NZ543902A - Bait station - Google Patents

Abstract

A possum bait station of moulded plastic includes a container 11 for the poison bait that only possums (rather than birds) should be able to access via the open top 13a and a rotating lid closure 12 that is biased closed by the spring 15 to cover the opening. A possum perched atop the station is clever enough to be able to lean its weight on the lever handle 20 extending from the lid to open the lid against the bias of the spring to retrieve the bait out of the container. The station may be mounted to a tree or post by mounting 24. The lid not only keeps animals other than possums from the bait but also protects the interior of the container from rain and debris.

Description

<div class="application article clearfix" id="description"> <p class="printTableText" lang="en">10056730550* ;No: 543902 ;Date: 1 December 2005 ;NEW ZEALAND Patents Act 19S3 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION BAIT STATION ;I, PHILIP JOHN CORLISS a New Zealand citizen of 4815 Union Road, Makirikiri South Marton, New Zealand do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a Patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- ;- 1 - ;Spec 1898 ;INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.2. ;-1 MAR 2007 ;RECEIVED ;TITLE OF THE INVENTION "BAIT STATION" ;BACKGROUND TO TETR navp-.NXiON ;This invention relates to a bait station, in particular a possum bait station. ;Brushtail possums are a species introduced into New Zealand. Since their introduction, and due to New Zealand's climate and abundant food sources, the possum population has increased to the point of adversely affecting the environment. Possums are a major cause of vegetation damage, carriers of bovine tuberculosis, and are a danger to native wildlife. ;Bird life in particular is affected as possums feed on eggs from nesting birds, thereby compromising both the numbers, and quality, of bird species in any possum populated area. It is known in the art that possums are attracted to egg shaped objects, or part egg shaped objects. Thus an ovate object that replicates the shape and characteristics of an egg can be used as an attractant. ;Possums are a very damaging species to the unique New Zealand ecosystem. It is therefore desirable to eradicate the large numbers of possums by an economical method, which eliminates, or at least limits, endangerment to other species. ;Traditionally various methods of possum eradication have been used. One method is that of poisoning by the placement of toxic bait in the possums environment. The bait is placed into bait stations into which the possum has access, thereby consuming the bait. ;There are various types of baits commercially available. Baits commonly used in this type of bait station contain toxic substances, in addition to animal attractants that ;Spec 1898 ;draw the animals to the bait. These attractants attract not only possums, but also non-target species. ;Possum bait stations of this kind comprise semi-closed containers of various configurations consisting of a storage area for the bait and a feeding tray or area, from which the possum consumes the bait. An opening is located in the bait station in such a position that prevents the ingress of water into the bait store, but allows wildlife access to the bait. ;Bait stations of this kind have a number of disadvantages. One disadvantage is that access to the bait is available to all wildlife irrespective of whether it is a target or non-target species. There is the potential of harming non-target species that are inadvertently attracted to the bait. Therefore careful consideration must be taken when placing these bait stations In certain environments. ;Another disadvantage is that consumption of bait by untargeted wildlife results in both an Increased cost to the user, and a potentially reduced possum kill rate due to the lessened quantity of bait available in the bait station. ;A further disadvantage is that if the bait station is not securely fastened, or in the event of the fasteners holding it into position fail, thereby allowing the bait station to fall to the ground, there is the likelihood of a substantial portion of bait spilling onto the ground. This exposed bait is potentially hazardous to non-target species such as native wildlife in particular the ground dwelling wildlife. ;SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION ;it is thus an object of the present invention to provide a bait station that completely encloses the bait within whilst allowing animals such as possums to manipulate the ;Spec 1898 ;4 ;(followed by page 4a) ;configuration of the bait station to gain access to the bait but which prevents or at least inhibits access and therefore consumption of bait by non-target wildlife; or at least to provide the public with a useful choice. ;According to one broad aspect of the invention there is provided a possum bait station which includes: ;a container to hold bait and having an access opening; ;a closure closing the access opening and pivotally mounted to the container; ;a biasing means arranged to bias the closure towards a closed position; and a lever extending from the closure and accessible to a possum from a position on top of the bait station, such that the possum is able to apply its weight to the lever to move the closure from the closed position to an open position, thereby enabling the possum to gain access to bait in the container. ;BRIEF DESCRTIPTON OF THE DRAWINGS ;In the following more detailed description of the invention according to at least one preferred embodiment reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:- ;Figure 1 is a side elevation of the bait station illustrating the closure in a closed position, ;Figure 2 is the opposite side