Beaver hunting 250 secrets and rules. Beaver fishing with traps

Badger hunting may be of particular interest. To catch this animal, you need to be well acquainted with its habits and habitat. Certain hunting rules must be followed to increase the chances of getting the desired prey. Often they take trained dogs with them when fishing. The task of searching for a predator and sending a signal to a person about their find is transferred to them.

Effective ways to catch rats at home

Since ancient times, rats have been considered dangerous to humans, but that’s not all. They are carriers of dangerous diseases, and also, if you have rats in your house or apartment, then you are guaranteed unsanitary conditions.

It is possible to catch a rat; it is a simple process. Nowadays there are a lot of traps that will help you in this matter. There are many types of traps - lethal, non-lethal, for every taste and color.

How to deal with rats at home

Throughout their lives, people have been looking for ways and means of dealing with rats. And over time, all methods are improved and developed. But rats also have the ability to adapt to various poisons and have learned to bypass these traps.

Nowadays there are methods to get rid of rats:

• Poisons and chemicals.
  The price range is affordable. You can purchase various poisons and chemicals at any store. There is a significant drawback - rats die in places that are difficult for humans to reach, and accordingly, a cadaverous smell begins to spread in the apartment. This is why it is recommended to use traps in apartments or residential buildings, especially if you don’t have many rats.
• Lethal rat traps.
  There are many variations of such traps. From mechanical traps to electric exterminators. The advantage of such traps is that when a rat falls into the trap, it remains there and can be easily removed from it and destroyed. This method is recommended for use in apartments and houses.

• 
  Non-lethal traps.
  Such traps do not kill pests, they simply drive them and lightly press them into a confined space. This method is not entirely effective, since if the pest gets out of the trap, it can bring all its offspring with it. You will waste extra energy and nerves to remove them. If you have a decorative rat as a pleasure, then this method is for you. You will catch her and not kill her.

• Repellers.
  Various chemical and biological substances are used as repellers, which do not kill pests, but simply repel them. They are usually placed at the entrance to rat holes. What substances can be used as repellents: mint, bay leaf and green onions. Some summer residents and gardeners use cat litter to drive away rodents. How it works? Pests begin to smell their enemies and try to avoid such places. From a scientific point of view, this method has not proven its effectiveness at all. But still people willingly use it.
• Pets.
  Since ancient times, cats have been used as assistants in catching pests. Also, some dogs are specially trained in commands to help catch rodents. It is important to understand that if your pet has never encountered rats, then this method is unlikely to help you. It is also important to know that if there are a lot of rats, they can easily fight your pet and cause injury.

Preventive measures taken in the fight against rats: maintain sanitary conditions, especially for warehouses where food is stored. To prevent rats from appearing, it is important to cut off their access to food and water, as well as check all the cracks in your home and, if necessary, seal them in a timely manner.

Making your own loop

Catching a hare is a rather painstaking process, since the hunter must pay special attention to the structure itself. Among the variety of materials, the most effective is soft wire, which easily takes the desired shape

To make loops for a hare, you need to prepare 1-1.6 m of copper material. All further manipulations must comply with the following scheme:

1. At one end of the wire you need to build a small ring with a diameter of 8 mm. It must be fixed without twisting both ends of the product. You only need to twist one side of the wire around the main part.
2. The product must be checked for rust or other contaminants. If the hunter thinks that the loop is too thin and will not support a large hare, you can install double loops.
3. If the trap is made of a material that the animal can easily chew through, a tubular brush 7 to 12 centimeters long is put on the snare. The product should slide freely along the wire. It is worth noting that this option is only suitable for pull-up hinges.

The standard diameter of a hare trap is 25 centimeters. The manufactured loop should not touch the snow cover after installation. It is necessary that the lower edge of the snare rises 15 cm above the surface. To avoid accidental twisting of the wire by the hare himself, you need to build a small ring at the second end of the product, which is tied to a tree or bush (peg) with a rawhide strap. Loops are installed only on animal trails. You can also catch a hare using a universal pen.

Having placed all the traps, the hunter can begin to hunt the animal. For these purposes, you can use not only your own scream, but also rattles. After a while you can go check the loops. At night you can leave traps only on the most used hare paths. The good thing about artificial rutting is that the animal runs quickly, without making out the road, getting into loops. If the snare works on a large fox or wolf, then these predators will simply break the loop.

