Fenn traps

[weblyish]

Having spent a long time dispatching small rodents in a laboratory setting you might want to learn to do it without an air rifle - takes about 2 seconds, no richochets, mess or fuss

sounds grim doing it directly by hand but actually quick and certain compared to an airgun

wear long goves (leather fire gauntlets work well)
Grab your friend firmly somewhere behind the front arms
(optional - swiftly but gently and knock their head off the nearest stable object to stun them briefly)
lay them down on front (dont let go)
run knuckle up the spine to the atlas joint and dislocate it by pressing firmly down with the knuckle while pulling back half up and back
check for clear separation of head from upper spine


Like a neck shot deer it is instant drop, none of that awful bouncing around from a poorly placed headshot

 

[Bo Diddley]

A picture of the type of box I use with Fenn MK4 traps. They are quick to make if you have a chop saw and a nail gun, look after them a bit and they last for years.

 

[Ratcatcher]

Having spent a long time dispatching small rodents in a laboratory setting you might want to learn to do it without an air rifle - takes about 2 seconds, no richochets, mess or fuss

sounds grim doing it directly by hand but actually quick and certain compared to an airgun

wear long goves (leather fire gauntlets work well)
Grab your friend firmly somewhere behind the front arms
(optional - swiftly but gently and knock their head off the nearest stable object to stun them briefly)
lay them down on front (dont let go)
run knuckle up the spine to the atlas joint and dislocate it by pressing firmly down with the knuckle while pulling back half up and back
check for clear separation of head from upper spine


Like a neck shot deer it is instant drop, none of that awful bouncing around from a poorly placed headshot

Hmm, I have to say that sounds very precise and I'm sure as you say works brilliantly in a lab, but in a loft, torch in mouth, balanced on a beam, fenn trap bouncing off a squirrels arse, I'll stick with the airgun from a few feet away.

 

[Squirrelbasher]

A picture of the type of box I use with Fenn MK4 traps. They are quick to make if you have a chop saw and a nail gun, look after them a bit and they last for years.
View attachment 411214View attachment 411215

Good design

 

[Gamekeeperwill]

Adjust treadle plate with setting stick after setting. Minimize tunnel size.

 

[pop1]

What are the advantages?

Be certain of the rules if using docs. There are certain stipulations you have to follow or the trap is set illegally.

 

[Fez]

Hey

I’ve just finished a trapping programme around my feeders on the shoot, 376 squirrels and 68 rats in 4 weeks ! That will hopefully save some wheat going forward. Yes sometimes if there not caught correctly they will still be alive that is one reason you have to check them everyday. I also throw some wheat through the tunnel to get them to run it, also old fens can lose there power over time and as there cheap enough it’s good to check the tension on the spring to ensure your doing your best to get clean kills

 

[Bo Diddley]

Hey

I’ve just finished a trapping programme around my feeders on the shoot, 376 squirrels and 68 rats in 4 weeks ! That will hopefully save some wheat going forward. Yes sometimes if there not caught correctly they will still be alive that is one reason you have to check them everyday. I also throw some wheat through the tunnel to get them to run it, also old fens can lose there power over time and as there cheap enough it’s good to check the tension on the spring to ensure your doing your best to get clean kills

Jesus, that's a lot of squirrels in four weeks.
How many Fenns are you running, and what acreage?

 

[Fez]

Jesus, that's a lot of squirrels in four weeks.
How many Fenns are you running, and what acreage?

35 tunnel traps, there placed right next to the pheasant feeder as the squirrels have been using them all season. It’s usually about the same amount every year. Never gets any less even tho I catch so many. Most of them I take to a hawk centre to feed the owls and birds of prey

 

[Bowland blades]

Service your fens , tune them from new! Work the trigger down carefully with a twig safely ( lighter tread pressure catches more and cleaner nearly always dead vermin. all traps can fail though make sure you set them and service them well and remember to check them frequently

 

[hedge hunter]

Adjust treadle plate with setting stick after setting. Minimize tunnel size.

as gkw says always carry a trapping stick/setting stick. Can be used as a priest aswell if made right

 

[Rhodesianjess]

When you store Fenns just decock them, your trap's strength is in the springs.
Also why fiddling with a stick? Make sure safety catch is on and press down on treadle until it's at required setting. Your hands/fingers are more sensitive than using a stick.

 

[Gamekeeperwill]

When you store Fenns just decock them, your trap's strength is in the springs.
Also why fiddling with a stick? Make sure safety catch is on and press down on treadle until it's at required setting. Your hands/fingers are more sensitive than using a stick.

They'll be less sensitive once caught in a fenn

 

[Rhodesianjess]

They'll be less sensitive once caught in a fenn

Especially in the frost
I put the safety catch under my thumb, holding it down and then use other hand to press down treadle.
Catching my fingers taught me that

 

[Gamekeeperwill]

Especially in the frost
I put the safety catch under my thumb, holding it down and then use other hand to press down treadle.
Catching my fingers taught me that

That'll do it

 

[landkeeper]

They are sore on the thumb !
I once spent quite a while with a thumb stuck in a mk6 that I used to set at arms lenth in a hollow log over a stream
Had done it without incident 100s of times
Set the trap with the safety on lie it on an open palm , flick of the safety with the other hand then slide it carefully arms lenth into said log , set the trap down inching the hand out as the trap settled job done !
Except this time it snapped somehow catching my thumb near the base yowee now I was stuck as the trap and hand were bigger than the entrance
Weighing up my options eventually I just wrenched thumb free leaving quite a bit of skin in the log !!!
Needless to say I modified the process after that lol

 

[Fez]

That'll do it

I tend to catch my thumb once a year, helps to remind me what a melon I am

 

[Wilbur]

as gamekeeper will says you are setting the peddle to heavy once set push the peddle down a bit until its about to spring and that will do the job,w