dukes traps

[sharron]

ok everyone, have a new question, i bought four dukes dp traps, my husband and son set them last night, with marshmellows covered with vanilla as bait, this morning when my husband checked the first two, marshmellows gone, not set off, he hasn't checked the other two yet,anyway, any ideas what could have stole the marshmellows without setting the traps off?

he did say there was a crow close to the two, could a crow do it?

 

[FenikT]

Probably a mouse, roach, or big beetle. You might have better luck putting a dab of peanut butter on the bait and/or set pin. Coons will reach in, get annoyed they can't "grab" the PB, and game over. The more time the critter keeps his paw in the trap testing things, the higher catch %.

 

[brandon170]

You could also put a paper or styrofoam cup over the trap. It will keep the mice from steeling the bait and the coon will just take the cup off. Or set a golf ball on top of the opening

 

[quigley257]

My bait of choice for Duke's traps is the mini marshmallows covered in a sweet goo that glues the marshmallows in the trap. I use just a small dab of peanut butter, vanilla extract, maple syrup and honey.(It smells SO good that I may have to pour some over vanilla ice cream some time) Mix these together and microwave for a few seconds to liquify, add mini mallows to trap and pour sweet mix over them. As the mix cools, it sets up.

 

[sharron]

thanks everyone, i do know its not Roach's tho, lived here for 43 years, never saw a roach on this place,(i do know roaches, born & raised in the south) since i have four of the traps, might try all of the above per trap. i know something is out there, last weekend i lost three hens. found the scraps of two of them still in the fenced in grass run, i hate coons, the next dog i have will be one that catches and kills coons and possums to protect my chickens.

 

[sharron]

one down and who knows how many to go

 

[FenikT]

Coon?

 

[sharron]

Coon?

yep. big ole boy too, haven't check yet this morning, might be another if i'm lucky, or unlucky, usually if you have one, you have more than one, from now on, traps will be set all the time, i have a bunch of young tender brahma chicks in tractors now.

 

[sharron]

another one down, wonder how many there are, maybe this is it til another traveling one comes, sure hope so, i do hate having to sss but i don't want them to clean me out again like they did once, had a family of four, didn't even know they were around til they killed my flock in one night.

 

[muddyfeathers]

The DP traps are awesome. I don't recall ever having the bait stolen but I can see how a mouse could get away with it, but not a crow.

Its been my experience when dealing with coons that however many birds die in a single night is how many coons you have to deal with. However, if you kill everything that kills your chickens, another critter will claim its new territory and the process starts all over. It sounds like you have quite the population of them and the dominant birds are/were in control but now the B team has full range of the area. There may be a C and D team ready when their time comes around.

Bottom line...if you don't secure your birds its only a matter of time.