Urban Ark – Manawa Taiao supports trapping in back gardens and reserves
General blurb about why we kill pests
Introduced predators such as rats, possums, and stoats don’t belong here, but it is important to remove them in a humane way that avoids or minimises suffering or distress – both to target and non-target animals.
Predator Free NZ have an excellent section How to choose the right trap, and Bionet has a list of traps that have met humane trapping guidelines from the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC).
We generally recommend Victor Pro traps for targeting rats, Trapinators or Flipping Timmys for possums, and DOC200 traps for targeting stoats. We also advocate ANFA pulsing (August, November, February, April), and ask everyone to record their catches.
Learn about:
For further reading try:
A Practical Guide to Trapping DOC’s primer on identifying target predators, monitoring predator habitats, understanding predator behaviours and effective control methods.
Pest animal control guidelines for the Auckland region Pest Free Auckland bill this document as “Simple techniques for maximum success”, which is spot on.
Urban Ark groups trap rats using one of these three types of trap. The Victor Pro and T-Rex both go in a wooden box, which keeps out little fingers, curious pets and non-target animals. The D-Rex Supervisor Max is an enclosed design used by itself without a protective box.
Victor Pro
Most people use a Victor Pro trap which is very effective, though some people find it tricky to set.
T-Rex
Some prefer the ease of a T-Rex trap especially for school groups.
D-Rat Supervisor Max
A slightly different aproach is a D-Rat Supervisor Max which, gives the option of targeting mice.
For a more general look at setting traps, check out this video. These are new traps so bare hands are fine, but once in the field you should always wear gloves to avoid rodent-borne diseases.
Basic rat trapping tips
- Always wear gloves when handling your trap or catches. Gloves are important for hygiene and they also avoid transferring human smells, which can deter rats.
- Before opening the box give it a shake to fire and disable the trap inside.
- Only hold the trap from the back (the part with the big red V).
- Bait your trap before you set it.
- Peanut butter is the most common lure. We’ve listed several alternatives below.
- Use your thumbs to pull back the kill-bar to avoid accidents.
- Set your trap/box combo on level ground. Rats are put off by unstable boxes which wobble.
- If you have to use unstable ground, set your trap to “firm (F)” rather than “sensitive (S)”.
- When putting your trap into the box, place it in bait-end first.
- Slide in the trap until it’s just inside the box.
- Your lure is likely to be stolen by slugs or insects after a few days. Refresh every few days!
- To remove a rat from the trap, hold the trap over a bag or bin and pull up the kill bar so the pest drops out. See below for disposal.
For trap maintenance guidelines see Predator Free NZ’s Looking after your traps and Forest & Bird’s Maintaining your Victror rat trap.
For sophisticated techniques, see our advanced rat trapping tips.
Read Avoiding Catching Birds to minimise your chance of catching naive fledglings.
What’s the best lure?
Choosing the best lure is a toughie! It all depends. And what works one day possibly won’t the next. As they say “tools used too often go blunt”.
- Peanut butter A long-standing favourite and the mainstay of hundreds of reserve trapping groups and backyard trappers. Some say premium brands (such as Pic’s) work better than your cheapo brands with added non-peanut oils. Try mixing in some oats for a change. Peanut butter can often be taken by insects, sometimes overnight, but using ‘chunky’ helps ensure some is left for catching rats. Re-apply every few days.
- Mayonnaise Some claim better success with mayonnaise than peanut butter.
- Nutella These rats get fed better than we do!
- Chocolate White chocolate buttons apparently gets the tick from your average rat.
- Cheese The old mousetrap favourite but quickly goes off in the heat.
Sometimes you’re just not catching stuff. Here’s some handy advice from Predator Free NZ.
What do I do with a dead rat?
Firstly, make sure you’re wearing gloves. Apart from the yuck factor, dead rats (and other animals) transmit leptospirosis, a bacterial disease you don’t want to get.
