How do I trap a bobcat?

[sandypaws]

unless they are STARVING they will not eat carion.. (dead things) for best results you need to use LIVE chickens... for the 3 i have personally shot.. i tied a second rate rooster to a cinder block, put it in the yard locked up my other chickens and waited for a few nights.. i had to sleep outside with the rifle, for a few nights.. but i got them everytime..
i used a regular .22 rifle

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

Don't kill it! call the game warden, and ask them to take care of it.. relocate it... something not killy... we don't have many bobcats in this area due to people killing them willy nilly....

 

[coolchickens]

I had trouble with a bobcat last Fall killing my hens, one by one over a month long period. I called our State trapper when I went out and found my beautiful blk Cochin dead and stuck in the fence where it tried to pull it through. The trapper came out the next day and asked for the dead hen, which I had thrown out but retrieved and he placed it into a lrg box type trap with a plate the cat steps on. It was set up at 6pm one night and by 6am the next day the cat was in it! Loved that dead hen! He was relocated and was beautifu. PS to story..... That was Oct 08, and I think he's back! Same exact entry thru the fence in lower property, entry into hen house and gone without a sound! Be careful about relocates, they return if too close.

 

[Davaroo]

chickensducks&agoose :

Don't kill it! call the game warden, and ask them to take care of it.. relocate it... something not killy... we don't have many bobcats in this area due to people killing them willy nilly....

I hate to say it, and burst any illusions, but a bobcat taking livestock is not a nature experiment. Once it learns to like chicken, it becomes a deliberate killer and will continue to come back until the food is gone. By then it will have gained both a taste for chicken and a disrespect for humans.

Unless you can relocate it to an area with no human habitation, trapping in order to move it is a waste of time. Few truly unpopulated areas exist anymore and even fewer game departments have budgets to transport a lone bobcat that far away. SO essentially, if you trap and relocate, you send your problem to someone else.
Eventually the cat, with it's newly expanded taste buds, will start preying on other peoples'chickens and will teach it;s young to do the same.

Here's a little tidbit for you to mull over, from our friend and fellow chickeneer, Bob Plamondon:
"Predators are smart and observant. I rarely hear people mention this, but predators are smarter and more observant than people give them credit for. Once I started to shoot the crows stealing my eggs, they started to avoid my place.

I've seen the same effect with four-footed predators: when the farmers and the department trappers* are on their toes about livestock-eaters, the predators not only get the message, they pass it on to their young, and a balance is struck.
*(Here, Bob refers to trappers who dispatch the predators they catch.)

Practically all the predators go back to eating wildlife rather than livestock, and this means that both predators and livestock get to have a normal lifespan.

But if you don't kill any predators, their caution fades. After a couple of generations, the mothers stop teaching farm-avoidance to their young, and then the clueless young predators kill a lot of livestock before inevitably being killed themselves.
Which is a bad deal all around."

Killing predators is not "willy nilly" murder. It's either you or them out there in the real world. If you prefer to step aside for them, so be it. But I hesitate to recommend it.​

 

[rnoyster]

I too have a bobcat problem as we speak. My friend is using leghold traps that he has baited with bobcat urine. It seems that a bobcat makes rounds of his territory and he just has to sniff out the other cats in his area. He will continue to mark his territory. With the area of the trap smelling like another cat, he will keep looking, keep marking and hopefully step into the trap. Then the 38 comes out to say hello. Bye Bye cat!

 

[Ugly Cowboy]

Quote:
I hate to say it, and burst any illusions, but a bobcat taking livestock is not a nature experiment. Once it learns to like chicken, it becomes a deliberate killer and will continue to come back until the food is gone. By then it will have gained both a taste for chicken and a disrespect for humans.

Unless you can relocate it to an area with no human habitation, trapping in order to move it is a waste of time. Few truly unpopulated areas exist anymore and even fewer game departments have budgets to transport a lone bobcat that far away. SO essentially, if you trap and relocate, you send your problem to someone else.
Eventually the cat, with it's newly expanded taste buds, will start preying on other peoples'chickens and will teach it;s young to do the same.

Here's a little tidbit for you to mull over, from our friend and fellow chickeneer, Bob Plamondon:
"Predators are smart and observant. I rarely hear people mention this, but predators are smarter and more observant than people give them credit for. Once I started to shoot the crows stealing my eggs, they started to avoid my place.

I've seen the same effect with four-footed predators: when the farmers and the department trappers* are on their toes about livestock-eaters, the predators not only get the message, they pass it on to their young, and a balance is struck.
*(Here, Bob refers to trappers who dispatch the predators they catch.)

Practically all the predators go back to eating wildlife rather than livestock, and this means that both predators and livestock get to have a normal lifespan.

But if you don't kill any predators, their caution fades. After a couple of generations, the mothers stop teaching farm-avoidance to their young, and then the clueless young predators kill a lot of livestock before inevitably being killed themselves.
Which is a bad deal all around."

Killing predators is not "willy nilly" murder. It's either you or them out there in the real world. If you prefer to step aside for them, so be it. But I hesitate to recommend it.

Well said!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Sardines or fish steaks packed in oil make a great bait for most any predator. Pour some of the oil on a rag and tie it to a stick a couple of feet above the ground to help spread the scent.

If you want to trap multiple predators, dig a small hole to set the bait in, and set the trap on top of it. You may have to stake the trap down to keep them from moving it

 

[BackSwampGirl]

Hey u got a 30 30? Unload it on him.That usually works.I love wildlife,but I love my animals too.Got lots of money tied up in them.Git r dun!!!!!!!! Shoot the thang !!!!!!!!!

 

[redhen]

Quote:
ouch, leg traps....

....i REALLY hope you check them several times a day, so, the cat dosent have to suffer for long in that kind of pain....just MY opinion...peace, Wendy

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
There, then, is the crux of the issue, sans pithy countrified sentiments. If you depended on your livestock for your sustenance, there would be little debate. The raiding offender would be gone.
I suppose since this whole chicken thing is more of a hobby, there can be some leeway. But, keep in mind what goes through the predators mind:
"Chickens = food = kill = eat.
Repeat as neccessary, or as often as possible."

For trapping such critters as bobcats, there are several live traps available. I have a couple of the HavAHart models and they do a goo djob.
Leg traps work very well, too. Yet, while effective and simple, they are normally banned in most places as in-humane. Using them can bring the officious socialistists down upon your head, so tread carefully there.
As always, with trapping one must have a disposal plan worked out AHEAD of time.