I like to go out snaring possums. I am not a professional trapper, but it gives me an excuse to go wandering around. I also keep a lot of possum meat to eat, and I sell the fur. Possums are classed as a pest and it is claimed that they do great damage...so generally people don't get too upset if they learn that I catch them.
I prefer the simplicity of a plain snare. Snares set on possum runs on the ground are the best option in my opinion. However you can catch non-target species in this way. So I often set baited pole snares. These can be very successful, especially in an area that hasn't been trapped for a while. But often I will find knocked snares that have caught nothing.
To deal with the "non-standard" possums that don't stick their heads through the noose of a snare as they should, I have found a spring-up trap to be quite effective. But setting these can take a long time... especially the building of a bait cubby to ensure that the possums have to go through the noose to get the bait.
Anyway, as you may know, I have been looking for ways to get around the cubby building operation... and our good mate Doc told me about the San Bushman Bird trap. This spring-up snare would be ideal for larger birds, but I could see the potential to get possums as well.
The San evidently dug to find a suitable root which they could pull up into a hoop to anchor the lift mechanism. An alternative anchor was a peg with a side branch that the anchor toggle could rest under.
Unfortunately the light wasn't good for these photos... but here is a pic of my version of the San trap using a pine root for an anchor. The black lift cord is sitting at the right of the picture. A toggle is tied to this cord. The toggles passes under the root, and it is propped up at the far end by a bait stick. The bait stick is split, and a bait paste has been squeezed into the split and moulded right around the stick. The white stuff is a flour and sugar based lure which is added for visual appeal.
I have been working inside for a long time, and I've recently finished the first draft of a 20000 word writing project...and I needed to do something physical for a bit of balance, so I went out and set four of these traps last night. This morning I found that one was unsprung and untouched. One had been sprung without catching anything. Another had a very big possum caught around the neck...just as I'd hoped. It was dead. Instead of using a natural root for an anchor on this trap, I drove a small nail into a peg to hold the bait toggle. The anchor peg was split by the nail, but it still held.
The fourth trap had a live possum in it which highlighted an important thing to think about... it seems that sometimes possums may use a paw rather than their mouths to fetch the bait.
This trap did not have a lot of tension on it, and prior to taking this photo the possum had been climbing on a nearby branch. I felt sorry for the little bloke, and I let him go. He taught me something... and I will probably get him next time anyway.
I prefer the simplicity of a plain snare. Snares set on possum runs on the ground are the best option in my opinion. However you can catch non-target species in this way. So I often set baited pole snares. These can be very successful, especially in an area that hasn't been trapped for a while. But often I will find knocked snares that have caught nothing.
To deal with the "non-standard" possums that don't stick their heads through the noose of a snare as they should, I have found a spring-up trap to be quite effective. But setting these can take a long time... especially the building of a bait cubby to ensure that the possums have to go through the noose to get the bait.
Anyway, as you may know, I have been looking for ways to get around the cubby building operation... and our good mate Doc told me about the San Bushman Bird trap. This spring-up snare would be ideal for larger birds, but I could see the potential to get possums as well.
The San evidently dug to find a suitable root which they could pull up into a hoop to anchor the lift mechanism. An alternative anchor was a peg with a side branch that the anchor toggle could rest under.
Unfortunately the light wasn't good for these photos... but here is a pic of my version of the San trap using a pine root for an anchor. The black lift cord is sitting at the right of the picture. A toggle is tied to this cord. The toggles passes under the root, and it is propped up at the far end by a bait stick. The bait stick is split, and a bait paste has been squeezed into the split and moulded right around the stick. The white stuff is a flour and sugar based lure which is added for visual appeal.
I have been working inside for a long time, and I've recently finished the first draft of a 20000 word writing project...and I needed to do something physical for a bit of balance, so I went out and set four of these traps last night. This morning I found that one was unsprung and untouched. One had been sprung without catching anything. Another had a very big possum caught around the neck...just as I'd hoped. It was dead. Instead of using a natural root for an anchor on this trap, I drove a small nail into a peg to hold the bait toggle. The anchor peg was split by the nail, but it still held.
The fourth trap had a live possum in it which highlighted an important thing to think about... it seems that sometimes possums may use a paw rather than their mouths to fetch the bait.
This trap did not have a lot of tension on it, and prior to taking this photo the possum had been climbing on a nearby branch. I felt sorry for the little bloke, and I let him go. He taught me something... and I will probably get him next time anyway.
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