Distressed Possum Variation: Timms Trap

This post is made with thanks to James Ross from Lincoln University.  

It would not be possible without the audio supplied via Jenny Dent from Zero Invasive Predators.

Throughout our trial and experimenting with lures and trapping in general it has been very clear to us that possums are aggressive and in particular are involved in attacking animals (other possums) that are already dead in traps.   Some of the most frequent activations have involved possums dead in traps with a significant number of activations, sometimes with hundreds of photographs detailing post trapping activity.  We have also seen numerous instances of fur pulled from other possums caught in traps which is clear evidence of interference post trapping.

The sounds that we have used to this point have been found from Youtube or general locations, they are not professionally recorded and are a mix of localised and Australian general videos when we've been able to strip or edit the audio tracks of freely available media and used this to target possums.

Thanks to staff from Lincoln University, they have supplied us with an audio track of a captive possum, which has come  from Jenny Dent from Zero Invasive Predators.

When the track was reviewed it was very clear that the possum was distressed.   The speed of the possum calling on the track was significantly faster than the normal.   The University of Lincoln has a outside pen for captive animals for testing, which is several kilometres in size.

The idea behind using this (this is having a distressed possum sound used as an approach) with the trap is to see what difference that this will make with the lure - will the noise of a distressed possum (as opposed to a healthy active possum) encourage more interaction with the trap?

At deployment site one at present we believe we have significantly reduced the number of possums in the riparian planting area where we are currently  trapping.   Since we started the latest phase of testing (Sunday 24th of October) in the initial period of trapping we were experiencing up to twenty seperate activations in a night and documenting up to six unique possum visits to the sound lure area.   Following this we removed a series of possums (five) as well as had the trap sprung on two other occasions where an animal was able to escape.

In the last week we are still seeing regular visits but they are singular and the possums have not been interacting with the lure or trap.   However we see clear value in using the 'distressed' version of the lure at this location to see what affect that it will have on this site.   There is still one adult male possum investigating the site and exploring around, although he appears to be trap shy.

We intend a significant deployment and recording process having replaced the confident possum sounds with the distressed possum sounds.   The images with the post are from trail cameras used in conjunction with this sound lure project in South Taranaki. 

30th November - Further Brush Tailed Possum Interactions with Sound Lure

This will be the final post in this series for the foreseeable future - again if we look at the focus question that we were looking at over the last few weeks, was the sound lure repelling or acting as a deterrent to the target pest animals.

Night after night during the past month we have seen the same activity over and over again, the animals are coming into the area and interacting with the lure, the bait and the Timms trap and we have had repeated captures and activations.     Last night we saw a repeat of this - we saw three distinct visits during the evening, so slightly down on pervious evenings.   

However during each series of interactions we saw the repetition that we have experienced repeatedly.  The lure operates and the animals show interest.   We had a initial visit from a male from 10:50pm until 11:00pm, a second series of visits from another male at 1:19am and a final set of visits at 1:35am.

The final visit at 1:37am saw the brush tailed possum activate the Timms trap, however instead of being trapped the animal was able to remove itself from the trap and escape.   The animal did not return after this point.

The video that is contained the above includes some of the selective highlights of the activities during the evening.     Again it is part of a major data recording of a number of visits and the purpose of the video is simply to illustrate what is occurring when the unit activates and there is a possum near or next to the unit and how is the animal reacting to the noise that is coming out via the lure and the trap.

HD Footage: Timms trap and Brush Tailed Possum

We finally have achieved the goal of gaining HD Video footage of brush tailed possums interacting with the sound lure and a Timms possum trap.  This video occurred last night and follows the sequence of posts that we have made here about the recent attempt to combine a sound lure directly into a Timms possum trap.   

Last night, Friday 19th November, we placed a Timms trap at deployment location one with the sound lure, in addition to having it monitored by a trail camera.   After a series of strikes in this area we believed that the site was settling down on account of their being less activity since we removed the sound lure.   We had replaced it in location the previous night but had no activity.

The value of the recording at the site showed us what was happening also more crucially the interaction between the components.    Please note that we have been censoring some of the footage that we have been recording at this site due to its nature, including the capture of the animal and some of the possum activity that is clearly directed at animals that are deceased inside the trap.  

A summary of the activity at the site saw the first brush tailed possum arrive on site at 9:23pm.   It entered the trap but did not set it off at 9:26pm and 9:30pm (that is in reached into the trap and removed part of the apple inside it).   The sound lure was operating during this time, including twice when clearly in video the noise activates, but the animal did not stop its activity.  The capture of the female occurred at 9:34pm.

