Muskrat trapping

A lady that my wife works with asked my wife if I could come out and help remove muskrat from the lake she lives on. Apparently they've become quite the problem the neighbor who is an 80 year old man fell into one of many holes they've dug into the bank and got stuck in it, and it the summer they're also getting into the boats and chewing wires. I haven't trapped muskrat since I was a kid and I've never done it on a lake or under the ice. It looks like they've dug into the banks in numerous spots over a 500 foot span of frontage, I have one colony trap and 14 #110's, I know you can look for air bubbles under the ice to see where the runs are but I'm wondering if I'd even be able to see those ad the lake is snow covered and the ice is always white and not clear to see through so I'm wondering what I can do to find out where they are going under the ice to get these traps set and help out with their problem any advice helps and pictures are always helpful and appreciated

They waited too long and made your job hard.

Hope someone has advise but sounds difficult.

That's what I was thinking I got to go out there and look the day after our winter storm warning where we got 12 inches of snow. I can find where they go into the banks but I gotta be out enough to get under the ice because her and her neighbors worry about their pets

Most the time their runs will go straight out from their bank den.

That and I would assume that if I chop through the ice even if I can't see I would think that I would be able to feel where the run is on the bottom with my hand

If you know where they are traveling near the bank holes but can't locate holes, use baited conibears. They are not as high a percentage as setting the holes but work well just under the ice. I use 160's when I get that situation and potato chucks or something orange. I've caught them on orange peels, but lots of people use carrots.

I did the same thing last winter on neighbor's pond......but ice was thin with no snow cover, so I could find and set the runs coming out of the dens. But otherwise, 110 with bait on triggers through the ice......1 1/2 long spring or coil spring on a board, with bait......under the surface or thin ice....in areas they were feeding. Cleaned out most of them....about 8 total......in about 2 weeks.

Don't know how he managed to do it, but also caught a young coon in a 1 1/2 long spring baited with a carrot......set on a board set in deep water about 4 feet off the bank.....would have had to swim to it......but caught a front paw........he managed to make it back to shore.......then moved 20 feet down the bank to get a back foot caught in a 120 BG I had set in front of a muskrat toilet.....but had staked down hard. So had tangled up the 120 with all the other accessories. Looked pretty ashamed of himself when I found him.

how deep is the water ?? , if shallow set where water is a couple feet or more deep, some times for me its 20 feet away from shore , look for pushups , some times you can fine runs by them

The only tip I got on water depth is at the end of the neighbors dock it's about 5 feet deep and I'd say the dock is about 40 feet long. I can locate holes in the bank all over the place they've definitely been busy. I already picked up a bag of carrots the other day to use for baited sets. I didn't see any push ups but maybe they were there and covered in all the fresh snow. Do muskrats always have there push ups in the water or can you find them a little ways from shore? Honestly when I trapped muskrat with my dad when I was a kid I don't ever remember seeing a push up it was all bank dens but we only trapped them in all the farmers drainage ditches around the little farm town we lived in in Eastern Michigan, I can't remember the exact number but our best year we got between 350 to 380 muskrats hard to believe how many there were around there

Wait until spring if season goes long enough there. Way easier and they arent hurting anything right now anyway.

The season ends March 1st

PA ends this sunday

Use your ice chisel and walk the bank, hitting the ice with your chisel. Most runs will be full of air and will have a hollow sound (and may have ice that still won't support you).

I'd use baited 160s personally. If they are hungry, you won't have to be exacty in the run this way.

Take as many as you can before the ice gets too thick,, then come back in the spring under a permit from the warden. Wardens usually have no issues issuing a permit when they are doing damage. In many states you can't sell the hides of out of season/permit species... so charge accordingly.

Yeah, it seems people always call you at the worst time of year for trapping of a species. For me it's usually after the spring beaver run when the fur is junk, season is closed and all the snapping turtles are out.

I see no good reason to trap the muskrats now. You'll lose time and money doing it. I would wait until the snow and ice melt.

Keith

set the dens with conibears

If there is anywhere to make a bottom edge set you can take out a lot of rats under the ice with them. A vertical retaining wall or a large tree or rock at the edge if the water might have enough space under the ice to make a set. Fallen trees in the lake are good too, rats and mink swim right down the side of them.

If you check carefully you may be able to find thin ice over den entrances or even be able to find the dens up on the bank. Sometimes the rats body heat keeps the ground unfrozen above their dens.