Does anyone use a cage trap as a selective harvest tool? As turning loose a small cat, female cat, etc. to let them reproduce or grow up? I've killed some cats that I sure would have liked to see live.

I also agree with the trap freezing to the ground comment. Frozen is as good as welded in my opinion.

I turned somwhere around a dozen out this year.
A few kittens and the rest females.
Pull them out and check the bellie and sex.

I also avoid most domestic dogs by using narrow cages.

A frame less cage froze down can be severly damaged when pulled up.
Avoid letting them get frozen down in the first place with just a few adjustments/minutes at the set location.

ML

Make them rectangler... Me bad. Back to the shop....

Yep, that's a good size for raccoon. 30"-32" lengths work well too.

Ok thanks.

Vinke, that top picture is a new take on the bird trap for me. Last summer I did an European Starling job where I built one using the sorta M-shaped top with the opening slit. It worked pretty good. Pain in the butt to put together and take down, though. Thinking of buying one of the commercially manufactured ones this spring.

the one in the second picture will out trap anything for starlings......... downfall is it is remote operated and need to be manually fired.....

The modified M trap can be constructed for easy set up and removal......But....I am not a nuclear engineer.....lol ...

Does someone uses a trap as in the video below?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYNMAi508...PL&index=10

I'm curious how hard that would be to make yourself.

Lummburger, not sure I'd want to use a trap like that. With multiple catches, there's no telling what 2 critters you are going to get in there together. Set that up at a customer's house, catch a coon, and then the neighbor's cat comes over, you might have some problems.

What about for rats, mice, or squirrels?

Might work well in an attic or basement. I'm kinda curious how it works.

i don't know how you guys pay for all those cages

There's a lot of guys trapping coyotes with $20 tricked out foothold traps, and a coyote is worth a lot less than coons in today's market, and you don't get near the catch ratio. A cage trap for coons pays for itself a lot faster than a $20 foothold for coyotes, but guys are still buying $20 coyote traps.

Never thought on possible multiple catches, but you must admit it is unique.

Speaking of multiple catches in the same trap, what is the most animals you've caught in a single cage trap?

For me it would have to be 4 jevenile skunks at once. Before that it was 2 coons in the same trap.

t