Live Traps

[richhodg66]

A couple of months ago, a big, friendly Tom cat showed up and adopted us, I'm sure he was dumped by someone, we live out in the sticks and he is way too well sosialized to have been feral. Anyway, I made him a well insulated plywood box to stay warm and safe from predators on the front deck.

A possum showed up once or twice to eat the cat food, I kicked him off the porch a while back, but it hasn't been a problem until a few days ago it showed up a couple of nights when I wasn't home and the wife got worried when it did.

Went to the farm store today and bought a live trap. The cat is locked up so he won't get caught, and I set it up on the poch with his bowl of cat food behind the trigger pedal and sprinkled a little on the floor to kind of lure him in. I have no experience with traps, are possums smart enough to figure out something is different? I've only ever shot a few of them, and they've always seemed real easy to walk up on, so I assume they aren't real bright. It's getting dark now, so I guess we'll know in the next several hours if my plan is good or not.

Sure hope I don't go out there and find a skunk in it. I haven't seen any on this place since we bought it, but there are almost certainly some around.

[crowbuster]

Sounds like you did fine. I like to box the trap in so they cant set it off from the sides digging at it. But thats mostly coons. Possum wont care.

[country gent]

Should work for possum, coons, cats and maybbe even squirels. A couple things to keep in mind it the rod latches get raised the door is free to raise. a wood dowel 3/8-1/2" slide thru the wire mesh just above the door makes a quick back up lock if the trap needs to be moved or handled. If by chance you do catch a skunk gently throw a old blanket over the whole trap covering it, dosnt stop the skunk from spraying but does contain it inside the blanket. We added 3/4- 1 lb lead strips along edge of traps door to speed things up and get a surer closing also.

[bedbugbilly]

I usually have three live traps set out during the summer . . mainly to try and get woodchucks . . notice I said TRY. LOL I end up getting coons and possums quite often. I have always thought possums to be kind of stupid as well but they can be a little crafty at times.

When I have wanted to live trap coons, I found that a can of stinky tuna fish set beyond the foot trigger worked pretty well . . . until they figured how to get it without tripping the trap. I'd find the can outside of the trap in the morning and the trap still set! Go figure . . . so then I took to tying the can to the end of the trap behind the foot trigger and that worked pretty good.

When I've caught possums . . . I know they are after whatever I've bated the trap with but I still think they are kind of dumb animals. They certainly aren't as smart as the woodchucks I have. I used to set the live trap with a fresh jelly roll from the bakery and had good luck with those for the woodchucks. Then their taste must have changed as I haven't caught one in two years!

I've caught rabbits as well . . . fortunately no skunks but I can't imagine why as we have a bunch of them. This last summer, I had a live trap set back by a woodchuck hole at the base of a brush pile by a swamp. I was surprised one morning to find a large snapping turtle in the trap. Clothed in a coat and leather gloves . . . it took me the better part of twenty minutes to get the snapper out of the trap. I carefully raised the door but the darn turtle didn't want to let go of the trap with his long claws.

Now . . . shame faced . . I have to admit that when I do live trap a critter . . . I can no longer shoot it. i just don't have the heart to do that . . . I've seen enough blood shed in my life to last me until I'm in the here after . . . so when I do catch something . . . I place them in the "witness relocation program". I take them to a nice nature place on private land about five miles away where I let them loose to live a nice life in an area where they won[t do damage to fields or buildings . . I hope.

It may take you some time to get that pesky possum but if it has come for the cat food before, it will do it again and I'd stick with that for bait. The nice thing about a live trap is that if you do get the cat in it or a rabbit, etc. - you can just let them go. For coons, I've also used melon rinds but I've had to tie them in as well. A human handling the trap doesn't seem to make any difference to coons, woodchucks, possums, etc. because they are so used to human odor around buildings, etc. that they haunt that they are used to it. But boy, can all of those critters make a big mess with a lot of damage if allowed to take up residence in an outbuild or barn. I've seen field stone walls on old barns dismantled by woodchucks . . . and I'm talking some pretty big field stones. I don't know how they manage it but they sure do.

Glad to adopted the cat and gave it a good home. We have some dropped off every so often like that . . a shame as we can't keep the but we do try and find good homes for them. Good luck!