There were post capture visits by other possums at 9:46pm, when the unit also activated - the second possum left the site when this occurred, but returned two minutes later.   A male appeared at the site at 11:50pm and left shortly after.   Another male arrived at 2:19am and was present when the lure activated.  A seperate male arrived at 3:31am and left immediately afterwards when the unit activated, clearly spoked or disturbed by the unit.

In total during the night there were clearly five seperate visits at this site with twenty camera recorded activations in total.  There was no evidence of any post capture activity as we have witnessed previously.  If we generally summarise the evidence of the noise and whether it is acting as a deterrent (as it has been suggested and as we have been investigating for the past few weeks) that there was one case of aversion at 3:31am (the final male on site was in process of tipping over the Timms trap when it activated) but otherwise the other five possums at the site showed interest but did not leave the site or flee when the unit activated, and if they did (in the other case) they returned immediately to the site.

Also of note this activity is occurring in a riparian planting area next to a local river in a small stand of tree's.  It is accessed to the rear of the property owned by the person who is running these trials - it is not taking place in densely wooded areas or in remote bush areas, so the level of the possum activity at this location is a surprise.   

Finally I had a request of the best way to contact myself with regards to the site - this would be via email at myles.webb@gmail.com

Updated Timms Trap and Recent Phase of Testing Summary

The current phase of testing can be summarised as follows:

Sunday 24th October - Saturday 30th October - Sound lure operating in conjunction with a range of sounds from the traditional profile (stoat, rats, distressed rabbit).   Significant activity in the area including repeated interaction with the trap station with lure operating.  Up to five visits a night with significant time spent at the location almost exclusively with brush tailed possums.

Sunday 31st October- Thursday 4th November - Sound lure operating making a range (five) of brush tailed possum sounds playing at a one minute interval.   Significant activity in the area including repeated interaction/return visits to the site and trap station area with lure operating.   Some evidence of animals leaving the area at speed but based on the time stamps and basic animal identification these animals returned shortly afterwards.  Animals present included a mother and baby and several adult males all of whom remained on site for extended periods of time.

Friday 5th November - Wednesday 10th November - pest removal phase during a five night period four brush tail possums were removed at the location.   There was a fifth activation where there was clear evidence of a possum having sprung the trap but managed to avoid being caught.   Due to technical errors with the trail camera last recordings took place on Thursday 4th November (moisture) however still photos taken the following morning.    The morning of the 10th the lure was operating but there was no evidence of interaction and the bait was not removed.

Thursday 11th November - Saturday 13th November - We left the Timms trap at the site but removed the sound lure due to the weather conditions and to see what would be happening.   The trap was baited with apple (as it had been since Friday 5th).   During this period there were no activations at the trap location or evidence of the bait being taken, and the site remained static.

Sunday 14th November - Overnight we replaced the sound lure for the first time in three nights (which had the same apple bait since the 10th).   When we observed the site the following morning the trap had been sprung, the apple had been pulled from the trap and had been significantly eaten.   As there was no camera monitoring the site (as there hasn't been since the 4th) there was no direct evidence of what had occurred but it seemed clear that a possum had been in the area.   

The stoat box, with salted rabbit meat has been static the entire time.   We now have in our possession cameras in which we will be able to use to monitor the site and record footage of what is occurring and we indeed intend to at the first available opportunity (ie weather permitting).

I feel compelled at this time to again issue a disclaimer about this testing.   This phase of testing is being conducted at a single site a short distance from a location where I live.  It is not intended to be scientific with comprehension proof of what is happening it is merely a record of what is occurring at the moment and I am well aware the variables that are being used are very basic (and there is no alternative).  It is very much conducted by a non scientific teacher in spare time.   If you would like to conduct testing using the equipment an the sound lure we have units available for use, please get in contact with myself via the blog.

Five Consecutive Night: Fourth Possum Capture

This is currently an extremely active series of captures at deployment site one using a Timms Possum Trap modified with the sound lure at the back, and the speaker connected directly to the back of the possum trap.   Concerns that the noise might be too loud and acting as some form of deterrent can, we believe be put to rest as at this location we have had the fourth possum capture in the past five nights.

It has been five nights since the modified trap was placed in the location, replacing previous lures that were used to monitor the level of possum activity in the area.

The five tracks currently in use and all generic possum sounds, played at one minute intervals by the solar powered sound lure which has been operating with its technical components outside for two years.   We have now caught three males and a female at this location since Friday.

