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