Re: Sometimes Patience with Chucks Pays Off
[Re: Jim Comstock]
#5929238
06/16/17 06:41 AM
06/16/17 06:41 AM
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,447 Monroeville NJ
Jonesie
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,447
Monroeville NJ
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With skunks and ground hogs in my area, and every area is different, We can not make it bulletproof. Skunks and ground hogs like edges. Every yard is lot 1/4 acre to 3 acres that is fenced in with landscaping along those fences. big trees that have the hollow hole at the bottom. raised flower beds and the list goes on. The skunks love this habitat and the hog well he will just dig a den in the middle of the yard just like in a hay field. So I am blessed I guess, with this problem LOL Every day we get hog calls, not every one is sold but we get a lot of calls. Where once I was the squirrel man, now the ground hogs have taken over or at least running neck and neck with them, and it is because of the yard habitats, Landscape is habitat, and the yard is a better habitat with less natural mortality. here is a pic of a middle of the yard den as well as under the shed so all the proofing does not matter here LOL
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Re: Sometimes Patience with Chucks Pays Off
[Re: Jim Comstock]
#5929312
06/16/17 08:48 AM
06/16/17 08:48 AM
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 377 New York
Jim Comstock
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 377
New York
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As a kid I hunted chucks in farmers fields, not in town of course, but now they are not only in suburbia, but downtown and in heavily wooded areas with only small lawns where I never knew chucks to be. I often wonder if the well meaning have released them in woodlots near homes because the chuck issue seems to be almost epidemic, something for which I certainly have no complaints. I couldn't finish the last sentence before the phone rang, woodchuck. I should ask the state what their records indicate for number of chucks taken annually, increasing?
If a client has an open "clean" level yard with only one shed that can be excluded, they might be a good candidate for making the yard inhospitable. However, if there are chucks in all of the surrounding neighborhoods and their yard has a flower or vegetable gardens I think it's sometimes best to leave everything as is so that the same holes can easily be located and reset year after year when chucks do return. Like beaver, chucks seem to gravitate to the same spots when they do return. And though beaver and chucks will come back to the same exact spots time after time, it might not be every year or even every other year. Just have to deal with them as they show up.
I'm always amazed that chucks will dig out an old hole, easily finding a hole that was "totally filled in and leveled."
Back to patience. I had trapped a location for several weeks this year, perhaps a month, catching 3. I was hoping to be done, just wanted to be done there actually, after catching the last in a foothold. Just got the call that another has showed up so I have to go back, something that doesn't usually happen because I don't usually leave. I guess that's why sometimes it's best to leave sets for many weeks as chucks just keep coming. Just saves resetting. With these long term setting locations, if cage trapping, double door cage traps are a must. When a chuck suddenly appears in a trap after two weeks I'm going to guess he didn't just pop up out of the hole.
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Re: Sometimes Patience with Chucks Pays Off
[Re: Jim Comstock]
#5932961
06/21/17 07:27 PM
06/21/17 07:27 PM
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 377 New York
Jim Comstock
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 377
New York
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Not sure of the world record for leaving a chuck set in place, but we just hit day 64. With that said, most would think, why?????? I sort of wanted to pick the trap up at day 51 with chuck number 5, but the nice lady was worried as she had just planted the garden. Not wanting to be responsible for the possible loss of the garden, especially after all of my effort and her expense, we left it. Just got the call, chuck number 6. Hard to beat, a bait free, maintenance free set that just catches. Only have made trips to remove critters. Don't know how long this will persist, but probably won't leave it over the winter.
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Re: Sometimes Patience with Chucks Pays Off
[Re: Jim Comstock]
#5933376
06/22/17 08:37 AM
06/22/17 08:37 AM
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Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 250 Arkansas
Jason Turner
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 250
Arkansas
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Jim, was the baitless trap that caught a positive set at a den hole?
Wildlife Removal, Etc.
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Re: Sometimes Patience with Chucks Pays Off
[Re: MChewk]
#5955527
07/20/17 07:26 PM
07/20/17 07:26 PM
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 30 St. Louis area
Dave Schmidt
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 30
St. Louis area
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Electronic trap monitors are great for customers who can't/won't do required trap checks. I recommend TrapSmart - great guys.
ALL OUT Wildlife Control
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Re: Sometimes Patience with Chucks Pays Off
[Re: Jim Comstock]
#5956313
07/21/17 06:02 PM
07/21/17 06:02 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,099 Adirondacks, N.Y.
trapdye
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,099
Adirondacks, N.Y.
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Patience pays, 17 days & their he was. Still waiting on his buddy.
John's Nuisance Wildlife Control If you like what you do for a living, It's better than a vacation. Most days.
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