There is also been clear evidence with this capture of additional possum activity following the capture as another animal has been present to pull fur from the deceased animal.  

Again we have seen evidence of this repeatedly during the monitoring of the sites where we have had captures of an animal and then additional animals have arrived at the site to attack the dead animal, which we have seen both in possums and rats.

The sound lure has continued to operate after the capture of the animal and continue to generate a sound profile with the potential to bring other animals into the area.   There is the possibility of combining the trap with a self setting device to look at seeing if multiple animals could potentially be trapped.

Fourth Consecutive Night: Third Possum Capture

This is the fourth consecutive night of a strike on the Timms that is operating in conjunction with the sound lure.   Over the last four nights we have caught now two males, a female and had a third strike where the animal escaped.

This site shows the unit which was pulled from the ground during the capture, the sound lure is under the plastic container which is on the top of the stoat box (which has still not had a strike in a month).

There was no evidence of interference with the possum after it was caught and the bait from the trapping was still visible inside the trap.   All other details about the capture such as the programme (coding) and unit details are correct and similar to other posts in this series from this week.    Weather has remained fine during this period.   This is currently the most successful run at this location over the past two years, although we have successfully used a range of traps at this location.

Second/Third Consecutive Night: Timms Success

 

For the third consecutive night we have had success at the location where we have been again focussing on the sound lure combined with a Timms trap.

Update: Monday 8th November (Day Three).  There was a further activation overnight, which was clearly a possum strike on the Timms trap, in this instance the trap was activated, the bucket had moved with the pins pulled up and the bait removed - this has been seen before when a possum activates the trap and then subsequently escapes.

Night Two Summary

In the photo you can see the sound lure immediately behind the Timms trap, were it is linked to trap.  Next to the Timms is the stoat box which is still baited with salted rabbit to target stoats.

A smaller female has been caught, interestingly the bait in the Timms trap was not present suggesting that another animal or this animal had removed it, but then continued to interact in the trap resulting in its removal.

Incredibly frustratingly we cannot answer the question with absolute certainty as the event was being monitored by a trail camera that despite prior testing did not operate (record) as had been anticipated.   This is our final operational HD Video camera and until we repair our current stock or replace it (which is challenging as we have spent our funding and currently winding the project up).   Our project funding closed and we are currently trying to maintain the project on cameras that were initially purchased two years ago.

However if we reflect on our goal from the past two weeks and answering the question of a deterrent we can state the following.

Brush tailed possums were clearly active in the area when the sound lure was operating from inside the DOC 200.  There was interest shown in the unit when it operated but the possums did not show signs of stress or a change in behaviour when the unit operated (such as stopping feeding or showing signs of aggression),   This behaviour was repeated over several nights, including what appeared to be the same animals return to the site repeatedly.   We can surmise the unit did not repel animals during this time.  There was limited food placed around the trap to see if the animals would feel safe enough to feed when the unit was operating.

Brush tailed possums were clearly active in the area where the sound lure was operating from inside the rat box.  We saw evidence of repeated visits to the site from a range of animals including animals clearly remaining on the site for an extended period of time.   There was evidence of some aggressive stance from the male possums who were seen, and some evidence of behaviour leaving the site from a female and a baby.  It is possible that this was the arrival of another animal (as the timing on the camera would suggest) or the unit operating.   If animals did leave the site they appeared to reappear later in the night, and then spend extended time at the location.     We saw evidence of interest shown in the lure and also the general trap area including the possums opening the box the sound lure was hidden in.

Changing the unit set up to switch to a removal phase involved taking the unit and placing the speaker at the rear of a Timms possum trap allowed us to trap a series of possums.   

Over two (now three) consecutive nights two possums were caught, a male on Friday night and a female on Saturday.   The male showed evidence of being clawed after being caught (which would be by another male as seen before) as fur was present around the trap.   The female was caught although the bait was missing from the Timms.   The third night saw the trap clearly activated, pulled from the ground and the bait removed, however the animal (which is almost certainly a possum) was able to escape from the trap.

This is showing us that the use of the Timms to increase the sound (as it echoes inside the bucket) making the noise louder is not deterring the animals from the site.   This is two consecutive captures a a third nearly clearly occurred over three consecutive nights.

It is very frustrating from our point of view that technical issues with the trail camera has prevented us from recording the interactions on the final phase of the trapping - while we would not have posted the footage here on this public blog for obvious reasons we would have had some more conclusive evidence to ask our short term focus question.   This would reinforce what the evidence from the last two years has strongly suggested to us about the viability of the unit and the potential affect that it has had.

