Oxfordshire Woodland Group

As a matter of interest on another animal that we try to control we have found that Muntjac seem to be on the increase this year. Does this have anything to do with the fact that we have managed to keep our Roe nos. down?

Possibly, By controlling the roe you may have created a vacuum in which muntjac will exploit, or it may be that there is now more ground cover and food that will encourage more muntjac.

Well done on controlling your squirrels, as you rightly point out - squirrels are an on going problem. A friend of mine who keepers a large estate in the South of of Oxon has been flooded with squirrels this year and took over 500 of them after the shooting season finished. He works about 30 fenn's and moves them to each wood after a week or so.
Regards SYL

Hi Chilterns.

I use the Mk4 fenn trap for squirrels & rats, by law all Fenn traps need to be covered, this can be achieved by utilising plywood, galvanised wire mesh or earth when using mk6's rabbits Mk 6 - placed into burrows.

I use plywood tunnels when using Mk4 fenns. The tunnel is about 50cms long, the width of the tunnel is the width of the trap + safety catch plus 1cm when set (open), the height of the tunnel is the trap closed plus 1 cm.
Also, the law requires that you check the trap once in a 24 hour period. But BASC recommends twice a day.
One common mistake that people make when setting a fenn trap is that they set it 90' out. The squirrel /rat needs to walk on to the plate first and NOT over the fenn trap arm's

If you are near to Woodcote, Just PM me and I can show you an example of what I use.

How do you upload piccies on to the site?

Reference the keeper, he is flat out feeding pheasants at the moment and organising shoot days and doubt he has the time.

Regards SYL

Hi Sylvestris,

The easiest way to publish a digi pic on the OWG Forum is to add this to an online personal photo archive like Flikr, Dropbox, etc. and then copy the photo file image URL (web address) and paste this into the body of your Forum post by pressing the "image" icon on the reply toolbar to enter the copied image URL. Make a quick "preview" of your post to check that all is working. It's best to save and post on line archive photo version that is not greater than 600 pixels wide to ensure that the photo displays properly within the boundaries of the Forum thread. If you get stuck then you can PM me and attach your image which I will then post on Dropbox and send you a link and invitation to set up your own account. I have found Dropbox to be a very good way of sharing multiple high resolution photos with friends and associates without falling foul of most internet providers attached file size limitations.

For further advice on this topic please check out the "Rules, Guides and Info" section of the OWG Forum where Greene Pete has provided an excellent explanation on the mechanism for posting pics.

Regards

Chilterns