Bait for Large Animal Trap

[GaryBDavis]

I pick up one of those large live animal traps. This one is big enough for a coyte. I don't particularly have a coyte problem at the moment, but this will be something the kids and I can do together. I'm not sure what we will catch, but it should be fun.

What kind of bait works best in these things?

 

[forgeblast]

poke holes in a tuna fish can. i bet you catch lots. thats what my dad would do, when he had a smaller version of that.

 

[Bird]

Most of my live trapping experience was to get rid of some skunks in town and I baited the trap with sardines. That worked well. A brother-in-law also baited a trap with sardines to catch a bunch of feral cats.

 

[GaryBDavis]

Bird, I've been wondering, how do you get the skunks out of the cage without getting all stunk up?

 

[Phils]

We've had a brown bear at our house every night for the last week....

... I told DW to pay attention to the Animal Planet channel so she could get a good idea of what would be the easiest way to catch it ;-)

(her, not me.... the thing scared the krap outta me the other night when I turned on the deck light and had him/her staring at me)

Phil

 

[Bird]

Gary, it's been many years ago, but the City of Dallas would provide the traps (may still do it). I'd go to the animal shelter and sign for a trap, set it, bait it, etc. The traps were solid sides, top, and bottom with wire mesh ends so you could look through the end of a trap from a distance to see if you had anything in it. When you had one caught, you called the animal shelter and they'd sent someone after it. They had a solid metal box, slightly larger than the trap with a gasket on the lid so it would be air tight when closed. The guy would approach the trap from the side so the skunk could not see him, set that box on the ground, gently lift the trap, set it in the box, and close the lid. I think it was about a 1" pipe built into the lid with a cap, so he'd remove the cap, and pour (chloroform, I think) in, and put the cap back on. By the time he got back to the animal shelter, the skunk would be dead. And I'd have to go by the animal shelter and get another trap.

 

[GaryBDavis]

A bullet would be easier...

 

[BX2230Dude]

Bird, I've been wondering, how do you get the skunks out of the cage without getting all stunk up?

Speaking of trapping skunks...
About 10 years ago I put a small fishpond in the backyard. My wife stocked it with a dozen or so tiny "feeder" goldfish. Soon the goldfish grew to about 6 inches and my wife would go out to feed them every day. They soon caught the attention of local raccoons. One morning they turned up missing. All that was left was a few bits and pieces. My wife wasn't too happy about that so I decided to kill the raccoons.

I put a can of cat food in my Havahart animal trap and waited. The next morning I found a skunk in the trap, pacing back and forth. I was afraid he'd spray if I shot him so I carefully propped open the trap and eventually he realized the door was open and ran off. When I told this story to the woman who was in charge of the "garden" section of the local ACE hardware store she said "We trap skunks and raccoons all the time at our pond. My husband shoots the skunks and releases the raccoons on the other side of Pine Mountain?". "Don't they spray when then die?" I asked. "not if you shoot them right in the head with a .22" she said.

I tried that with the next few skunks I trapped and it really does work. I never had one try to spray me from inside the cage. They all just paced back and forth. All you have to do is place the gun barrel between the bars at one end of the cage and wait for the skunk to pause before turning around. One shot, one kill, no spray. Worked on that raccoon too.

 

[3RRL]

I've heard is the trap is small enough, it doesn't allow them to raise their tail up.
Then they can't spray without lifting their tail up.
Is that true?

 

[RollTideRam]

We kept catching the neighbors dog in our trap. We finally caught a skunk and I shot holes in the trap with a .22 from a distance. I kept shooting till it quit moving. I am glad others have found an easier way. JC