Possum Issue - How to 'remove' ?

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#2844770 7-Jan-2022 10:29

bazzer:

That's not strictly true. My cat took one out once. Sadly, he's a bit older now and I'm not sure he's up to it, otherwise he would definitely have volunteered!

Back when we owned a Dorgi (Dachshund/Corgi cross) I found a headless possum on the back lawn one morning. No sign of the head. Not sure if she had eaten it (difficult I would have thought), or had buried it somewhere not obvious 😱

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#2844810 7-Jan-2022 13:10

Bung: Maybe this time

This needs a webcam. Please.

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#2844811 7-Jan-2022 13:11

We were loaned a trap by someone from one of the conservation groups so I guess we will see what we can see.

neb

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#2844882 7-Jan-2022 16:20

richms:
Sounds like one for @neb to give some advise.

So from my trials:

A12 (captive-bolt CO2): Totally useless. Very cool and high-tech, but the damn possums can't read the manual for it and so can't figure out how to get caught by it.

Trapinator: Nearly useless, the trigger bar is so insensitive that the possums repeatedly ate the bait off it without setting it off, despite the bait being zip-tied onto it. One time I didn't realise it was still set and monkeyed with it to put new bait on and it never went off. It's caught one possum once, but I don't know how it did it.

Timms: This is the one to go for, caught two in a row right after I put it up. My reservations with this were that it's ground-based so I put it up without setting it and put an IR movement sensor near it, nothing paid any attention to it during the week I had it like that so it was safe from curious pets.

Flipping Timmy: A tree-based Timms, potentially safer if you're worried about pets, hasn't caught anything yet but that's because the regular Timms is getting them before the Timmy does.

If you're on the North Shore and want to give the Trapinator a go, it's free for the taking, you may have better luck than me.

neb

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#2844884 7-Jan-2022 16:21

bazzer:
My cat took one out once.

Holy bleep, what sort of cat do you keep as a pet? Has it got a huge mane and roars loudly every now and then?

neb

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#2844886 7-Jan-2022 16:28

MikeAqua:
Edit: Or get a high power slingshot ('Shangai' type) and some galvanised M8 or M10 nuts (buy loose at M10 or similar).

Slingshots are a bit of an exercise in frustration unless you're a really good shot... so far this:

has taken out more possums than all the traps combined.

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#2844996 7-Jan-2022 20:05

neb:
richms:
Sounds like one for @neb to give some advise.

So from my trials:

A12 (captive-bolt CO2): Totally useless. Very cool and high-tech, but the damn possums can't read the manual for it and so can't figure out how to get caught by it.

I see the A12 has been discontinued to concentrate on the A24 rat & stoat version. Rats must be easier to lead down the road to perdition.

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Bung

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#2845118 8-Jan-2022 06:52

The revised trap position worked last night. I have the snuff pic but this is a family channel 😀 This tree shows a lot of claw marks on the bark so I'll leave the trap in it for a week or so (it's across the road).

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#2845269 8-Jan-2022 13:14

Around 20 years ago in the middle of Auckland, we had a possum problem. They managed to get up onto the roof and actually found a way to get into the ceiling cavity.

We realised what was happening one day when we heard sounds above the TV, and while looking up, one of them must have stood on the recessed downlight. The downlight suddenly popped out several cms and sprung back up when it moved off it.

We borrowed a Timms trap off a work mate and baited it with a nice slice of apple (from memory).

Heard it go off outside the bedroom window the first night. A satisfying 'clunk'. Went outside with the torch to see the motionless back end of a possum sticking out of the trap and the family cat looking very interested in the sight.

I think we got the second one a night later.

The Timms traps are very effective and should be pretty safe around cats as long as you use fruit for bait. The head hole is quite small so doesn't fit the average cat too well. Possums have quite a small head compared to a cat.

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neb

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#2845414 8-Jan-2022 19:35

robjg63:
The Timms traps are very effective and should be pretty safe around cats as long as you use fruit for bait. The head hole is quite small so doesn't fit the average cat too well. Possums have quite a small head compared to a cat.

It'll easily fit the head of a blackbird, as a friend of mine found out. Another thing you can do is smear a bit of the cinnamon possum pre-feed bait you can get at Mitre10 and other places around the entrance, it supposedly attracts possums and supposedly repels cats, although our doofus just sniffed at it and ignored it.

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#2845908 9-Jan-2022 21:24

I use a 12 bore. Wait until they are asleep in the day and then... Bang.

neb

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#2845912 9-Jan-2022 21:32

Geektastic: I use a 12 bore. Wait until they are asleep in the day and then... Bang.

How do you get the tracking tag on the possum to find the tree it's in?

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#2845919 9-Jan-2022 21:48

neb:
Geektastic: I use a 12 bore. Wait until they are asleep in the day and then... Bang.

How do you get the tracking tag on the possum to find the tree it's in?

Spotlighting with a .22 is great way to cull their numbers. Just not so neighbour friendly in suburbia.

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#2846698 11-Jan-2022 12:53

neb: Slingshots are a bit of an exercise in frustration unless you're a really good shot... so far this: has taken out more possums than all the traps combined.

It took me few weeks of practice after work to get accurate. It's relatively easy to be accurate out to about 15 feet range. After that takes more skill. The slingshots with arm braces are much more accurate. In only have on because I'm in an urban area. When I lived rurally I just used as silenced 22.

A cross bow in an urban area ... I'm not sure how the cops would react if someone complained.

Mike

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#2846705 11-Jan-2022 12:57

No luck using the loaned yellow trap so far!

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