- If you can face it, smear the dead rat around the inside of the trap box, or leave the dead animal nearby. Rats are attracted by other dead rats.
- When you’re finished with it, pop the dead rat in your bin. Think of them as meat scraps. Make sure you put your bin out for the next collection
- Alternatively drop your dead rat in your compost bin and cover it with organic material. It will quickly break down.
If you’re not catching, your traps may be in the wrong place.
Badly placed traps waste money (traps), resources (bait or lure) and time (yours). When chosing where to place your trap, try to think like your target species. Get inside their head and decide where they would go.
Attention to detail is also critical if you want to become an elite predator hunter. A combination of little things make a big difference. As trapping expert John Bissels says “a single successful capture is the result of a series of good (smaller) decisions made by the trapper prior to the capture. We will always catch a number of predators by just setting a trap, but what we want to do is catch more”. If you get teh basics right you’ll get better results. His top tips are:
- Select the trap that gives the best chance of catching the target species and killing it as humanely as possible.
- Place the trap at a site where the predator has the greatest possible chance of encountering it.
- Ensure that we are presenting the trap in a way that makes the predator WANT to interact with and enter it.
- Ensure that once the predator decides that they want to enter/ engage with the trap, that things have been made as easy as possible for them to do so.
Rat traps
In back gardens you can easily move your trap around to try different locations. Try it near the compost bin. You might catch a rat on its way there. On the other hand, the compost bin might be too much of an all-you-can-eat buffet temptation and the rats will ignoreyour trap. Another spot on the other side of hte garden might be better.
Rats prefer following walls and fencelines to open spaces. Try those.
These are generally placed at 50 metre intervals along a trapline, but the actual location should be varied according to the terrain. Rats have small home ranges so you need to make sure every rat has a chance to encounter a trap.
- Make sure your trap is firmly placed on the ground. If the trap moves or rocks when the rats tries to enter it is likely to retreat.
- Make sure the animal can see right the way through. A rat doesn’t want to be trapped and needs to feel like it has an escape. If it looks blocked off, the rat won’t go in.
Possum traps
Possums often seek out lone trees in a paddock
Stoat traps
xxxx, either your target species are in low numbers (that would be nice!) or you need to adjust something.
Rivers ridges and roads,
use tracks, bridges and culverts. good for minimising reinvasion
Apex predators are great travellers who love a bit of roadkill
stoats like to follow ridges
place traps along the track you are using for your trapline. Stoats will often follow the path, then they’ll encounter your trap.
Many Urban Ark groups (particularly those sponsored by Predator Free NZ) use the Victor Pro rat trap in a wooden box, which keeps out little fingers, curious pets and non-target animals.
For a more general look at setting traps, check out this video. These are new traps so bare hands are fine, but once in the field you should always wear gloves to avoid rodent-borne diseases.
Tips for using the Victor / tunnel combo
- Always wear gloves when handling your trap or catches. Gloves prevent you catching leptospirosis or other rodent-borne diseases. They also avoid transferring human smells, which can deter rats.
- Before opening the tunnel give the trap a shake to disable the trap inside.
- Only hold the trap from the back (the part with the big red V).
- Bait your trap before you set it.
- Peanut butter is the most common bait, but check out our lures advice.
- Use your thumbs to pull back the kill-bar to avoid accidents.
- Set your trap/tunnel combo on level ground. Rats are put off by unstable traps.
- If you have to use unstable ground, set your trap to “firm” rather than “sensitive”.
- When putting your trap into the tunnel, place it in bait-end first.
- Slide in the trap until it’s just inside the tunnel.
- To remove predators from the trap, hold the trap over a bag or bin and pull up the kill bar so the pest drops out. See our Dealing with dead rats page.
Advanced trapping tips
Experienced trappers should check out our advanced rat trapping tips.
You’ve found your way to our Trapping Resources section where you can find out about all sorts of trapping related resources.
