OT: muskrat

[yukoncornelius]

anyone tell me anything about trapping muskrat?

my duck pond is overrun with them.....used to see maybe one or two muskrat lodges.....this year there's more than 50


i know prices were up over $8 last year, maybe i can purchase some new gear this year after all

something i wanted to do since i was a kid (trapping)

[BottomDweller]

it is called a .22    you could also go with a .17 or .223     try spotlighting them at night   

[mainefishin]

find a buddy with some dynamite

[Tombo]

You would be best to get a local trapper to show you the in's & out's if you've never done it before. You have to open those lodges with some sort of tool(large knife),set the trap inside, on the ice, with the chain att. to a stick(larger than the hole they have in the ice) and then close the hole up you made into the lodge. You should have a small gambrel for skinning--they are 'case' skinned,then stretched on small stretchers,fleshed(scraped) & dried. As I mentioned before,you should get an old-timer to mentor and walk you through it if you've never done it before there's just too much info to put in a post on here. Good luck and be prepared for a steep learning curve until you get used to it.

P.S.--after re-reading your post,I guess I surmised you were talking about trapping through the ice.

[yukoncornelius]

tombo

that's about what i figured

don't know that there's many 'old timers' left trapping, probably why the overrun with muskrat everywhere....

[JimP]

Tim there is a guy that did some trapping for a friend of mine out in Bowdoinham last year. His problem was with beaver. I can get his name for you next week if you are interested.

[duck doctor]

Get a few 110 conibears.  Take some fishing line and tie off 3 or 4 shiners between the jaws of the trap.  Submerge under the ice.  The rats will come in for the shiners and come out with a necklace!   

[pikeking]

Use a triangle trap like Bear Grils, It seems to work and trey are FREE or you can use a slip knot trap also free Just a slip knot held between two sticks tied to a branch or staked to the ground no ruined fur or meat if you are gonna eat them.

[Tombo]

if you are gonna eat them.

[J.]

You can make your own rat traps.  Purchase some light gauge wire fence with 1" x1" square.  You will need pieces that are about 18" wide and 16" long.  Take the 18 x 16 wire and on the 16" side, measure 4" and fold the wire @ a 90 degree.... do this 3 times so you end up with a square wire box 4" square by 18" long....  wire tie the completed box at the intersection.  Then cut a 2 pieces of wire 3.75" wide by 6 or 8 inches long.  Stick this inside the box and wire one end to the 4" outer rim of the wire box.  Be careful and make sure alignment is correct because the wire gate must flip up with the slightest touch. Do both ends and make sure the gates are attached on the same panal of the wire box... but opposed to each other.  These little boxes will fit right in the end of a muskrat tunnel and I have had great success dealing with rats in this way.  No bait needed, just make sure the gates are hinged correctly and they are set so they flip up when the rat enters.  This trap will catch them leaving or entering.  You may need to attach a short length of twine and peg it to the edge of the pond.  You also need to put on your waders and "toe" along the edges of the pond to find the enter holes.. some could be a couple of feet below the surface!

[pegasus]

110 conibear is the best for trapping, but you better check the season. I think it may be over for mink and muskrats. Are they very big, I heard they make a good filler for fish chowder. I use to trap them all the time and if you didn't check your trap everyday the mink would eat them. When you have a lot of rats around they tend to run small. You have to have about a half dozen for a plate full, like robins or woodcock.

[ChristianC]

Where abouts are you located?

I would love to come rid you of some muskrats, or If I myself cannot do it Im sure that I can find someone closer to your area who can.

Yes, Muskrats were high at first auction last year, I averaged 7.50 nosecount on my earlys. Late auctions rats took a tumble, and they are expected to average out about 3 bucks this year.

[rich81]

are there alot of muskrat in maine?

[slt]

are there alot of muskrat in maine?

Yup