elevation of the bait station illustrating the closure in the closed poisition, ;Figure 3 is an end elevation of the bait station illustrating the closure in the ;Spec 1898 ;closed position, ;4a ;(followed by page 5) ;Figure 4 is a further end elevation of the bait station illustrating the closure in an open position to which the closure may b e opened by a possum accessing bait contained, ;Figure 5 is an end elevation view of the bait station illustrating the return spring and further detail, ;INTELLECTUAL PROPERTV OFFICE OF N.Z. ;2 8 NOV 2008 ;jRfcCt , cD ;Figure 6 is a top plan view of yet of the bait station with the closure in the open position, ;Figure 7 is a partial side view of the bait station prior to the key engaged on a mounting element, and ;Figure 8 is the bait station when mounted on the mounting element. ;DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMEHNT OF THE ;INVENTION ;As shown in Figure 1, the bait station consists of an open topped storage container, in which the bait is stored and a movable closure which engages, in the closed position, over the perimeter edge or upper edge of the open top of the container. The top or upper end of the container is open so as to provide an access Into the container for ioading of bait and access to the bait by a target animal. Preferably the closure substantially covers the content (bait) in the container away from external elements such as moisture. ;The bait station 10 consists of body 11, which in a preferred form of the Invention is moulded from a plastics material. In the form illustrated in the Figures the body is of substantially angular cross-section. The top of the body has an opening 11a so that, as mentioned above, bait can be loaded into the container and a target animal, such as a possum, can access bait as hereinafter described. ;The open top 1 la of the container is covered by a movable closure or lid 12, The lid 12 has integrally formed therewith (according to a preferred form of the invention) a pair of side plates 14 which locate adjacent and parallel to the end walls 13 of the body 11. ;Spec 1898 ;In the preferred form of the invention the side plates 14 are pivotally coupled to the end walls T3. In one form of the invention this is achieved by the end walls 13 having integrally formed spigots 19 that rotatably engage in correspondingly shaped recesses or bearing surfaces 19a in the end plates 14. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various other means of movably coupling the closure 12 to the body 11 can be used. ;The cover 12 is biased into its closed position. Accordingly, spring or resilient means are used to achieve such biasing effect. In one form of the invention, as illustrated, a spring 1 5 is coiled about a spigot 19 and has one leg 16 thereof suitably connected to the side plate 14. The other leg 16a is anchored with an anchoring point 17 on the end wall 13. ;In a preferred form of the invention a number of anchor points 1 7 can be provided whereby the position of anchoring of the leg 16a can be adjusted to thereby adjust the restoring effect applied to the closure 12 by the spring 15. ;In a preferred form of the invention a window or transparent portion (not shown) can be formed in, at least, one of the end walls 13. This permits visual inspection of the interior of the body 11 to take place so as to be able to determine the level of bait within the body 10. ;An upstanding lever in the form of pressure pad (see later) or handle 20 is formed integrally with the lid 12 and end plates 14. In the illustrated form of the invention this handle 20 is extends downwardly to a lowermost portion 21 (see Figure l), which engages against the upper part or upstands 22a of the front wall 22 of the body 11. In this way contact between lowermost portion 21 and upstands 22a limits the extent of movement, under the influence of the spring 15, so as to define the closed position of the closure 12. ;Spec 1 898 ;7 ;The rear wall 23 (see Figure 2) is in the form of or incorporates a mounting portion or surface 24 whereby the bait station 10 can be fixed to a support, which can be part of a tree, a fence post or other form of fixture. In the illustrated form of the invention one or more upwardly extending slotted apertures 25 with enlarged lower ends 25a are provided. Into one or more of these enlarged ends 25a the head of a nail or other fastener which has been inserted into the tree, fence post etc. can be engaged. The head of the fastener can then be slid up the slot to engage at the end thereof. This is a known method of mounting and has been used in prior art bait stations. ;It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that, the actual method of fixing the body 11 to a fixed surface may vary depending on the environment in which the bait station is to be used. Therefore, the actual means of fixing the body 11 to a fixed surface is not material to the present invention. However, a second form is shown in Figures 7 and 8 where a separate mounting element 30 is provided. This can be pre-mounted to e.g. the tree by nails through openings 31. As shown, the bait station can be engaged on the mounting element 30 by tongue 32 thereof engaging in recess 33 of mounting area 24, ;The bait station can be fixed well above livestock, people etc. and thus will generally not be open to interference. ;With the bait station loaded with bait and fixed in position, the bait station will have the configuration shown in Figures 1-3 i.e. the open top 1 la will be uppermost and closed over by lid 12. Because the mounting area 24 projects beyond the surface of wall 23, the body 10 when mounted on e.g. a tree, will effectively stand proud of the tree surface. This provides a ledge or clearance between the edge of the closure 12 and