I finally feel again compelled to remind everyone that this entire research and operation is being run on a part time basis by (primarily) two people operating in their 'spare' time.    This is not being conducted as a full time scientific investigation and I would suggest that these results are open to interpretation.

Timms Trap and Sound Lure Success

 

As noted previously we have started to experiment specifically with HD video and the sound lure to determine what specifically brush tailed possums might be reacting to with the sounds from the sound lure.

It has been suggested that the sound lure, while designed to attract pest animals to the site of traditional traps could be instead acting as a deterrent to cause animals to avoid the location.  For the previous week and a half we have been deploying a HD Camera to help us answer this question and using a basic analysis of the video to note the response of the animals when the unit activates.   During this time we have seen clear evidence of multiple visits to the site during the evening by a number of brush tailed possum.   There has been a mother and a baby and at least two distinct males returning to the site.   The unit has played repeatedly during this time and there have been up to eight activations in a night.   

Previously we have not focussed on attempting to trap any possums at this location - we have simply been trying to determine if we can answer the question and test or note their reaction to the sound being activated (as noted it is on a one minute delay).   The sound lure was previously located inside of the DOC200 (see picture) however we for the first time switched it to placing it inside a Timms possum trap.   We used an electric drill to make an opening in the back of the Timms, which the speaker was directly attached to unit - this had the effect of acting to amplify the sound considerably.

Rather frustratingly the trap work perfectly.   The frustrating part of this was that the camera that was monitoring the unit did not.  We made a capture at the location of a significant male (buck) possum.

There was additional evidence of a further possum attack - which we have repeatedly seen, where a dead possum has been attacked by a second possum as there was ripped fur around the capture, again this frustratingly was not recorded as the camera was not able to record it.   

Once again I feel compelled to point out that this is a single location where we are merely testing our equipment to get it to the point that we can be confident that it is operating as we intended.   We would like to make the technology and the experience that we have had available for wider use and the data and information likewise.

Back to the original question that we are currently focussed on answering.   We have had multiple activations at our site over an increasing period of time.  We have had some limited evidence of possums leaving the site when the unit activates, however in every case we can then see them return and we are having multiple visits during the course of an evening.  

Obviously we have to look at our capture rate with the Timms trap, but one would suggest the fact that a capture was made, and at least one additional possum was present (as evidenced by the fur from the first possum) and again this would suggest that the lure is not acting as a deterrent.

Moving forward we will continue to monitor the site and look at adjust the camera footage recording so that it operates successfully.  We are not going to simply upload hours of footage that we already have showing the lure/possum interactions as we have already done with some parts, however that is available on request.

HD Footage: Possum Interaction with Sound Lure

As a continuation of the recent experiment to record HD camera footage of the sound lure making brush tailed possum noises, with a concealment of the device inside a box, obscuring its view.    Last night activations have topped the previous night and we have seen similar levels of activity.

The first appearance from a mother and a juvenile took place between 9:21pm and 10:10 pm.   A male then appeared shortly afterwards before a smaller possum, quite possibly from earlier, spent time at the monitored site from 10:23pm until 10:30pm.   

This was followed by another male brush tailed possum who was present from 10:30pm until 10:37pm.   

 The juvenile then appeared for a minute, before the male appeared again followed by the female and the juvenile who were interacting.    The dark male appeared again at 10:55pm and left at 11:00pm before the female and juvenile appeared at 12:40am until 12:45am, making a final appearance at 1:57am  and were present at the recording site until 2:10am.    While there was only a small time between various possums viewing the footage makes it clear these were different animals and the only two who interacted were the adult female and the juvenile.

All in all there were ten distinct phases of activation from a minimum of what appeared to be at least four possums, a female and a juvenile and the two adult males, one which is clearly darker than the other.   This is consistent with the previous nights activities, although the number of activations has increased and there were seventy total activations/video footage.

The possum that jumps directly into the camera in this activation, returns to the site four minutes later and remains at the site and hears the sound lure activating several times, but continues to feed.

A summary of the activities from the evening has also seen the sound lure/bait station wrecked by possums dragging the boxes away, and showing interest with and interaction with the sound lure.   There is some evidence of adverse reaction, although this is limited (such as the possum jumping into the camera after an activation - however once this occurred the possum then returns to the site after a few seconds).   Clearly there were repeated activations when all (four) possums were at the site and they returned to the site repeatedly during the night.