I set up my first two adc muskrat jobs yesterday. Both were in retention ponds at condos. The first was a large pond with dirt banks. Many old dens going far up the banks , mostly caved in. There are openings and signs that something was crawling out but it does not look fresh. No fresh tracks or droppings , etc. The guy said that he has seen rats come out of the openings recently but is kind of vague about how recent. There are no underwater den entrances that look used. I set a few conibears in the openings up on the bank , and set a small cage at the edge of the water baited with carrot and lured. How effective are cages on muskrat? The second place has rip rap banks. They said they have seen a muskrat swimming and that it had plugged a 6 inch pvc pipe that is an outlet for a sump. The pipe was indeed plugged with leaves , witch I pulled out. I set a baited cage next to the pipe. Nothing this morning , and there was no activity at the pipe. If the rat starts to plug the pipe again I will try a foothold in the pipe , set at night and removed during the day. There are geese in both ponds. I would appreciate any advice.

I had a customer that I had last year and when she said she saw three different muskrats, I believed her. Just like you, no fresh

runways so I set up two old runways. She now has one muskrat left. I wouldn't have even seen the old runs if I hadn't put on waders

and searched her shoreline. It's that time of the year when muskrats are moving all over. Set up spots that you normally catch them

and you'll probably be surprised.

Like Paul says, set blind in runways - bait sets are less effective when food is abundant. The runs don't have to be in vegetation. A colony trap set in a vague muddy path works just fine. If there are no runs or nyou can't find them, go to plan B.