Trapping on a farm

Farm trapping can be complex due to the amounts of competing food sources available. Every site is different in terms of quantities and locations of the traps, so it’s important to understand what you need before getting started.

Use Trap Location Cards to find the best placement for your trap

It’s critical your trap is set up in a position where rats are comfortable to feed. This needs to be slightly hidden, so it’s not exposed where prey animals may see the pest. Place a few location cards out and monitor the engagement on these. Learn how to set Trap Location Cards here.

Have the correct amount of traps for your land size

We recommend having two Smart traps per hectare on your property for best practice trapping. This might mean you only need a few, or need to establish a network. If you’re trapping on a large property and are going to establish a trapping network, you can take a read of our information here. 

Eliminating food sources

While easier said than done, eliminating food sources is critical when setting up your trap/s. Do you know what the pests are eating? It’s often not until we see the pest getting into food that we know they’re present. 

Maybe you’ve seen them chewing through feed bags, or in your hay bales. Placing all feed in secure bins is critical, as well as any other food sources you can think of. 

Is there pet food lying around? Or scraps in a compost bin? Securing these will vastly increase the chances of success with your trap network. 

Pests have a very good food memory and will tend to go for foods they are used to before trying something else. They may already have a taste for what food you’ve had available, so trying to switch their preferences to our paste will take a bit of time and perseverance.

We need the pests to start looking for a new food source (in your trap!). We do this by eliminating the food they’re currently eating, and pre-feeding with the paste you’re going to put into the trap.