Bait is any substance used to attract prey, e.g. in a mousetrap

Mousetrap

A mousetrap is a specialized type of animal trap designed primarily to catch mice; however, it may also trap other small animals. Mousetraps are usually set in an indoor location where there is a suspected infestation of rodents. There are various types of mousetrap, each with its own advantages...

.

In Australia

Baiting in Australia refers to specific campaigns to control fox

Fox

Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...

es, wild dogs and dingo

Dingo

The Australian Dingo or Warrigal is a free-roaming wild dog unique to the continent of Australia, mainly found in the outback. Its original ancestors are thought to have arrived with humans from southeast Asia thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to...

s by poisoning in areas where they are a problem. These programs are held in conjunction with the local Department of Primary Industriey, Rural Lands Protection Board (RLPB) and National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to facilitate a neighbourhood baiting campaign.

Fishing

The term is especially used with regard to catching fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

. Traditionally, nightcrawlers

Lumbricus terrestris

Lumbricus terrestris is a large reddish worm native to Europe, but now also widely distributed elsewhere around the world due to human introductions...

, insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s, and smaller fish have been used for this purpose. Fishermen have also begun using plastic bait and, more recently, electronic lure

Fishing lure

A fishing lure is an object attached to the end of a fishing line which is designed to resemble and move like the prey of a fish. The purpose of the lure is to use movement, vibration, and colour to catch the fish's attention so it bites the hook...

s, to attract fish. Because of the risk of transmitting Myxobolus cerebralis

Myxobolus cerebralis

Myxobolus cerebralis is a myxosporean parasite of salmonids that causes whirling disease in farmed salmon and trout and also in wild fish populations...

 (whirling disease), trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

 and salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

 should not be used as bait. There are various types of saltwater baits that are natural. Studies show that natural baits like croaker and shrimp are more recognized by the fish and are more readily accepted. The best bait for Red Drum (Red Fish) is the pogie or menhaden and in the fall specks like croakers thrown in marshy areas.

Hunting

Using bait is also a common practice in leopard

Leopard

The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...

 hunting

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

 on a safari

Safari

A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...

. A dead, smaller sized antelope

Antelope

Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...

 is usually placed high in the tree to lure the otherwise overcautious leopard. The hunter either watches the bait from a shootable distance or stalk

Stalk

Stalk may refer to:* Plant stem, one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant* Leaf stalk, also known as Petiole* Flower stalk, also known as Peduncle* Stalking, an act of intrusive behavior or unwanted attention towards a person...

s the animal if it came for the bait during the night.

Bait is also used in bear hunting

Bear hunting

Bear hunting is the act of hunting bears. Bears have been hunted since prehistoric times for their meat and fur. - Details :Bears are large mammals in the order Carnivora. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout...

. In areas where bears are hunted, one can often find such bait for sale at gas stations and hunting supply stores. The bait often consists of some sweet substance, often frosting or molasses, combined with some aromatic such as rotten meat or fish. The bait is spread and the hunter waits under cover for his prey.

See also

• bear-baiting
  Bear-baiting
  Bear-baiting is a blood sport involving the worrying or tormenting of bears.-Bear-baiting in England:Bear-baiting was popular in England until the nineteenth century. From the sixteenth century, many herds of bears were maintained for baiting...
  
  
• fishing bait
  Fishing bait
  Fishing bait is any substance used to attract and catch fish, e.g. on the end of a fishing hook, or inside a fish trap. Traditionally, nightcrawlers, insects, and smaller bait fish have been used for this purpose...
  
  
• fishing lure
  Fishing lure
  A fishing lure is an object attached to the end of a fishing line which is designed to resemble and move like the prey of a fish. The purpose of the lure is to use movement, vibration, and colour to catch the fish's attention so it bites the hook...
  
  
• honeypot
  Honeypot
  Honeypot or honeytrap may refer to:* A pot used to store honey* Espionage recruitment involving sexual seduction in** reality** fiction* A type of sting operation such as a** Bait car...
  
  
• chumming
  Chumming
  Chumming is the practice of luring animals, usually fish or sharks, by throwing "chum" into the water. Chum often consists of fish parts and blood, which attract fish, particularly sharks due to their keen sense of smell....
  
  /chum
  Chum
  Chum is a fabulous person Chum may refer to:*Chum salmon, a kind of salmon , native to the northern Pacific and adjacent waterways* Chum is a slang term for a friend....
  
  
• berley/berlying
• rubby dubby