Evaluation of the Bionic trap to quickly kill fisher (Martes pennanti) in simulated natural environments.

ABSTRACT

The Bionic trap equipped with a 10 cm aperture bait cone and cocked to eight notches quickly killed nine of nine fishers (Martes pennanti) in simulated natural conditions. Mean (+/- SE) estimated times to loss of consciousness and heartbeat were < or = 55 sec and 305 (+/- 8) sec, respectively after firing the trap. This study confirmed that the Bionic trap can be expected to render > or = 70% of captured fishers irreversibly unconscious in < or = 3 min (P < 0.05).