Victor Rat trap for Ermine and Red Squirrel

[TrapperRon]

This is the trigger many of us use here in BC. They are available from Gord's Supplies, Prince George BC, phone [phone]. I make up my own. It makes a trigger that has to be pulled to release it. The bar that holds the trap set has to be cut off to be exactly the right length to release with just a light pull on the bait.

This system selectively positions the ermine or red squirrel for a strike right behind the head.

The bait holder is a tiny stainless nail and a hole is drilled to put it through the plastic. The plastic is the same as what is used in bread boards. A small eye screw is used to hold the trigger.

Many types of bait will work well. For me a small cube of beaver liver (1/2 ") with a couple of drops of aniseed oil. I cut the cube up, put them in a plastic dish with a lid, and add some aniseed. Use direct from the container as needed. Keep frozen. A peanut in the shell can be placed over the top of the liver for better attraction to red squirrels. You now have a deadly combination for ermine and red squirrels.

Here is a picture of the trigger set up.



Here is the trap set in a box.



Here is a box I have made with a removable chloroplast front door. It is easily slid up if an ermine or red squirrel is frozen in the hole.

[mustelameister]

Very nice.

Here is a box I have made with a removable chloroplast front door.

Why is this called a chloroplast front door?

[TrapperRon]

Chloroplast is the material it is made from. It is the corrugated plastic material that looks like cardboard that is used to make signs.

www.tradeindia.com/selloffer/3317209/2-7mm-Water-Proof-Twin-Wall-Pp-Plastic-Sheet-Board.html

[thebeav2]

And that stuff makes great body grip pans. and you can make some pretty nice rat stretchers out of It to.

[RdFx]

We use it for temporary Street signs also but most of it isnt durable as it starts to disinigrate from the sunlite. If you want it to last you bring it in after done using it to UV rays dont ruin it.

[mustelameister]

Still having a hard time calling that stuff chloroplast. Must've been the 31 years of teaching high school biology that causes my brain to picture this . . .

[thorsmightyhammer]

I like it Ron.

One of my biggest gripes witht he rat trap was too many mice and shrews.

This looks to me like it would help to alleviate that problem.

[TrapperRon]

There were some comments on other sites about "too much" work to make the box with the chloroplast. Most make regular boxes like the first box in the pictures and they work just fine. The chloroplast box is just the OCD in me and solves the problem many express about the catch being frozen stuck in the hole in the box.

You do not have to have that fancy box for the system to work well.

[jackwinnipeg]

Hi Ron. I always find your posts very informative. The trigger shown is interesting but fairly complex to fabricate. Have you tried using the perforated metal strapping that some folks use here in Manitoba?

[northof50]

Thanks for posting Ron. During the Open house at Winnipeg NAFA, I will be making some wooden rat trap boxes with the kids under 18. Your design is good. Learned long ago that a little toggle with the squirrels guarantees a strike in the right area,
Jack hope you are gathering up lots of specimens for the kids to learn on squirrels for skinning. Interesting that kids show you the pit-falls of skinning...especially pulling the tails. So start with something small.
We can thank Top Lot Stretchers for the kids going home with some good formed muskrat stretchers after they do their muskrats