the rear surface 23 on or in which one or more feet of the possum wishing to access bait can engage. It has been found that, in practice, a possum wishing to access bait will readily find a foot hold using its back legs. ;Spec 1898 ;8 ;The possum can thus use one fore paw to apply pressure to the handle 20 and move (push) the closure 1 2 to the open position shown in Figures 4 and 5. Generally the movement will occur under the weight of the animal. This thereby opens up the top of the bait station enabling the possum to access through access opening 1 la the bait and draw bait out of the body 11 using its other paw. Testing to date reveals that possums are extremely dexterous and have no problem supporting themselves while opening the lid 12 and drawing out bait. ;Referring to Figure 5, the dotted detail shows a protruding area 26 which extends into the open top 11 a. When the closure 12 is in the open position the protruding area 26 engages against the edge of the opening 1 la. The extent to which the lid 12 opens is thus restricted such as to prevent the possums head from entering the body ;11 via opening 11 a. Consequently bait can only be extracted by the front paw of the possum- ;Once the possum has taken sufficient quantity of bait to be satisfied, the possum leaves the bait station whereupon the removal of pressure to the handle 20 leaves the closure 12 free to pivot back under the influence of spring 15 into the closed position. ;ft will be seen from Figure 4 that in the preferred form of the invention the closure ;12 is of a curved shape and the upper portion 13a of the end wall 13 is likewise of curved profile matching the internal radius of curvature of the closure 12. Therefore, when the closure 12 is back into the closed position it largely covers off the bait from external environmental conditions e.g. moisture. The bait is therefore kept dry. ;In addition to the closure 1 2 keeping bait dry and in good condition, it also prevents non-targeted animals, bird life etc., from accessing the bait. The automatic movement of the closure 12 back into the closed position, together with the force of ;Spec 1 898 ;the spring 15 that needs to be overcome in order to gain access to the bait, means that most non-targeted animals, birds etc. cannot access the bait. This includes other animals that may be targeted such as rats etc. Consequently, the bait is only consumed by the target animal e.g. possums. ;In a preferred form of the invention a part of the bait station can be formed of a luminous material or coated with a luminous (phosphorescence) coating. However, in a preferred embodiment (shown in Figure 4) a shaped panel 35 is formed in the bait station e.g. end plate 14 and coated with a phosphorescence material. It can also be a separate panel of such material applied to end plate(s) 14. This "glow in the dark" feature has been shown to attract a possum to the bait station and therefore make it more likely that the possum will come to the bait station and once there access the bait. ;The present invention provides a compact, safe, and easily transportable bait station that can be used in the eradication of possums. The bait is preserved For long periods of time as it remains dry due to the sealing of the bait container by the sealing element, with access to the bait by non target species limited. ;The bait station will minimise bait losses due to the consumption of bait by non-target animals such as rodents and ferrets, as it is unlikely these animals will be capable of gaining access into the bait container. ;The bait station securely conceals the bait contained within, thereby limiting access by wildlife that may be attracted to the bait. ;In the occurrence the bait station breaks free of its fastenings and thereby falls to the ground, it is unlikely bait spillage will occur. ;Spec 1 898 ;The invention is open to modification as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. For example,, a releasable lock or latch can be provided to immobilise the closure. This provides a safety feature as it does not expose someone handling the bait station (e.g. during storage, transportation etc.) to the poison bait. ;The body 11 can also include a small cover strip 37 at its lower end which overlaps the lower part of side plate 14. This prevents the slide plates from being dislodged. ;The bait station has use for other than control of possums, it can be used for e.g. feral cat control. To this end the open area 27 in the handle 20 can be closed in by an insertable panel. Alternatively, the handle 20 could be provided with a removable panel which Is left in place if the bait station is to be used for feral cat control. ;In use the bait station will be attached to a fence post, tree etc. near to round level. A mounting such as that shown in Figures 7 and 8 would ideally be used but with tongue 32 set at an angle of say 45°. This will mean that the bait station is presented in such a way that the pressure pad 20 is at about 45® to the ground surface. The cat can then apply a pressure to the pressure pad 20 by say one forepaw and then access the bait using the other paw. ;For feral cat control a semi-solid lure (such as fish paste) may need to be used. Thus in a modified form the body 10 or lid 12 may have a receptacle for the lure. ;To ensure the bait is kept dry the lid 12 can be configured to enhance water drain off. For example, as shown in Figure 5, a lip 28 can engage over the top of front wall 22. Also the opposite edge of lid 12 can have a drip edge profile 29. ;The bait station will therefore provide a reliable and safe method of eradicating possums without risk of endangering non-target wildlife, or suffering bait losses due to consumption of the bait by known pests. ;Spec 1 898 *<br><br></p> </div>

