Winter trapping tips with the Whakatipu Wildlife Trust

Some of our peskiest creatures are at their hungriest in the winter months. With well positioned traps and irresistible bait, we can work towards getting their numbers down before things heat up (i.e. breeding season!) We caught up with SOAR Initiative recipients, the Whakatipu Wildlife Trust to get further insight.

Aside from the hedgehog, who beds down for a winter nap, all natural predators of birds are out and about in the colder months. They tend to be hungry, too, as their summer food sources have dried up, and the effort to stay warm saps their energy.

What to feed

Possums especially will tend to become more adventurous eaters, trying foods they might otherwise ignore when there are more options available in the summer. Trappers can take advantage of this desperation by enticing rumbling stomachs to investigate traps using strong smelling lures, such as cinnamon and apple. In the depths of winter meat or animal fat can also be used. To catch mustelids (stoats, ferrets and weasels) fresh is always best! Winter is a great time to be using fresh rabbit or animal fat as it lasts a lot longer than it does throughout summer.

Mammalian predators don’t like to try new things, which makes pre-feeding a smart way to bring them closer before you set your trap. For rodents, leave the trap in one spot and smear peanut butter close to it. Once you have evidence the bait has been taken several times, put some peanut butter in the trap and you’re likely to make a catch. For mustelids, you could try leaving your trap unset for a week or two with a lot of fresh meat inside, almost turning it into a food station. Next time you set the trap, the predator will come back for a free feed and will get caught.

Positioning traps for winter habits

From June to September, possums will visit green crops, gobbling up what they can find under the cover of darkness. They tend to create visible tracks heading into these crops, which help with setting the perfect trap location.

Rodents will look for warmth at this time of year, often entering barns (or homes where they can) so a good place to position your rodent trap is alongside an outside wall or next to any openings in the wall. They may also try to set up house in your compost bin, so trapping nearby is a smart plan.

Understanding the predator plague cycle 

Beech trees expel their seeds in the summer, which creates an abundance of food on the forest floor. Every two to six years, this goes into overdrive with a ‘mast’ season, which is when beech seed output is even more prolific than usual. This is triggered by a summer that is warmer than the previous one – and the plentiful food results in an increase in rodent numbers.

These rodents provide food for stoats, which while reducing the numbers of rats and mice, unfortunately increases stoat numbers. Keeping your stoat traps serviced through the winter and especially into the spring when birds are nesting and breeding will help to slow this population down. When you catch a stoat, drag its body around the trap and in the area surrounding it – this will entice more stoats to investigate, hopefully causing them to fall to the same fate.

This calendar from Predator Free NZ provides an excellent month-by-month action plan for predator trapping. The Whakatipu Wildlife Trust resource page also has plenty of information about trapping. And of course, if you have any questions about trapping and baiting, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the WWT crew. They are always happy to get more snappy!