Rats not cats..................................................

[Hannibal]

Started the great rat expo yesterday, Hope to reach a goal of 500,,,,, (but want 1000,,,,,,,,,,, )

26 rats 2 beaver 2 coon (not pictured)

[rasbo]

wow thats awesome..adc work?

[ser300wsm]

Great job, keep going !!!

[Humptulips]

Two rats probably worth the same as one beaver and a lot less work. Nice!
How are they looking for prime?
Fatslinger told me she caught a beaver and otter and they were pretty blue. Seems a little early to be trapping. Rats might be OK though.

[Hannibal]

No not adc jimbo,,,,,,,,, fur trapping,,,,,, Cagn baby!!!!!

  Probably is eaaly bruce,,,,, I have some free time and they
 are worth more in the freezer then in the swamp......plus as you know rats and beaver don't prime till after the price drops ,,,,, lol

Dropped some coon beaver and rats to george brady last weekend in the round,,,but have not asked him how the looked,,  You sould have seen the dirty look i got for the three dink coons...and a micro mini rat...lol.......

I will skin the these beaver in the morning and let you know

 coon went into mink set,,,,,

[Hannibal]

One pelt was better then the other,,,,,Not as bad as I expected for this early.......

Step one.......Build cages,,,,,,,, (so easy a teenager can do it )

[Hannibal]

When setting traps remember that colony traps do not need to be drowning sets.... took 4 live in pass thew sets today,,,, Mink can sometime be a problem

[Kain]

RAD!  I wish I had some traps out.  Keep the pics coming.

[Hannibal]

Here is a blind set inside a culvert,,,,,,,





This is what a big mink will do IF the doors are to short in a colony trap,,,,,,Longer traps (32-36 inch)and doors if your target is Mink
This trap was fully submerged

[Kain]

HOLY SMOKES!!!

[Hannibal]

This picture shows the different  sized cages i am using,,, there is 5 in, 6in and 8x18in with 6 inch high doors...............





this is the trapping area I am hitting  with the high water....just pull over and act like you are supposed to be there...........




Grass cover does not work as well as i hoped unless you can get a big pile over the trap......Today I had many rats just swim over the trps using the grass as a walkway,,,,,, I will be bringing logs to this ditch later today to see if it improves the catch ratio

[Humptulips]

Dave,
Where do you buy your cage trap parts?

[Hannibal]

Bruce/others
 from a farm supply store. Most will have 1x2 and 1x1 wire.
 It is cheap junk china wire is the problem....You will also need cage wire clips and a crimping pliers if you don't want to twist the wire (picture later).

Bob had the "good" clips at the Rondy,,,,,I need to get that info from him,,He also had a line on us wire,,,,

[bob maier]

Dave, The company is Klubertanz.com they have good US made wire,shipping is a killer. They are located in wisconsin I think,they have anything and everything for cage building. Keep posting pictures.bob

[Hannibal]

Thanks Bob!!!!   Can you tell us what size you use for the colony trap AnD WHAT  pliers you bought??

What clips would work with 1/4 rod frames??...................

Here is my simple brake made from scrap steel,,,, I put a gauge above the handle for bending measurements



I put marks on my table to make my cuts for different size cages



Here is a detail; for the doors using the wire instead of clips,,,,,