AU2007202705A1 - An entrance to an animal trap - Google Patents

Description

Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Graeme Robert Sawyer Actual Inventor: Graeme Robert Sawyer Address for Service: MADDERNS, 1st Floor, 64 Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Invention title: AN ENTRANCE TO AN ANIMAL TRAP Details of Associated Provisional Application No: 2006903233 dated 16 June 2006 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me.

PalAU31 FIELD OF THE INVENTION O This invention relates to an animal trap and more particularly to an entrance for a self-closing animal trap for capturing animals, particularly cane toads (Bufo marinus).

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5 BACKGROUND The species of animal called Bufo marinus (cane toads) were purposely introduced into Queensland, Australia from South America in 1935, in an unsuccessful S attempt to control cane beetles, and have become a pest of the sugar cane industry.

Having no specific predators or diseases that could control cane toad numbers, the toad 0 population quickly multiplied and spread to the Northern Territory and the state of S New South Wales which are both adjacent to Queensland.

The toxin of the cane toad can kill most native animals that normally eat frogs and in particular they have become a serious threat to native wildlife, invading wetland habitats and in particular, competing with native frogs, water rat, quoll, and some bird populations.

Frogs are impacted in that toads compete for available food and breeding sites; and cane toads eat frogs. Populations of many native frogs have declined and some 0 species are threatened with extinction. Cane toads also pose a risk to domestic animals such as cats and dogs, who after eating cane toads die from the toxins in them.

Cane toads breed quickly, allowing them to rapidly colonise and dominate an area. The toads prefer open habitats and are usually found around muddy river banks.

Mature cane toads usually reach a size of approximately 11 centimetres (4 inches) in length.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a trap door mechanism for capturing animals, in particular animals belonging to the Bufo marinus, or cane toad species.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect of the invention there is provided an entrance for an animal trap, the entrance including: a frame forming an aperture through which animals can pass to access the animal trap, and at least one of trap door member pivotally attached to said frame wherein the or each trap door member can be displaced relative to said frame only in a S direction towards the inside of said enclosure to allow an animal to access an enclosure I and not outwards to prevent an animal from escaping from the emclosure.

0 Preferably there are a plurality of trap door members together defining a door to prevent an animal such as a toad from exiting from the animal trap, and wherein each trap door member can independently move inwardly to allow an animal to enter the trap.

Preferably a portion of each said member extends to contact the frame to prevent movement of the trap door members past the frame external of the frame. Preferably the portion of frame contacted is remote from the pivot axis of each of the trap door members on the frame.

0 Preferably the frame comprises a substantially rectilinear body defined by side walls, an upper portion and a lower portion and the members depend from upper portion and the portion of each said member extends to contact the outer to prevent movement of the members past the frame is the lower portion of the frame.

Preferably the lower portion of the frame is rebated with respect to the side walls whereby the lower ends of the door members are within the side walls in their rest or closed position such that an animal such as a toad cannot cause at least the end door portion to open by being lifted away from the lower portion and thereby escape.

r Preferably each said member depends under the force of gravity and after an 0 animal such as a toad passes through the entrance by displacing the door members the door members return to their rest position under the force of gravity.

3 5 Alternatively each said member may be biased to a closed position under a resilient force and after an animal such as a toad passes through the entrance by 3 displacing the door members the door members return to their rest position under the resilient force. The resilient force may be provided by one or more springs, for C instance.

r- 0 It is also preferred that said plurality of door members are transparent material, and/or are spaced with other members or from said frame to allow or improve vision of said animal into said trap. Such a material may be polymethylmethacrylate (Perspex

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or polycarbonate.

In an alternative embodiment the frame comprises a substantially rectilinear body defined by side walls, an upper portion and a lower portion and the at least one trap door member depends from upper portion and the portion of the frame which is contacted the to prevent movement of the members past the frame is an outside of the 0 upper portion of the frame.

The entrance for the animal trap can be placed onto any form of trap such as a wire cage trap or the like. There may be one or more entrances according to this invention provided on such a trap. An attractant such as a bait or light may be used to attract animals into the trap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The invention is now described in detail in conjunction with an illustrative embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cage trap incorporating an entrance according S to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a side perspective view of an entrance arrangement viewed from the S inside according to one embodiment of the invention; Figures 3a to 3c are cross-sectional views of the entrance arrangement through line A-A of Figure 2 illustrating the movement of the trap door; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a cage trap incorporating a plurality of entrances according to one embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 5 is a side perspective view of a second embodiment of the entrance S0 arrangement viewed from the inside according to one embodiment of the invention: Figure 6 shows a schematic side view of an alternative embodiment of entrance suitable for an animal trap according to the present invention; and Figure 7 shows the embodiment of Figure 6 with the door entrance opened.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Figure 1 shows a trap I which can be used to capture animals, such as cane toads. An attractant such as light can used to attract insects to the trap and hence toads are attracted to catch the insects and can themselves be caught in the trap 1.