As well as browsing the sections listed below, you might want to download some further reading:
A Practical Guide to Trapping DOC’s primer on identifying target predators, monitoring predator habitats, understanding predator behaviours and effective control methods.
Pest animal control guidelines for the Auckland region Pest Free Auckland bill this document as “Simple techniques for maximum success”, which is spot on.
keep traps on the ground. Mustelids are primarily ground hunters
Urban Ark – Manawa Taiao supports trapping in back gardens and reserves
Introduced predators such as rats, possums, and stoats don’t belong here, but it is important to remove them in a humane way that avoids or minimises suffering or distress – both to target and non-target animals.
Predator Free NZ have an excellent section How to choose the right trap, and Bionet has a list of traps that have met humane trapping guidelines from the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC).
We generally recommend Victor Pro traps for targeting rats, Trapinators or Flipping Timmys for possums, and DOC200 traps for targeting stoats. We also advocate ANFA pulsing (August, November, February, April), and ask everyone to record their catches.
Learn about:
For further reading try:
A Practical Guide to Trapping DOC’s primer on identifying target predators, monitoring predator habitats, understanding predator behaviours and effective control methods.
Pest animal control guidelines for the Auckland region Pest Free Auckland bill this document as “Simple techniques for maximum success”, which is spot on.
New Zealand has one of the world’s worst records for species extinctions. Humans have done their bit with hunting and habitat destructions, but introduced predators are the major ongoing threat.
The sheer number of pest animals across New Zealand is a major threat to our native biodiversity. One (probably very conservative) study estimated 25 million native birds are killed each year by introduced predators. In line with the aspirations of Predator Free 2050 and Pest Free Auckland, Urban Ark – Manawa Taiao is striving towards a New Zealand free from rats, possums and stoats, though we are also looking to reduce numbers of hedgehogs and wasps.
Why Predator Free?
Predator-free is primarily about conservation, native birds in the garden and feeling connected to nature. If you live in Auckland’s inner west, you’ve most likely got a rat within 50 metres of where you are. As Jesse Mulligan puts it “Every night when you close the backdoor and retreat inside, big rats wander over your lawn and eat whatever seeds, insects and birds they come across. They climb fences and trees, dive into ponds and burrow into woodpiles, devouring any protein they can find.”
What’s more, rodents chewing through electrical wires are believed to cause eight percent of house fires, and rats have even been known to chew through dishwasher and washing machine hoses causing house flooding.
The Predator-free movement also builds communities. Folk working together for a common goal can’t help but feel united and part of something. Conservation can be a starting point for a conversation, and a way to turn strangers into neighbours. An entire community, connected and rallying around a common goal? We reckon that’s a good thing.
Over the last few years, the efforts of Predator-free Wellington have seen native birdlife thrive around the capital, where Zealandia proved a mother lode of native species to populate the inner city. Auckland’s opportunity lies in the numerous predator-free Hauraki Gulf islands and the bushy enclaves of the Waitākere and Hunua ranges. If we can greatly reduce the number of rats, possums and stoats, the birds (and a lot else besides) can thrive.
4 tips for predator control
Trap Smarter, Not Harder If you decide to trap, learn about ‘pulsing’. Putting your traps out for two or three weeks at a time only four times a year is less onerous, and you will be more effective as animals don’t become trap/bait shy. It gets much better if you work in with neighbours as together you knock down the local rat population – connect with an existing community programme or start your own.
Know what you’ve got To identify what pests you have, check out Pest Detective, where droppings, tracks, vegetation damage, bite marks, smell and traces of fur, hair or feathers can help you work out what you’ve got.
Your backyard = Your pests You are responsible for controlling pests in your backyard. If you live on a suburban section you’ll probably only need to target rats. For heaps of info on backyard trapping visit www.predatorfreenz.org/backyard-trapping
Trap with care Introduced predators don’t belong here – but it is important to remove them in a humane way that avoids or minimises pain, suffering of distress – both to target and non-target animals.