Significant Large Rat Activity

The continued use of the rodent targetted sound profile is showing considerable change in results.  We have started to see a shift from mice towards having possums and larger rodents appear.    There has been two instances of large rats appearing and spending considerable time interacting with the lure within a week.   In post cases the rat is spending time with the lure.   Based on the size of rat, it would appear that it would be larger than the trap and as a result it would be limited in its ability to remove the rat.   A much better option for a rat this size would be a DOC 200 - we currently do not have this option deployed with the sound lure as it is being tested in another location.   We are also going to use telemetry to measure the effectiveness of the battery relative to the sound profile.

In general terms the rat investigates the traps, appears to have shown interest in both traps and may have caused an activation in the t-rex trap, although it did not trap the rat.   It has also climbed over both boxes and spent nearly ten minutes in the vicinity of the trap.   This is the second time in seven calendar days that a large rat has interacted with the trap, this has now been deployed for five weeks and the rat interactions have both occurred in the last week since the change of the sound profile.   With the lure track playing every minute the lure has played repeatedly while the rat is in the vicinity of the trap.

We are continuing to research the target animals (Possums) and looking at while there may be possible variations with the sound lure.   There is some evidence to suggest that cats and cat smells can act as a deterent to Possums - this is a considerable issue at this deployment site.   The domestic cats are familiar with the site and one of the two cats is waiting at the site unitl the lure is deployed each night - and there is also evidence to show the cat is present repeatedly during the night.   This would potentially indicate that this is deterring the visit of target animals to the site.

This photograph is from the developing Instagram account for this project.   This is the cat that is mentioned and featured on this blog, waiting for the lure to go in place close to the tree.