Homemade traps

Flower pot trap

If you don’t have a pot, or you don’t feel comfortable putting it in a trap, you can use any jar or other container of a similar size. In order to make such a trap, you will need:

1. Pot or other container;
2. A piece of plywood, plastic or other material;
3. Knife.

A piece of plastic is bent using a knife into the required shape, sharpening one of the ends of the knife so that the bait is held on it. The pot or jar is placed on the floor, turned upside down. Then the container is propped up with a piece of plastic, placing it with the bait inward. Then just wait for the rodents to get inside your trap.

When a rat gets inside the trap, it loses its balance and simply covers the pest. All you have to do is get the “prey” out of the trap. You can place a sheet of cardboard under the trap to make it easier to get the rat.

Plastic bottle trap

In order to make such a trap, you need:

1. Pl

   
   5 liter or larger plastic bottle;

2. Thick cardboard;
3. Scissors;
4. Sunflower oil.

Pour sunflower oil into the bottle so that the walls become slippery and place the bottle against the surface (you can use a table or cabinet). Place bait at the bottom of the bottle. Next, you need to connect the neck of the bottle to the surface using thick cardboard. A rat that gets into this trap will not be able to get out, since the walls of the bottle are slippery.

Bait selection

Properly selected bait is perhaps the main component of the effectiveness of a mousetrap. Even the most modern models of traps will be absolutely useless if the food offered does not interest the rodent. You should not choose a bait product based on stereotypes. For example, cheese is not even among the top ten favorite foods of mice.

Guaranteed to attract rodents will help:

• a small crumb of bread moistened with unrefined vegetable oil;
• peanuts, peanut butter (you can spread it on bread or crackers);
• smoked sausage;
• salo;
• boiled meat;
• fragrant baked goods, for example, a piece of a bun or a muffin.

It should be remembered that bait is interesting to mice only as long as it has an appetizing smell. Therefore, the products in the trap must be changed periodically.

Option #1: Tilting Trap

The operating principle of this design is that the animal, approaching the bait, falls into the trap. This mechanism can be implemented in many ways.

1. Make a tunnel out of cardboard (you can also use a piece of wide plastic pipe);
2. Place it on the edge of the table so that half of the tunnel overhangs the edge (it helps to lightly tape it to the table so the rat can't move it);
3. Place bait at the very edge of the tunnel;
4. Place a barrel or deep bucket under the site of the expected capsize.

The animal, attracted by the smell of the bait, will climb along the tunnel, knock it over at the edge of the table and fall into the container with it. The video below shows how this happens:

Agree, what could be simpler?

There may be several options for making such a homemade rat trap. For example, a tilting bridge can be placed directly on the edge of a bucket, and a ladder can be connected to it:

For this purpose, you can use a piece of whatman paper with slits to cover the bucket. The rat climbs onto the Whatman paper for the bait and falls through the slits into the bucket:

If you use a bucket or can to catch a rat, it is useful to first pour water into it - without water, the animal will easily jump out of the trap. In addition, it will be easier to catch the pest in water (just don’t forget to wear thick construction gloves before doing this).

By the way, you can make a mousetrap using the same principle with your own hands from a plastic bottle. In this case, a bottle with an open neck is placed on the edge of the table (or you can make a special inlet hole), bait is placed in it, and the bottle is tied by the neck with a thread to something heavy on the table itself. The mouse climbs into the bottle, halfway to the bait, knocks it over with its weight, and the entire trap with the prey hangs on a thread:

Hinge installation process

The process of installing a noose on a hare can be divided into several stages:

Approach to the hinge installation site.

Many hunters attach great importance to the approach to the place where the loop is installed, but opinions differ on how to do it correctly. Most people agree that a hare trail in the immediate vicinity of an established loop should not be crossed, since the hare may turn onto your trail and will not fall into the snare. Some people believe that you should not approach a hare’s path at all, as this will scare it away.

Others, on the contrary, say that you can follow the tracks of a hare, the main thing is not to turn away from them until you reach the trap. There is an opinion that the hare is only afraid of human tracks, but he is not afraid of ski tracks and can even walk on them, so the main thing is to set a trap on them.

Therefore, it is advisable to install catch loops on skis. Approach the stopping place from the side and do not cross the path; when setting traps along the edge, it is better to approach them from the direction of the forest. There shouldn't be any traces of you on the trail, but it's possible. It’s just that the hare may stop, interested in your tracks, but you need it to get into the loop at speed.

You will be interested in learning all the intricacies of trap fishing for sable, marten, and beaver.

Preparing the installation site

The easiest way is to place loops on passages in dense bushes; the hare will not turn anywhere, the loop is invisible among the branches. If the path runs along bushes and trees, it is better to place the trap near the bushes; their branches will camouflage it. On the other hand, the path can be limited by sticking several thick branches on the other side.

