Bait Tips for Successful Trapping

It is important when trapping to use the correct bait to suit your target animal. This minimizes capturing non target animals. 

Wear gloves when handling traps to avoid leaving scent behind that may discourage the pests from coming into the traps.

View our bait tips below.

Cats:

Cats like salty foods, meat, fish or bought cat food normally works the best for cats. Sometimes they can be fussy, so you may need to try some different options to lure them into the trap, something they can smell from a distance will have best results. Make the bait hard to reach, by tying it at the back or top of the trap, or place in an open bag.

Possums:

Use bait that can be smelt easily by possums. Possums like sweet things. Cage traps can be baited with pieces of apple or other fresh fruit or a variety of different baits can be mixed with flour including icing sugar or aniseed oil and applied as a paste onto trees or as bait in possum kill traps. Jam or peanut butter can also be used. Leave freshly killed possums next to the trap, as this will attract further possums and predators. Cinnamon scented possum lure is a paste that can be applied to trees above possum leg hold traps it is also ideal for use in kill traps, simply squeeze onto the bait clip. This lure has a strong smell which makes it easy to attract possums into your traps.

Rabbits:

Maize, lettuce, silver-beet or other greens can be used. Also try apples, turnips and carrots. You may need to try some different options and place bait leading into the trap to lure rabbits in.  With leg traps, normally bait isn’t required if used near burrows. Place traps along rabbits run lines, hedges or fences for best results.

Ferrets, Stoats and Weasels:

Rabbit meat is the preferred food of these predators. If you have access to either fresh or frozen rabbit meat, this is an ideal bait to use when trapping. Otherwise whole eggs, chicken meat or some cat foods, will also lure in stoats and ferrets. Hang meat at the back of a cage trap, or from the top of a tunnel when using a kill trap. The smell of a rat or stoat caught in a trap, will also help lure in stoats. Kill traps are often used in pairs, with bait in between. This allows capture from either side of the tunnel and an animal caught in one side, will also help lure another into the other trap.

Magpies:

Magpies like foods that contain a lot of fat, including butter, cheese, dog roll, and minced meat. Place small pieces of bait in the trap and leading up to the trap, so the magpies find their way in. You may need to try a variety of baits, to find what works best in the area and at different times of the year.

Rats and Mice:

Rats like a variety of different foods including: nuts, fruit, seeds and chocolate. Options for baiting traps for rats include: peanut butter or hazelnut spreads, whole nuts or seeds, small pieces of chocolate or banana. A little vanilla essence on small pieces of bread can also lure rats into a trap. It is important to use fresh bait and keep it fresh. Change the bait regularly even if no rats have been caught. Clean traps well after each kill for best results, particularly for rats.