Late last year Al was horrified to discover a serious amount of damage done to the canal bank near one of the sluice gates. Coypu had dug into the bank and made the outer edge collapse into the lower canal (around 4m below). Water was running through the holes in the remaining bank and the whole lot looked like collapse was imminent.
We set about immediate remedial work and reinforced the bank with stakes, concrete slabs and lots of earth.
But what to do about our constant coypu infestation? Leaving them to it would just mean further damage and while checking the rest of the banks we found further serious holes and evidence if their work.
Al had previously tried putting out traps on the banks and lying in wait, shotgun in hand but nothing really worked so some Internet research was called for.
We found out that trapping these animals in humane traps rather than poisoning or shooting was the best way and that they are less wary of traps placed on rafts at water level than on the bank side. So we decided to give it a try and place a trap on some posts at water level using our rebuilt bank as a good support.
Success was almost immediate and 5 were caught within a week. The method seems to work best with a maize cob hanging from a wire above the plate that sets off the trap. Apart from a couple of water fowl and the odd rat, it had been large coypu most mornings since we put the trap in.
Once caught, a .22 shot to the head quickly and humanely despatches them.
Al is now contemplating coypu pâté and stew which the locals claim used to be a delicacy but surprisingly no-one seems too keen on resurrecting the dish. Perhaps Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall could give us a recipe?