If the loop is attached to a tree, you can stick thin branches into the snow around it, they will distract attention and hide it. When it’s difficult to get attached to the tree itself, you can make the necessary base yourself

To do this, they cut down a long pole, attach a snare to it, and place the pole over the path like a fallen tree, sticking one end into the snow and the other resting on a tree on the other side.

A well-camouflaged snare significantly increases the chance of catching an animal.

If there is nothing near the path, for example in a field, and the place is very suitable, you need to cut down a whole young tree and stick it in the snow next to the path, like a real one. The tree is heavy and even if the hare drags it away, it won’t be far away.

Loop fastening.

The trap is made of wire, for example steel, no more than 1 mm thick, preferably soft and it should be easily tightened. The diameter of the loop is about 20 cm, for a hare it is possible more, for a hare – less.

The loop can be made with a diameter the size of your palm

Before fastening, it is advisable to rub the wire against the wood to remove the smell. You need to rub it on the tree on which you will attach it, in an aspen forest - on aspen, in a spruce forest - on pine needles, etc.

Attach the loop above the path at a height of about 10 - 15 cm above the snow level. Either tied to a fairly thick branch above the path, or perpendicular to the trunk of a tree near the path. Depending on the type of loop, either by wrapping it 3-5 times around the trunk, or by threading it through a loop at the other end and wrapping it around the tree.

Cleaning up traces of installation

After the trap is set, you need to inspect the place and remove all traces of your activity, first of all from the hare path and its sides. These are chips, pieces of branches and bark, and other wood debris, otherwise the hare may stop just before the snare, becoming interested in them.

It is advisable to cover your own tracks with snow taken to the side and sweep them up. In winter, it is advisable to check the snares every day, but at least once every two days, otherwise your prey may go to the fox or other local inhabitants.

Option number 2: rat traps made of plastic bottles

The traditional version of this trap looks like this:

1. The top part of the bottle is cut, it opens slightly, a long rod is attached to it, to which, in turn, a tourniquet is attached, which plays the role of a spring;
2. Near the bottom of the bottle, through a hole in the wall, a trigger is attached, to which the bait is attached;
3. The door from the neck of the bottle is attracted by a rope to the body of the bottle - this will allow it to slam shut when the animal pulls the bait.

Capture is simple: the rat climbs into the bottle, pulls the bait, and the rubber band slams the door. That's it, the animal is caught. The video shows how this design works and how to assemble it:

And here is another example of a simple but very effective rat trap, which you can easily make with your own hands from a plastic bottle:

1. The bottle is strung on a rod (for example, on a thick wire);
2. Then the outside of the bottle is coated with bait - sour cream, porridge, stew;
3. The rod is placed on the edges of a bucket or barrel;
4. A bridge made of boards is connected to the bottle.

Then everything is simple: the rat climbs along the bridge to the bottle, climbs on it to lick the bait, the bottle spins, and the animal falls into the bucket. Like this:

A similar design can be made from a bucket and a beer can. The photo below shows a corresponding example:

The disadvantage of rat traps with a rotating bottle (or jar) is that they are bulky - it is not always convenient to use them at home.

It’s easier with mice - for lovers of beautiful solutions, a compact mousetrap made from a plastic bottle has been invented, which, if desired, can be placed under a table or in a closet. The following video shows how to assemble such a trap from available materials:

The main thing in this design is to correctly guess the center of gravity of the bottle.

If you take a suitable bottle, you can use it to make a rat trap using the same principle. It is only important to keep in mind that, given enough time, the animal may try to gnaw through the walls of the trap and thereby get out of it.

The most common fishing methods

How to catch partridges without harming them? The easiest way to catch them using a variety of traps is during the snowy season. At this time of year, birds usually gather in large flocks. Based on the snow cover, it is easy to determine the feeding areas of partridges. Traps are usually placed in the birds' favorite feeding areas. Since there is little natural food in winter, feeding partridges in certain places significantly increases the likelihood of success.

The most effective and common is net fishing. The net can be made from a fishing net or knitted with your own hands. To do this, a net is knitted from nylon or silicone threads with cells from 2 to 5 cm, 5 m wide and about 8 m long. The net is installed in places where birds feed on long poles. The network is positioned in a zigzag pattern so that the upper level of the network is approximately at a height of 6, and the lower level is approximately at a height of 1 m above the ground. The net is placed perpendicular to the direction in which the partridges are moving. As soon as the birds get close to the net, they are startled, they fly up and end up in the net. They can be carefully adjusted to the mesh. To do this, slowly, without sudden movements and without coming close, the partridges are directed towards the suspended net. You can also use specially trained hunting dogs for corralling. As you can see, such hunting and fishing with a net have a lot in common.