Claims (6)

11 WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. A possum bait station which includes: a container to hold bait and having an access opening; a closure closing the access opening and pivotally mounted to the container; a biasing means arranged to bias the closure towards a closed position; and a lever extending from the closure and accessible to a possum from a position on top of the bait station, such that the possum is able to apply its weight to the lever to move the closure from the closed position to an open position, thereby enabling the possum to gain access to bait in the container.

2. The bait station of claim 1 wherein the biasing means is one or more springs coupled between the container and the closure.

3. The bait station of claim 1 or 2 wherein the lever is a handle which projects from the closure.

4. The bait station of any preceding claim further including restriction means to restrict the extent by which the closure can uncover the access opening when the closure is in the open position.

5. The bait station of any preceding claim further including mounting means for the mounting of the container to a fixture.

6. The bait station of any preceding claim wherein the opposing side walls of the container which define opposing sides of the access opening are of a 12 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. curved profile, the closure being in the form of a lid having a profile which is commensurate with the curved profile of said opposing sides. The bait station of claim 6 wherein the lid has drip edges which divert water and moisture away from the access opening. The bait station of claim 6 or 7 wherein the lid has end plates which extend over said opposing sides and are pivotally coupled thereto. The bait station of any preceding claim further including one or more externally visible luminous areas. The bait station of claim 9 wherein the luminous areas are areas of phosphorescence coating. The bait station of any preceding claim wherein the container and closure are moulded from a plastics material. A bait station substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A bait station as claimed in claim 1 substantially as herein described. PHILIP JOHN CORLISS By his Attorneys DON HOPKINS & ASSOCIATES