Mine will have a couple of pigeon trap wires hinged at the top of each funnel opening…

Please explain the advantages a round colony trap has over a square one.

Please explain the advantages a round colony trap has over a square one.

Only thing I can see right off the top is easier to make.

Well maybe. But you still have to make the cones, and you have to make a door so you can remove the rats. and you have to make swinging doors on the ends of the cones.

I would use round colonies before square colonies every time. We can put colonies in culvert so it’s a no-brainer. I’ve probably built about 1000 round colonies. They are very easy to build just takes a little longer than square colonies. The only time I use Square colonies is when there is very low water. If I can put a round colony in the water, that’s the first thing I’ll use and the only thing I’ll use. round colonies need a gate on them. I put a U-shaped wire coat hanger over the opening flips up flips down once some muskrats swim in. I’ve rolled a trap upside down with a live muskrats in it and it took about 30 seconds for him to find the opening and was gone out of the trap. You need a gate on a round colony! most I’ve caught in a round colony was 23 muskrats in an overnight soak. With a round colony I average 8 to 12 muskrats on the first check in a culvert.
Few pics



This picture is underwater. Very easy to get a run cleaned out in one night



Muskrat drip/dry hanger system while checking colonies. Usually the first ones caught are dry and ready to skin in a hour or so of driving around

Best I ever did was 12 rats In a 8X8X24 trap.
We could trap culverts In N D and I found that if the culvert was full, I had better luck using colony traps. It seemed to me when the culvert wasn't full the rats swam on top.
By placing 8" wings on a colony trap I could use a 8X8 trap and cover up to 30 inches. In a round culvert the rats swam right in the center and right on the bottom. So, my square trap with wings covered that area.
The big problem I see regarding the round trap is that the cones take up so much room you have to build the trap so long to get the added room for more rats.

I could see if you had lots of 18" culverts to trap and you made 18" round colony traps; they would be rat killing machines.

Saskbone sent me a few cones for a pattern, and one roll of wire makes 32-33 of them and I have them cut out and stitched together,just have to complete before I can take over the world.

Dang Sask that's getting it done!

Beav

Where I trap is a grid road system. Farmland with a road every 2 miles by 1 mile. Rectangle you could say. Most all culverts put in are 18 or 24 inch. One colony on each side of the culvert. When the culvert is under water most muskrats will swim up to it and dive and go in At the the top. Coming out the other side they 99 percent of the time come out at the bottom. That’s why two traps. You will miss a lot of rats on the side you don’t have a trap. When the culvert is not full they will swim the top of the water right to the other side then dive down before they come out. No Ive watched a lot of muskrats over the years. I think it’s a survival thing. When they exit they swim out the bottom of the culvert and a few yards into the water so they can see above them before they come up. I could be wrong but that’s what I believe. Lots of the rectangle grids 1x2 miles will have 10 to 20 culverts on them. We used to have lots of water. Last 8-9 years water has disappeared. Culverts I used to trap that were under 3 feet of water now have crop growing beside them. I could catch 2-3 hundred rats a day .. now I would be lucky to trap 100 in a spring and fall season.
You are correct they are big. At three foot long by 1 foot round they fill up a truck quick. But I could dump 50 in 1/2 hour where I trapped. I could set 100 opening day. Go back where I set the first ones and pull a bunch of rats and check the whole line that day.

If water was low where I could get a trap under water I switched to the 6x6 square. 2 or three at each end worked great.

I always say use what works best for you.

I used to have 100 floats. Once I built enough colonies the floats got left in the shed. Way too much time wasted setting them. Plus you were limited on catches. Colonies keep catching.. floats get full and stop producing

The problem I found In ND was that lots of those culverts got plugged up or the ends got smashed flat by equipment driving over them. But the ones we could set were a trapper's dream. Some of those culverts we checked twice a day, and we still were catching rats. That one spring we caught 1500 rats and averaged $7.00 each. I would say that 1/3 of those rats came out of colony traps. If I had lots of viable culverts I don't think I would ever set another foot hold.
But we can't set culverts here in WI.

Yep I hear you. If I couldn’t set culverts I would have worked a lot harder getting big numbers. Where I am most of the muskrats are bank denners. Never get crazy amounts of huts on the lakes for the amount of rats we used to have. Always had lots of push ups though. Culverts with standing water on both sides is the easiest way to catch rats. Natural funnel for them and they just keep swimming through.

I dont understand some rules from south of our border. Like the no trapping in culverts. I’m sure there is some logic to it. We have no limits on any animal here. I guess every area is different and I’m lucky where I’m at. I don’t think I’ve ever been denied trapping or hunting permission where I’m at.

I can set culverts, but if you are referring to The Beav’s state, believe he doesn’t have “right of way “ trapping, which probably includes culverts.

Saskbone,

Some great pictures. Now I have to build some round ones. Are you using galvanized steel for the cones or aluminum, or does it matter? The reason I ask is that aluminum flashing is cheaper than galvanized or painted steel. Which surprises me.

I guess I started this so blame me when I said I would not use a square colony anymore. The rounds hold more "jaw locked rats" and they are away from the entrance door for me so rats/trap is higher. Colony funnel traps are set at den entrances and moved after 1 - 24 hr period. You have caught 90-100% of the current residents and its not worth it to me to leave one in front of a bank den entrance here any longer. Narrow stream between beaver dams in a beaver colony, I will leave longer as these are travelers and if we get permission from the landowner(s) we can trap county roadside culverts. Can't trap any type on state roadways or federal highways here. Contracts with USDA - Wildlife Services keep private trappers out. LIKE I TRIED TO SAY, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of videos showing square (both rigid and collapsible) colony trap usage. Their catch rate is 1-2-3/trap so wouldn't a spaced staked # of 110 size BG's in a den entrance run be a better choice for speed and space? My funnels, when I use one, far out produce square ones for me HERE and I have made and used all types of colony traps since 1972. This is just MY EXPERIENCE. ....................the mike

Why place 2 or 3 110s in a run when you "might" catch 2 or 3 rats. But if you place one colony trap, you're going to catch them all in one trap. I can drop a colony trap in a location in seconds, and I don't have to stake it down. And if the water is deep, I can use my hook to place the trap and recover the trap. And with a 6" opening my odds are a lot better then using a 110 4" opening.
So, if I place a square colony trap at a den entrance, I'm not going to catch all the rats. Why Is a round colony trap better at a den entrance then a square one?