Help with bobcat trap

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Hello trappers, I’ve had a bobcat taking poultry on and off for a year. I’m guessing it’s a male since the attacks have been so intermittent, even though our guineas and ducks regularly free range. I had a professional trapper our last year and he set a have a hart trap, which caught several raccoons, but no bobcats. After not seeing the bobcat for a few months, I just lost a guinea hen to it in my back yard, broad daylight while I was 20 feet way. I ran after it yelling and it dropped the hen, but the cat had severed her spine and she died.

Just stopped writing this post because the bobcat went for another guinea but missed. I rounded up the guineas and got them into our run, called in the ducks from the pond. My son put the dead guinea in the trap and put it near the bobcats hunting area. I’m sure that the trap is not completely camouflaged , though he did wear gloves and tried to include some grass and etc. I’m trying to stay away in hopes this bobcat is hungry enough to go for it. I had started this post hoping to get some pro bobcat trapping tips, since we were so unsuccessful with this last year.

 

[centrarchid]

Someone I used to work with was a Bobcat biologist that used jumbo sized live-traps similar in over design to a Have-a-Heart Trap. At least part of the time live chickens placed in a cage were used as bait. The guy cheated a little because the cats he was after more often than not had a radio collar already on them. Traps had to be checked frequently to see to needs of the chicken. Setup was such that cat could only see chicken by looking through entrance of the trap.

 

[mowin]

Are you in a area where you can shoot it? If it's coming around that frequently, it may be your best option.

 

[Howard E]

Hello trappers, I’ve had a bobcat taking poultry on and off for a year. I’m guessing it’s a male since the attacks have been so intermittent, even though our guineas and ducks regularly free range. I had a professional trapper our last year and he set a have a hart trap, which caught several raccoons, but no bobcats. After not seeing the bobcat for a few months, I just lost a guinea hen to it in my back yard, broad daylight while I was 20 feet way. I ran after it yelling and it dropped the hen, but the cat had severed her spine and she died.

Just stopped writing this post because the bobcat went for another guinea but missed. I rounded up the guineas and got them into our run, called in the ducks from the pond. My son put the dead guinea in the trap and put it near the bobcats hunting area. I’m sure that the trap is not completely camouflaged , though he did wear gloves and tried to include some grass and etc. I’m trying to stay away in hopes this bobcat is hungry enough to go for it. I had started this post hoping to get some pro bobcat trapping tips, since we were so unsuccessful with this last year.

Free range.......there it is again. That term most commonly associated with the loss of birds to predators. And not unexpected when it's practiced in an area with a high predator load. Predators are far better at nabbing them than birds are at eluding the predators. So it happens.....a lot.

But as for your question.....here are the traps one trapping supply company offers for bobcats.....

https://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/removal/Bobcat_traps.html

Note there is a Hav-a-hart trap in the lineup, but it is not one that you will find locally. Also note how much larger these traps are than cage traps sold for possums, feral cats, etc.

That is part 1.....part 2 is the skill required in setting them, which is not hard, but takes some knowledge.....where to set, camaflage......and that includes covering the bottom of the cage so paws never touch the wire. Using a live bird as bait is your best option.

BTW, the same website also shows a large selection of coil spring traps. Equally effective, if not more so....in the right hands. But the skill level / learning curve for those goes straight up. Doable for most to learn, but not in a short amount of time.

Yet another option is an electric fence, which is what I use......and I don't lose birds to predators. Just saying.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Are you in a area where you can shoot it? If it's coming around that frequently, it may be your best option.

We see it only sporadically, it’s been about six months since I’ve last seen it. When I do see it, it’s for no more than a second or two. We also have houses fairly nearby (500-1000 yards maybe), though we are outside of city limits, so it would have to be a perfect shot.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Free range.......there it is again. That term most commonly associated with the loss of birds to predators. And not unexpected when it's practiced in an area with a high predator load. Predators are far better at nabbing them than birds are at eluding the predators. So it happens.....a lot.

But as for your question.....here are the traps one trapping supply company offers for bobcats.....

https://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/removal/Bobcat_traps.html

Note there is a Hav-a-hart trap in the lineup, but it is not one that you will find locally. Also note how much larger these traps are than cage traps sold for possums, feral cats, etc.

That is part 1.....part 2 is the skill required in setting them, which is not hard, but takes some knowledge.....where to set, camaflage......and that includes covering the bottom of the cage so paws never touch the wire. Using a live bird as bait is your best option.

BTW, the same website also shows a large selection of coil spring traps. Equally effective, if not more so....in the right hands. But the skill level / learning curve for those goes straight up. Doable for most to learn, but not in a short amount of time.

Yet another option is an electric fence, which is what I use......and I don't lose birds to predators. Just saying.

Yeah, I know it comes with the territory, but the guineas can’t eat our abundant ticks when they are locked in a run... Ducks are out for limited supervised pond time only. Chickens are confined in a run. We’ve mostly done well with predators, but this bobcat seems rather fixated on poultry, when it’s around.

Is a regular Havahart trap just a waste of time? Or, if the wire was covered better and the sides were camouflaged, do you think it has a shot of working? Thanks for the link and knowledge!

 

[Howard E]

I have seen comments from Jim Comstock.......who makes, sells and uses an upscale version of these bobcat traps.......re: the standard Hav-A-Hart for use on larger animals like a fox or bobcat. His comment was what while it has been done......and by inexperienced homeowners no less.......it is rare. Cats are much larger than the cage....so don't like to go in, and size and location of the pan trigger is also wrong for bobcats. So while not impossible, it is a long shot at best. Putting a live bird in a protective cage at the end of the tunnel that is the camoflaged live trap.....and covering the floor and pan trigger with grass, leaves....or working it deep in the dirt.....all to keep animal from feeling wire beneath it's feet.......will help.

Seem to recall your trapper also struck out with that type of trap? I think that is typical for that trap in that use. Not unlike trying to use a mousetrap to catch a rat. Size is all wrong. Just not the right tool for the job.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I have seen comments from Jim Comstock.......who makes, sells and uses an upscale version of these bobcat traps.......re: the standard Hav-A-Hart for use on larger animals like a fox or bobcat. His comment was what while it has been done......and by inexperienced homeowners no less.......it is rare. Cats are much larger than the cage....so don't like to go in, and size and location of the pan trigger is also wrong for bobcats. So while not impossible, it is a long shot at best. Putting a live bird in a protective cage at the end of the tunnel that is the camoflaged live trap.....and covering the floor and pan trigger with grass, leaves....or working it deep in the dirt.....all to keep animal from feeling wire beneath it's feet.......will help.

Seem to recall your trapper also struck out with that type of trap? I think that is typical for that trap in that use. Not unlike trying to use a mousetrap to catch a rat. Size is all wrong. Just not the right tool for the job.

Yeah, I wondered whether the trap is just wrong and we should give up trying to use it. After having it out all night, we still have a dead bird in it and nothing else. Since the cat seemed so guinea focused yesterday, I thought it was worth a shot. While we could get another trap, I honestly don’t think I could bring myself to put a live bird in it, even if the bird was protected. The erratic and relatively rare appearance of this cat also makes such a trap problematic. I guess we will fall back into locking up the guineas for awhile. I think we will also rent a brush cutter next weekend and try to remove some of the cover near the coop. Thanks for the info!

 

[cmom]

I used leg traps. A bobcat killed 14 birds one night. That is now one of the reasons I have electric wire up around my coops and pens. This bobcat dug under a fence. Not knowing what I was going to catch I left some of the dead birds as bait. The bobcat didn't come back the next night but did the following night and got caught. It won't be back.