In addition to shooting birds, various devices are used to catch partridges

Often when using a net, several birds end up in it at once. Therefore, you need to have special baskets or carrying nets where caught birds are placed.

Option number 3: covering live trap

This is perhaps the simplest version of a homemade rat trap. To catch a rat or mouse with it, just take a pan and a coin of suitable size - turn the pan upside down, tilt it slightly and rest one edge of it against a coin placed on its edge.

Bait is placed under the pan. When the rodent climbs for the bait, it will certainly touch the coin, it will tip over and the pan will cover the animal.

Here is an example of an implementation where a jar is used instead of a pan:

The disadvantage of the design is frequent false alarms (when a rat touches a container or coin before it has climbed inside the rat trap).

A more sophisticated homemade trap of this type is the improved “coin container.” For example, a container can be rested on an unstable stand, a thread can be tied to the stand, the thread can be thrown over a spacer in the container and the bait can be tied to it:

The rat will sneak under the container, pull the bait and move the “guard”.

Another option is to use a strip of cardboard of sufficient height instead of a coin with a special corner for attaching bait:

Here the animal, pulling the bait, knocks over the cardboard and covers itself with the trap.

It is only important to keep in mind that to make homemade rat traps you need to take a container that is heavy enough so that the rat cannot move it.

The video below shows another interesting example of such a rat trap:

Option #4: cage traps

Such designs are characterized by high reliability, durability and efficiency, but they are quite difficult to make yourself. Their manufacture requires special materials and parts: the body itself is made of durable steel mesh, metal or wood panels, and the trigger mechanism is based on a spring. However, with sufficient desire and skill, assembling such a device with your own hands will not take much time.

The principle of operation of the rat trap is as follows:

1. The cage has a rising door with a guard - when alert, the trap door opens upward with spring tension;
2. At the end of the cage, a bait is attached to a hook, the other end of the hook holds a guard;
3. When the rat pulls the bait, the gate lowers and the door slams shut.

Option #5: Tunnel Trap

The entrance hole of the tunnel rat trap is made in the form of a valve with sharp petals. The operating principle of such a device is as follows:

Such structures are often used to catch courts, mice and rats in garden plots - in this case, the structure is made from a piece of pipe, at each end of which a valve is installed. The trap is then installed in the underground wormhole. In the end, it doesn’t matter from which side the mole (or rat) approaches the trap - the animal will still be caught.

Here is another example of a trap of this type:

Option number 6: snare

Generally speaking, catching rats with snares is quite problematic due to the small size of the animals. However, if you try, you can still catch the pest, and there is even a small life hack that allows you to make such a rat trap with your own hands from improvised means.

1. Cable tie;
2. A piece of fishing line;
3. Heavy load - for example, a wrench;
4. Paper clip;
5. Bait - for example, a crust of bread.

This is how a homemade rat trap made from a cable tie works in practice:

When making this trap, it is important to choose the right weight of the load. If it is too small, it will not tighten the tie with the necessary force, and the rat will run away. If the load is too heavy, then using such a structure as a live trap will not work - the animal’s ribs will be broken by the loop.

Option #7: Zürner trap

This classic trap works on the same principle as the tipping rat traps described above. Its difference lies only in the completeness of the design and appearance: the Zürner trap is a wooden house with two entrances, in which the bait is located in the middle of the “corridor”, and the floor on both sides of it is made of boards on hinges. When the animal approaches the bait, the board collapses under its weight, the animal falls into a large closed chamber, after which the board returns to its original position on a hinge.

The figure below shows a diagram of such a rat trap:

Thanks to its successful design, the Zürner trap can catch several rats at once.

As a rule, such a trap is made independently from wood, since the industry has not established the production of Zürner traps. Despite its effectiveness and certain advantages, the Zürner trap is rarely used in practice, largely due to the complexity of manufacturing.

Badgers: description, habitats, habits

The badger is a fairly strong animal. It is a member of the mustelid family, but at the same time it has significant differences from other similar animals.

The badger behaves rather unconventionally for members of its family. His habits are similar to those of a bear. With the arrival of cold weather, it immediately falls into hibernation.

Badgers dig most of their food from the ground. They do not hesitate to eat carrion. Therefore, there is a high probability of infecting their body with parasites. Before the start of winter, the animal is well prepared for hibernation. He begins to eat large amounts of grass and gives up his meat diet. Thanks to this, the animal removes parasites from its body. A person who knows the rules of badger hunting is familiar with this feature.

