patience it takes to deal with the public anymore. Spend hours on the phone answering questions from trappers, then fill orders and have guys call back 10 days later and say their order never arrived (even though USPS says it did), so I send another order out. I don't know how Dobbins, Jameson or the rest do it. The patience of Job, I guess. I know I learned I don't have that kind of patience. Nobody listened when I talked about using silvervine so very few saw the benefits. It's a no win deal. I have a lifetime supply for my own use and I have great confidence in it because I know how cats react to it. Same with catnip (which has one of the two operative chemicals that silvervine does). 99.9% of the catnip sold or marketed to trappers is useless or is misused. But it's OK. I will catch the same number of cats whether someone uses Enticers or silvervine. I just know I'm a lot happier focusing on trapping than other things.

Man Tracy I was headed the direction of selling lures and bait, now I'm having second thoughts....

It can be challenging at times dealing in retail sales. However, customer service is a big part of a business. I think anyone that has been in retail sales for some time has some moments that can cause you pause. We have had very few experiences in my years that really stick with me. Most folks are good to deal with and are reasonable.

My biggest aggravation comes from the shipping service companies that abuse, lose and/or remove product from orders that are in transit. Maybe I am the only one this happens too!!!

I have a package I sent to a gentleman that is now at the Criminal Investigation Service Center of USPS. I received a letter from them today about that. It has skunky Backbreaker in it, and I'm sure they suspect marijuana. I've had that happen before. Since the original package never arrived to the person, I send a second one, and he received it. These were over $100 each.