Hi. First my post.

I decided to start trapping this year for the first time ever. I've been a deer hunter, fisher, camper my whole life. I took a class for it 15 years ago along with my hunting requirements, but only started studying trapping maybe 6 months ago when I realized how out of control our local populations have gotten. I am in Philadelphia now, so I am limited as to where I can trap with this 150Yard safety zone.

So years ago we had a rabies outbreak. What should I look for when handling these animals? We have Racoon, Opossum, Coyote, Skunks, and Fox at my best trapping ground just outside the city. I've read that if you see any signs of parasites to discard the pelt. I got a coon and opossum today. Both seemed normal while they were alive. Raccoon backed up and growled at me, no mouth foam or anything though. I want to get these populations down since no one else will do anything, even though I cannot even come close to making a large dent. I refuse to discard a good fur for no reason, even though I am learning as I go with the skinning and suck at it. How do I make sure the animal I am dealing with is safe, or do I just treat 100% of my catches like they do have rabies? Where do I draw the line on paranoia vs doing what I have to do? I know what rabies does to you and how easy they say it is to catch, so I dont want to be an idiot. I am wearing nitril gloves under mechanix gloves for processing, and it feels like it could be better.

Here are the traps I am running, all properly dyed and waxed with 18" 3/8 rebar to hold them. I have a Duke #2 4Coil, a Bridger T3 Dogproof Coon Trap, 2 MB-550 traps, a 1.75 Victor, 2 Duke #2 2 coil traps, a 1-3/4 Duke, and all of them are offset jaws. I am using premade bait. Some Massacre Mousemeat, Cat-Man-Do Bobcat Lure, and Widowmaker Paste Bait, not all of them at the same sets, but trying different things. I also use fox urine and sheep wool to help cover my scent and hold the lure after the rains pass. I've been doing little dirt hole sets since it wont stop raining. Ive been mainly doing the holes at the bases of trees with a log on each side to fence them into the trap. I got different traps to see first hand how they perform since i read about so many. I caught the Opossum today on one of my MB-550 traps and it broke its leg/foot. I had the Widowmaker and Cat-Man-Do there. The racoon went for the mousemeat and widowmaker paste bait. If I want to catch some of these coyote I was told that 550 is the trap to use.

pm

I usually wear 2 pr of the nitrile gloves.
You'd be wise to join your state trapping assn., Google it, and then contact some officers from their site and ask for a mentor in your area.
They can make sure you break no laws with regards to jaw spread, shock springs, chain lengths, etc.
ALSO, attend every trappers ed class and fur sale and meet and convention you possibly can.
This shows guys you are serious and could open MANY doors, it sure did for me!

Rabies is a virus not a parasite. Transmission is primarily by saliva directly contacting your blood or mucous membrane, there is a possibility of aerosol contamination by saliva or brain matter spattering into nose, eyes or mouth. You can easily search the 'net and learn enough to write a book on it, but for practical purposes; don't kiss bats or coons etc, don't get bit, keep all wounds tightly covered when handling animals, don't shoot suspected animals in the brain, wear gloves when skinning animals, wash any wounds thoroughly with soap and water, avoid cutting into the brain, spinal cord, and salivary glands as much as possible, and wash knives with soap and water immediately after skinning or severing the head.
Symptoms of rabies include animals found dead, weak, stumbling, convulsing, or showing unusual behavior, such as aggression or disorientation, hanging jaw or mouth "foaming'.

Parasites include lice, ticks, mange mites, a bunch of different intestinal worms- much the same things your next door neighbor or your dog may have and again the wearing of gloves and washing with soap go a long way in prevention. Ticks and lice can be whacked by putting the whole animal in a trash bag and filling the bag with insect spray. Worms are mostly a don't handle poop and then suck your thumb prevention, and don't drink water they poop in.
Worms won't hurt the fur value, chances are fleas, ticks and lice won't be bad enough to hurt the fur, although ticks can damage the leather and lice can be bad enough to cause down graded pelts- the condition should be obvious.
Mange is a no skin deal, but that is not because mange is a contagious disease as many believe; it's tiny skin eating animal, the mange mite will die within hours of the host dying, they are species specific and need the hosts body warmth to survive. Animals having mange mites are not worth the skinning and put up for fur, because the pelt will grade so low from loss of hair. They probably stink some too. But they really don't require cremation or radiation to prevent the spread of mange, and should you really want to mange can be cured with a cc of ivermectin.

I have never known a trapper to get rabies, I have heard of several that got tularemia. It can't hurt to wear protective gloves and clothing.

On the traps, they all will work, you may like some better than others, but 18"x 3/8" rebar is not enough anchor. If you use two and cross stake then they could work, but as single stake I would be afraid of loosing things.

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/6346968/Staking_methods

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/6309748/Coyote_best_way_to_stake_or_

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/6209705/%E2%80%A2%E2%80%A2%E2%80%A2BUTTERFLY_double_stake_SWIV

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2067606/HOW_TO_-_Make_Double_stake_end

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/6344227/Single_or_Double_Stake