- NZ Made & Owned
Lures are a crucial part of any pest control undertaking. Once you know what pests are in the area you’re working with, one of the first things you do, whether you’re a professional or managing pests in your backyard, is make sure those animals are being led to the area where you’ve laid your traps.
A trap is only as effective as the lure that brings pests to it. Through a clever use of long-lasting scents and easy-to-use formulations, professional quality lures can be accessible for large- or small-scale operations.
Scented lures encourage pest animals to visit bait stations and traps, with trials showing a marked increase in pest interaction where these professional-quality lures are used.
While some people think simply putting a spoonful of peanut butter in a trap does the trick, the facts don’t lie. Household items may attract certain pests, but not necessarily the ones you’re seeking out.
Professional lures come in a variety of scents targeted towards the specific feeding preferences of different pests. Plus, they have the benefit of not actually being the food item.
For example:
Consider salmon, a scent that casts a broad net as it works to attract rodents, stoats and feral cats alike. Laying out pieces of salmon to draw those pests towards your trap would end with the salmon either disappearing, eaten by the pests who may or may not then fall for your trap, or stinking up the target area as it rots.
A salmon-scented lure, however, could last for a month without getting eaten or rotting. The longer-lasting scent attracts without merely providing a snack for curious pests.
While these professional-standard lures last longer than their household equivalents, many of them lose their edge after around 30 days. In the great outdoors, nature continues to take its course: weather takes a toll; scents fade; curious visitors can strip away the lure over time.
For long-term and large-scale pest control efforts, especially those in remote locations or harsh conditions, this time can fly by. Those traps could be sitting empty and lure-less for a long time before you can access them again.
In the face of these limitations, the future-focused team at Connovation have been hard at work to figure out new methods of increasing longevity of traditional lures. The best of these ideas became our new resoakable lures.
There has been a lot of careful consideration and testing gone into these lures. They have been designed specifically to be:
Currently available are felt or terracotta resoakable lures, which each cater to different needs.
The felt lures are made from biodegradable wool, with that fibrous texture encouraging pests to bite where you want them to. Refreshing the lure is as simple as spraying them when the time comes. No waste, no mess, no replacing a perfectly good lure. Once they’ve been recharged, they can continue attracting pests for up to 90 days – which means you’re using about a third of the usual amount of lure.
The terracotta lures are built for the tougher traps, the locations that don’t give you the luxury of regular maintenance. Rather than encouraging biting, the eco-friendly clay is resistant to damage caused by pests nibbling at it, allowing it to continue to hold and release lure over time. Topping up these lures requires soaking overnight for maximum saturation, which allows them to keep attracting pests for several months – possibly longer!
Connovation is always looking for ways to improve on existing methods. With this increased longevity of lures, you can get more use out of the products you have. With the lure products going at least three times further, the resoakable lures pay themselves off pretty quickly – particularly when used for hard-to-access, long-term or large-scale projects.
They can also save you time. The less time you need to spend replacing lures, the more time you have for doing the mahi to protect Aotearoa’s taonga species.
Connovation’s recent line of Resoakable Lures can be found here.