The badger lives in a hole. He digs it out with his big claws. The animal is awake at night and sleeps in the house during the day.

Badgers build burrows in hilly areas where there is no excess moisture. Large offspring can live in one dwelling. If a badger leaves his hole, then other animals occupy it.

Animals that have inhabited a large territory dig additional holes as a place to rest. They spend 1-2 days in them, after which they return to their main home. Burrows well inhabited by predators can have many levels and look like intricate labyrinths, the depth of which reaches 5 m.

Badgers prefer dry and sunny weather. If a predator needs to crawl out of a hole after rain, it will avoid mud and puddles. The animal prefers to wait out the rains in its burrow.

Option No. 8: glue rat trap

Ready-to-use glue traps for rodents are available on sale today. However, such a trap is often prepared independently.

Making a glue rat trap is simple: take a special glue for rodents (for example, RaTrap, Alt, EuroGuard), spread it on a piece of cardboard, and place bait on it in the middle. The rat, attracted by the smell, tries to get the bait and puts at least one paw on the glue. Realizing that she cannot come unstuck, she begins to frantically try to escape, puts her other paws in the glue, or even sticks her head. After this she can no longer get out.

If the rat is not freed, it will die of thirst only after a few days. This is the main disadvantage of glue traps: often you have to throw out such a rat trap with a still living rodent (sometimes squealing periodically), which is difficult for especially impressionable people.

A significant disadvantage of glue traps for rodents is also the possibility of pets getting into them - a cat or dog can easily get dirty in the glue. Washing off the sticky mass is very problematic; it’s easier to cut off the sticky piece of wool.

And also a few words about commercially available lethal rat traps (traps)

All of the homemade rat traps described above have an important feature - they allow you to catch the animal alive (the so-called live traps).

However, you can also effectively fight rats using commercially produced traps that will kill rats. For example, among the most popular are the following:

1. A standard trap-press (popularly often called a mousetrap) - it can have several modifications;

2. Tunnel trap similar to Clean Kill Mouse Trap from Victor;

3. Electric rat trap (battery-powered, and there are models that automatically place a killed rat in a special compartment, allowing you to destroy several rodents at once).

In conclusion, it is worth noting that the effectiveness of a particular trap, be it homemade or industrially produced, largely depends on the correct choice of bait. Read more about choosing baits in a separate article: The best baits for rats and mice.

Source

Beaver hunting

The beaver is a representative of the rodent order.
The beaver's body length reaches 75-120 cm, with the largest representatives up to 130 cm. The usual body weight is 16-18 kg. There are specimens weighing up to 30 kg. The weight and size of beavers depends on the area where they live, their feeding conditions and existence. Females and males are practically the same in weight and size. The beaver has a cylindrical body shape and streamlined contours, which is most convenient for moving in water. The beaver is an excellent swimmer and diver.

The fur of this animal is very hard. The color is dark brown. The tail (a characteristic feature of the beaver) is devoid of hair, flattened horizontally and covered with peculiar scales (they have nothing in common with fish scales). His ears are very small. The eyes are also small. Despite the latter circumstance, beavers' vision is quite sharp.

A few words about habitats. In Russia, beavers are common in almost all large rivers, as well as small rivers and rivulets. They live mostly in stagnant or slow-flowing bodies of water. As already mentioned, the strength of a rodent is not enough to overcome a fast current.

This is one of the factors determining the construction of dams by beavers. This barrier allows you to make an excellent standing pond from a fast river.

Beavers lead an active crepuscular or nocturnal lifestyle.

Beavers are monogamous: a pair is created for life, but they most often live in family groups.

Beavers have two types of homes: beaver burrows and lodges. A hole is dug in a steep river bank. This dwelling is easier to build, and no river has a steep bank. However, if this does happen, the animals build a complex technical structure - a hut. This is an entire engineering structure, although in appearance it resembles a pile of branches brought by floods. The hut is built from tree branches and soil. The most massive branches are laid at the base in such a way as to support the weight of one or several animals inside. Next, a roof is built above this raft, which, although it has a base in the form of folds of reeds, reeds or cattails, is mostly floating. This creates a living chamber in which the animal hides. There are usually several passages leading into this chamber. As mentioned above, they are all underwater.

The main food of beavers in summer consists of green parts of plants, the bark of young trees and other plant foods. In winter, when the green parts of plants die off, beavers feed on the bark of stored tree branches. Beavers' favorite trees are white poplars, aspens and willows.

Beavers' teeth, like other rodents, grow throughout their lives. Despite their strength, they wear down during operation. In addition, they are constantly sharpening.