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Predator Free NZ

You are here: Home / Resources / Setting up your trap / Setting a Victor Rat Trap

Setting a Victor Rat Trap

Target predators: rats

We recommend watching this video from our friend Darren from Zealandia. He gives a step-by-step guide to setting a Victor Professional trap and instructions on using the tunnels. The only difference between a regular tunnel and the weka proof one is that the latter is slightly longer.

Darren’s top tips

  • Make sure you always wear gloves when handling your trap or catches.
  • Before opening the tunnel give the trap a shake to disable the trap inside (if there is one inside).
  • Bait your trap before you set it.
  • Only hold the trap from the back (the part with the big red V).
  • Use your thumbs to pull back the kill-bar to avoid accidents.
  • If your trap is on unstable ground, set your trap to “firm” rather than “sensitive”.
  • When putting your trap into the tunnel, place it in bait-end first.
  • Slide in the trap until it’s just inside the tunnel.
  • To remove predators from the trap, hold the trap over a bag or bin and pull up the kill bar so the pest drops out.

What should I use as bait?

Rats love peanut butter! So serve it up, and refresh it often.

Where should I put my rat trap?

If trapping around the home, place 2 – 3 traps (inside tunnels) on a flat surface near walls, compost, or under cover. If you’re not getting results, try a different spot.

If you’re trapping in the bush, then set your traps on lines 100m apart, with a trap every 50m (100m x 50m). We recommend putting a number on each trap to keep track of how many you have set, when and where.

How often should I check my traps?

To start with you will need to check your traps daily. When your catch rate goes down you can start checking every 2-3 weeks. The more rats in the area, the more checks you will need to do.

Download our quick trapping guide

We summarised all of this information into a one pager called a ‘Quick trapping guide‘ that you can print out.

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