The No. 2 square jaw Victor coils were made by Animal Trap Co.from the 1930s onward and were promoted as a fox trap for years. Many were sold and used for fox although the thin high jaws often reached too high on the leg which resulted in damage problems. As coyotes spread into the eastern US and folks who used the light weight traps began catching coyotes with them they found that the larger, heavier coyotes often popped the jaws from the frames. In the 1970s, Animal Trap Co, reversed the bends of the jaw tips to reduce those problem. Because ATC used the same length stock for the new style jaws, the reversed jaw tips resulted in a slightly lower profile jaw which may have resulted in reduced damage as well as less jaw loss. Traps made early in this process, 1930s perhaps into the 1940s, are marked FOX TRAP on the pan and have collector value as do an early double jaw version marked NO. 22. Both of these early versions have the jaw tips that pass from the inside of the frame outward. Traps made later with reversed jaw tips were not made for long and are much less common than the original version. For those interested in collecting, traps with jaws pointed outward and inward are both available in tight and offset versions.
Last edited by cohunt; 10/08/18 09:42 AM.