Air rifle advice please

[oldwoodcutter]

I put my old webley falcon behind the ear of a rat in my cage trap last week, and it must have had a pint of blood come out of it, you had to see it to believe it.

[GarethM]

3 minutes ago, oldwoodcutter said:

I put my old webley falcon behind the ear of a rat in my cage trap last week, and it must have had a pint of blood come out of it, you had to see it to believe it.

Did that with a mink the other week, the grass looked like one of those murder scenes in Dexter/CSI.

[Stubby]

8 hours ago, GarethM said:

Did that with a mink the other week, the grass looked like one of those murder scenes in Dexter/CSI.

What , plastic sheeting everywhere ?

[peatff]

I have an Air Arms S410 .22 and a Chinese springer plus the one I use most which is a .177 BSA Cadet which was my dad's gun, killed a few rats with it this year when they invaded ours and next door garden. Get something nice and light would be my choice.

[Muddy42]

15 hours ago, openspaceman said:

Okay, I get you now, I associate tunnel traps with how one sets a Fenn  to kill rats or squirrels but avoid birds getting in. They cannot be used where polecats or reds are about and the entrances need to be small enough to keep hedgehogs out.

 

Live trapping I associate with "cage" traps. I Didn't like having to kill greys from one as it was all too easy to fumble it and the beast escape or not get a clean kill. I really disliked the family cage traps as it was horrendous trying to get them out one by one. If I caught three I would stand it upright walk off 20 yard and then let fly with number 6. It is 50 years to the month when I last used cage traps for squirrel.

 

Sorry I'm not great with the terminology.  Its a wire cuboid cage thing, with a spring loaded door that is set off when the squirrel walks on it to get the food. point blank air rifle works. Mink even bite the barrel if you put it into the cage.

[Steven P]

I'll have to check with my pest controller next time he comes past but I think his preference is traps and only shoots deer, but not sure what traps he has for what animals. Not sure what he does after he has trapped them though

[woody paul]

Traps are best once set work 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. Just check them twice a day. 

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, woody paul said:

Traps are best once set work 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. Just check them twice a day. 

Commercially visiting a trap line twice a day is expensive, more so in that the 12 hour interval puts one visit outside the working day,

[Muddy42]

2 hours ago, openspaceman said:

Commercially visiting a trap line twice a day is expensive, more so in that the 12 hour interval puts one visit outside the working day,

Some people use a 4g trailcam.

[openspaceman]

30 minutes ago, Muddy42 said:

Some people use a 4g trailcam.

Oh, that's a bit new fangled for me, I had about a dozen around the estate that I had to inspect, I looked forward to June when I put out the baited hoppers and didn't set the traps for a month.