[richhodg66]

I've given some thought to what I'll do when I catch him. Strangely, the wife said I should just shoot it, but it seems the older I get, the less inclined I am to kill anything without a real good reason (eating something is a good reason). I kind of have a hard time shooting something for doing what comes natural to it, I may just throw the trap in the truck and drive it out further and release it unless I do decide to try eating a possum again.

I've grown fond of that cat real fast, our other ones are exclusively indoors, so it's nice to have a guy who follows around while I'm doing stuff outside and in the barn, almost like a dog. Something scratched him up a little a week or so back, drew a little blood on his noce and both ears, might have been this possum. He's had his shots, but I want to take care of this before something worse may happen.

[country gent]

Dont know why but Dad has good result with coons possums and woodchuck baiting the traps with peanut butter. Ive also heard marshmellows work well

[wills]

Consider taking the cat food in the house at night. The possum may loose interest without the bait.

[rockrat]

I wired one end of my Havahart trap shut and put wire mesh on the sides, to the midway point. Critters can't reach in to grab the food, they have to go in the one open end. I try and keep the sides kind of blocked so the critter has to go in the open end and can't reach in and accidentally trip the trap

[Blackwater]

Just do like a buddy does. He lives in a locale where the possums habitually take up under one of his outside buildings, and eat the food they leave out for their cats. He just waits 'till he hears the metal pan rattling around (possums are noisy eaters), and walks out, cracks the door, and dispatches them with his .22 pistol. The last one he shot, he got on the wing as it jumped off the porch. Good, challenging way to get rid of them, and very sporting if you let them take that leap off the porch. FWIW?

[762 shooter]

Lock the trap open and feed them for a few days with food on the trigger. Set the trap after 3 days and you will catch whatever has been coming to the buffet. Works every time.

762

[GabbyM]

I really enjoy setting the trap in back of truck. Then go for a drive to a persons home that I don't like much. Like ones that stiffed me on bills for service. They can always use more opossums in there gardens.

As wills wrote. You need to take the food in at night. Otherwise something will always be coming in on it. Your cat may end up getting killed over it.

[Down South]

I made myself a rule a number of years back. I don't kill anything that I don't plan to eat unless it has become a problem. The last two possums that I caught in my live trap, I let go. Just haul em down to a nice wooded area away from civilization and let em go their merry way.

[phonejack]

I live in the 'burbs. Coons I trap get taken to the country. They are docile. Possums on the other hand will bloody themselves up (stink too) trying to get out. Those I baptize in a barrel for about 20 min. Then dispose

[Half Dog]

Turtle man pops into my head.

[lightman]

My wife feeds the birds, so pretty often I'll have a pesky coon or possum show up. I've found cheap sardines work well. The cats or coons that I catch go nuts until they are exhausted. The possum just eats his fill and goes to sleep. I usually relocate these guys.

[Wolfer]

This summer something kept getting the eggs in the barn. My chickens are free range as I don't have a coop and they tend to hide eggs.
Any way I started setting a homemade box trap. Caught 9 coons and 9 possums. My daughter is a real softy so she will relocate them for me.
Mostly I bait with dog food. Marshmallows are great as is a slice of bread with jelly on it. I used strawberry and grape.

My store bought trap was the kind that has to close all the way in order to latch. If a critters tail is in the door when it shuts they can just back out and push the door open.

[Plate plinker]

Do your neighbors a favor and off the varmints.

[Alstep]

WARNING! A few years ago a neighbor caught a coon in a trap. Went to pick it up the trap and stuck his fingers through the mesh and got bitten. The coon got away on him, and as a precaution, he had to get rabies shots. Be careful!

[CLAYPOOL]

SKUNKS AND POSSIE'S are bad disease carriers. Don't handle them. Use caution. We've trapped 75 skunks since 07. Shoot all in trap. Dump out at sewage lagoon. Use shovel to insert into center of lagoon. Snapping turtles will dispose of them. No stink because of bacteria in lagoon. Gone in 3 days or so. No health issues for neighbors. Be safe , Possies are a tremendous disease's packer.

[country gent]

If you check game laws in most areas relocating wild animals is not legal for a private citezan to do. When relocating an animal you may be releasing a sick animal into a new area spreading the disease much fasster than naturally occurs. We trapped and released chipmunks for awhile taking them to a park 4-5 miles away we would release them and I think they beat us back home. Releasing wild animals sounds good and keeps alot of activists at bay, but could do more harm than good. Always remeber the 3 Ss shoot shovel shut up