DISASTER!!!!!!!!!!1

[rooster-red]

We used to wrap up a piece of meat in cheese cloth and wire it to the bottom of the trap just in front of the trigger plate.
It makes it tough to get at, and the struggling will set the trap off.

Nobody ever got a free lunch from that trap.

 

[aran]

thanks for the tips guys...im no hunter thats for sure...i have not yet checked the trap today to see what happened overnight. I will check and let you all know how we are going. As far as the havahart is concerned it trips the trap and the door close but then no animal and no bait in the trap in the morning despite the doors both being closed and the bait being gone.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I can only imagine how frustrated you are at this point.

Is it possible that your trap is too short for a very long bodied animal? Could the trap be getting sprung as the bait is taken, but the door is hitting the animal's back and then it just backs out? Could that be why the food is gone, the trap is sprung, but there's no animal inside? I can't think of any other explanation.

What size havahart did you get?

 

[ivan3]

Or small enough to exit between the bars?

Might try .50" hardware cloth sections cable tied to sides/back/top of trap.

Keep us posted.

 

[aran]

i have the middle size havahart..its 2 feet long, 8 inches x 8 inches I think. I have thought the same thing that the buggar is just having the door hit its back and its backing out after a meal. The holes in the havahart are at most 1/2 inch across i doubt it can get out of it....i have however tried having the trap barricaded in between pieces of wood so that the sides are totally un-escapable if thats a word.

 

[Miltonchix]

I had the same thing happen 2 weeks ago to my young flock of White Rocks. Turned out to be the neighbors cat. Which I kindly placed on their porch in a bag with all of the dead chicks. un He (the cat) had also met with a misfortunate "accident". Or was it a severe case of "lead poisoning"??

 

[bjcoop]

Just my 2 cents....
We caught a misbehaving cat this summer. This cat stalked our chicks and alarmed them to no end.

I hated to do it, but in an effort to stop the harrassment and a possible chick-kill, we set a trap and after a few tries, caught him in a havahart (large) with a mix of tuna and catnip. We set the trap in one of his favorite hiding places. Not nice, but he was rehomed to a large dairy farm....
--bjcoop (feeling guilty, but trying to save my chicks)

 

[Miltonchix]

WHY??? would anyone feel guilty about protecting their livestock??! I'm sorry but I guess it was the way I was raised. WHY would a responsible pet owner allow their cats/dogs or whatever, to wreak havoc on my chicks??? I lost 23!!! chicks in what appeared to be sport killing. I WILL NOT feel guilty or in any way intimidated for taking care of their cat for them.
Even my wife, who hates guns (??), has sharpened her shooting skills because enough is enough.
Total chicks purchased this year = 36 plus 3 ducks, 2 turkeys, and 2 geese.
Survivors = 2 chicken and 1 goose. They did NOT die of natural causes or disease. Most were taken by neighbors catS, 2 ducks .........vanished (probably coyote or fox)

 

[ivan3]

O.K., aran. Rooster-Red's idea is good, I prefer to tie the bait in the back - same result: critter in box.

However, this is another improvisation on the same method. But the trigger-plate isn't used at all. Tie a cord to the trigger latch (so it can't slip down when the bait is grabbed) and attach the bait like this:

(my grandkids are going to put me on the list if they find out what's for dinner...)

 

[aran]

mate thats ingenious...i cant quite see where the string is running but i get the general concept...the animal grabs the bait and pulls it thus somehow triggering the door to swing shut bypassing the little trip switch thingee that is in the middle of the cage. Lemme make sure I have this right though...because my havahart has doors at both ends...i need to close one door and hang the bait just inside the closed end...the open end im still not really clear on how i rig the string...i know im being a pain in the butt , but can you take some real obvious "for dumbasses" pics that even I can follow ?

LOL thanks for all the help guys, im pretty sure the stinking weasel is out there laffin its ass off at me as we speak.