0 Referring to Figure 1, the trap 1 incorporating an entrance according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: an enclosure in the form of an enclosure for example cage 10, although any form of enclosure will suffice, such as a wire frame. Cage 10 preferably includes a light emitting source 20 located above said cage 10, and an entrance arrangement 30 serving as an entry point for toads into said cage The entrance arrangement 30 has a frame 70 and at least two depending members 60 which can be displaced inwards of the cage 10, thereby allowing access into the cage 10. Escape of captured toads is prevented because members cannot be displaced externally of the cage by virtue of contact by the lower portion of the member(s) 60 with the inside 76a of a lower portion 76 of the frame 70 on the inside of the frame 70 and cage In operation, insects are attracted to the light directed into the cage 10 by the light emitting source 20. Hungry toads will displace one or more of the plurality of members 60 to gain access to the interior 12 of the cage 10, where the toads can feed on the insects. Since the lower ends of members 40 are free to move inwards of the cage and the upper end of each member(s) 40 depend from a pivot member rod 62 (see N Figure at least some of the plurality of members 60 are displaced inwards of the cage 0 10 when a toad enters the aperture against the members 60 to move towards the food source attracted to the cage 10. It is advantageous if the members are light and easily displaced by the animal.

Once the toad has pushed past the members 60, the one or more members 60 will return to their former position (under gravity, if the members merely pivot from the frame or otherwise one or all members may be resiliently biased to a closed position) to contact the lower portion 74 of the frame 70 on the inside of the cage 10. In this way the member 60 allows access to hungry toads, and prevent their escape from the cage 10 by abutting against the lower portion 74 of the inside of the frame 70. If a toad attempts to 0 escape the cage 10 by pushing against the members 60, the members 60 will simply form a more firm contact against the lower portion 74 of the frame The trap 1 can be used with any attractant suitable for the animal being targeted.

This embodiment is adapted to attract toads by using a light emitting source 20. To ensure that the cage 10 is brightest so that insects will reside within and about the cage a cover 22 extends above the light emitting source 20 to decrease light emission towards the environment external of the cage to maximise the chance that insects will reside within, rather than outside the cage 10. An electrically conductive wire 14 extends to connect the light emitting source 20 to an external power source (not shown).

Other examples of types of attractants include the preferred foods of the targeted S animal. Attractants can be used alone or in combination as required.

n The only access to the cage 10 is through entrance arrangement 30. The trap door 3 5 arrangement 30 includes a frame 70 with an upper region from which a series of members 60 depend. In this particular embodiment the entrance arrangement 30 is secured to the cage 10 using rope or some other form of binding material. This allows the entrance arrangement 30 to be removed for replacement or repairs should the N, device fail to function correctly. Alternatively the entrance arrangement 30 could be 0 welded or otherwise permanently fixed to the cage It is also to be understood that the members 60 may not necessarily be vertically aligned, and could for example, extend diagonally across the frame 70 (not shown), provided that the free end of each member abuts against an inside portion of the frame 70. In addition, instead of relying on gravity, the free ends of the members 40 could be biased, by spring, the material it is made of or other means (not shown) against the frame 70 to ensure return of the members 60 to abut the inside of the frame Referring to the trap door arrangement 30 illustrated in Figure 2, access through 3 the frame 70 is obstructed by a plurality of movable members 60 pivotally supported to the frame 70 by a rod 62. In this embodiment the members 60 depend from the rod 62.

The rod 62 is located within the aperture (not shown) of the frame 70 by insertion within apertures in the upper regions of side walls 72 and 74. The free ends of the rod 62 are screw threaded (not shown) to which nuts 64 and 66 are fitted to secure the rod 62 to the frame During the process of securing the rod 62 to the frame 70, the members 60 are fitted to the rod 62. Each of the members 60 has a circular aperture at an upper end to allow insertion of the rod 62.

t Although the members 60 are pivotally supported by rod 62, the members could alternatively directly depend from the frame 70 by any suitable means.

Alternative methods of attaching the members 60 to the rod 62, or directly to the frame 70 can be used. For example members 60 comprising a flexible join at one end and free at the other end can be used instead of the above arrangement.

,i In addition it is preferable that the members 60 are transparent, so the insects S within the cage 10 will be visible to the toads. It may appear to the toads as though this ~0 is the opening to the cage 10 where the insects reside because the members 60 are transparent.

It will be noted that the lower portion of the frame 76 is rebated with respect to the sides of the frame 74 such that the sides of the members 60a and 60b at each end of the entrance are within the sides of the frame. The will assist in preventing a toad from escaping by lifting the end members 60a and Figures 3a to 3c illustrate the operation of the trap door arrangement 30 and the various positions of the members 40 involved in trapping and preventing escape of the 0 toad from the cage Referring to Figure 3a, the members 60 are in a closed position with respect to the frame 70, and importantly, the free ends of the members 60 abut against the side 76a of the lower portion 76 within the cage 10. When the toad moves towards the insects inside the cage 10, the members 60 will be displaced inwardly as illustrated in Figure 3b. The members 60 move inwardly by rotating about the rod 62 at their upper end providing access for the toad below the free end of the members 60 into the cage Eventually the toad will pass completely through the members 60, and the members 60 return to their original position by virtue of gravity as illustrated in Figure 3c. In this position, the free ends of members 60 again contact the inside 76a of the lower portion 76 of the frame 70 and so prevent the toad from passing back through the frame because the members 60 are prevented from rotating further by the frame Referring to Figure 4, a cage 10 having four independent frames 70 installed into each vertical side wall of the cage 10 is illustrated. This arrangement allows capture of toads through multiple one-way accesses to the cage N In the alternative embodiment illustrated in Figure 5, rather than having two or 0 more members, a single member 68 can be used. However, the disadvantage of a single member is that a significantly greater force will be required by the toad to move that single member 68, whereas a series of smaller members will more easily allow a toad to displace the members, and therefore allow much larger frames to be used or allow smaller toads to enter the trap 1.

