The Peridx Spring Trap has now been added to the list of approved traps for stoat control in Wales under General Licences 019 and 020.
General Licence 019, Licence to trap Eurasian stoat to prevent serious damage to livestock can be found here.
General Licence 020, Licence to trap Eurasian stoat for the purpose of conserving wild birds can be found here.
The updated general licences were uploaded to the Natural Resources Website on Thursday 7th October here, after the Spring Traps Approval (Variation) (Wales) Order 2021 (found here) came in to force on the 7th July 2021.
The Perdix Spring Trap was approved for use in England and Scotland on January 1st 2021. The addition to the list of approved traps in Wales is welcome as it offers another choice for practitioners on the ground; since Fenn-type spring taps (and others) were made illegal for stoat capture last year on 1st April 2020.
The change to trapping will likely mean fewer traps being deployed due to the expense of new approved stoat traps. Whilst the extra cost may challenge some shoot budgets, we encourage trappers to adapt to new designs and work away with these new humane traps learning how to incorporate them into their predation control strategies. We are encouraged that some keepers who have been using good numbers of new traps for some while are reporting considerable success at weasels, stoats and other target species.
Our FAQ on the implementation and consequences of the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS) can be found here.
Photo credit Charlie Marshall.