Brush Tailed Possum: Sound Lure compared to traditional trap

We have recently started using a new set up with a slightly more subtle set of sounds, with essentially a smaller speaker (although we can further reduce or set the sound volume level of the speaker and also have it operate at levels depending on the time of day or light level).

Yesterday was the first deployment of new unit and had a considerable number of activations in a single evening.   The second night of activations has seen an increased number of activations - and three seperate interactions with a possum/possums during the course of the night.   The first possum arrives at the site at 9:46pm - this possum ignores the Tims trap and proceeds to tip over the rat box where the sound lures is located.   The possum in this instance is photograph thirty seven times and spends a total of twenty five minutes at the location when the unit is repeatedly activating.   The possum interacts almost exclusively with the sound lure and ignores the traditional trap.

The second set of activations occur two and a half hours later.   The possum in this instance arrives just after midnight at 12:02am and remains on site for five photographs.   Again as with the first instance the interactions are exclusively with the rat box, now tipped over, with the sound lure operating from within it.    This possum is present at the site for a shorter duration than the first one and departs again by 12:03am.

The third set of interactions with brush tailed possums occur at 12:55am and lasts until 12:57am.  A possum enters the trap  area and interacts exclusively with the sound lure, ignoring the traditional trap that is to the right.

Again we wish to stress that this is the first in a range of new testing and the location of the lure immediately next to sound lure is possibly not the most robust science, but there is a clear preference for the brush tailed possum in the instances from the last two days to target and interact with the sound lure trap within the rat box and to ignore the traditional Timms possum trap which is deployed adjacent to it.