When a plurality of members 60 are used, small gaps between the members are permissible and that would allow greater visibility by the toad of insects within the cage 10, while also resulting in there being less members to displace.

0 In the embodiments illustrated, the rod 62 is located more outward (towards the exterior of the cage 10) than the inside of the frame 70 so that the members 60 slope inwards of the frame 70 (with respect to the exterior of the cage 10 to which the frame is fitted) so that gravity can always act to bring the free end of the members against the inside of the frame 70. This is a preferable configuration when the members 60 freely pivot but may not be required if the free end of the members 60 are self or actively biased using additional bias means towards the inside of the frame Figure 6 shows a schematic side view of an alternative embodiment of entrance suitable for an animal trap according to the present invention, and Figure 7 shows the embodiment of Figure 6 with the door entrance.

In this embodiment the animal trap 80 has an entrance assembly 82 on one side. 0 The entrance assembly 82 comprises a frame 84 and a door 86 which is pivoted on a S horizontal pivot axis 88 adjacent the upper part 90 of the door frame 84. The door 86 has an upper flap 92 which prevents the opening towards the outside of the cage trap by engaging against the upper part 90 of the door frame 84. The door 86 can, however easily open inward as shown in Figure 7 to allow a toad 95 to enter the trap attracted by S insects 96 around light source 98.

~0 The door 86 can be a single piece door of the type shown in Figure 5 or a multipiece door of the type shown in Figure 2.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that the embodiments can be used separately or combined to provide an improved entrance arrangement. The invention is not restricted in its use to this particular application. Neither is the present invention restricted in its preferred embodiment with regard to the particular elements and/or features described or depicted herein. It will be appreciated that various modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the invention.

Therefore, the invention should be understood to include all such modifications within 0 its scope.

Claims (10)

1. An entrance for an animal trap, the entrance including: a frame forming an aperture through which animals can pass to access the animal trap, and at least one of trap door member pivotally attached to said frame wherein the or each trap door member can be displaced relative to said frame in only a direction towards the inside of said enclosure to allow an animal to access an enclosure. 0 2. An entrance for an animal trap as in Claim I comprising a plurality of members together defining a door to prevent an animal such as a toad from exiting from the animal trap

3. An entrance for an animal trap as in Claim 2 wherein each trap door member can independently move inwardly to allow an animal to enter the trap.

4. An entrance for an animal trap as in Claim 1 wherein a portion of the or each said member extends to contact the frame to prevent movement past the frame external of the frame. 0 An entrance for an animal trap as in Claim 1 wherein a portion of the or each said member extends to contact the frame to prevent movement past the frame external of the frame and wherein the portion of frame contacted is remote from the pivot axis on the frame.

6. An entrance for an animal trap as in Claim 1 wherein the frame comprises a substantially rectilinear body defined by side walls, an upper portion and a lower portion and the members depend from upper portion and the portion of the frame which is contacted the to prevent movement of the members past the frame is the lower portion of the frame. r-

7. An entrance for an animal trap as in Claim 6 wherein the lower portion of the frame is rebated with respect to the side walls whereby the lower ends of the door members are within the side walls in their rest or closed position such that an animal such as a toad cannot cause at least the end door portion to open by being lifted away from the lower portion and thereby escaping.

8. An entrance for an animal trap as in Claim 1 wherein the or each said N member depends under the force of gravity and after an animal such as a toad passes 00 through the entrance by displacing the door members the door members return to their rest position under the force of gravity.

9. An entrance for an animal trap as in Claim I wherein the or each said member is biased to a closed position under a resilient force and after an animal such as a toad passes through the entrance by displacing the door members the door members return to their rest position under the resilient force. An entrance for an animal trap as in Claim 9 wherein the resilient force is provided by one or more springs.

11. An entrance for an animal trap as in any one previous claim 1 wherein the door members are transparent material, and/or are spaced with other members or from said frame to allow or improve vision of said animal into said trap.

12. An entrance for an animal trap as in Claim I wherein the frame comprises a substantially rectilinear body defined by side walls, an upper portion and a lower portion and the at least one trap door member depends from upper portion and the portion of the frame which is contacted the to prevent movement of the members past the frame is an outside of the upper portion of the frame. r-

13. An animal trap incorporating one or more entrances for the animal trap as defined in any one previous claim. e3 5 14. An animal trap as in Claim 13 wherein the trap is a wire cage trap t 15. An animal trap as in Claim 13 further including an attractant such as a bait Ci and/or a light.