New question. Remember I am brand new. Outside of one female bobcat, everything I have caught has been males. Granted 90% of what I’m catching is coons (12) but I have caught two coyote and two bobcat over the last few weeks. Why are they nearly all male?

Most likely coincidence.

For coon, the males are in breeding mode right now and cover a lot of territory. Female coon and bobcat don't move nearly as much.

All of mine have been males too. Which is pretty normal for this time of the year. Did catch 2 female bobkitty’s though. Been getting some HUGE possums.

For coon, the males are in breeding mode right now and cover a lot of territory. Female coon and bobcat don't move nearly as much.

Several things to consider:
1) Depends on what kind of attractor you're using. In winter, boar coons are a sucker for coyote gland lure.
2) Male coyotes are also as territories and pecking order is established and breeding season approaches.
3) There are still unattached males roaming thru the country as fall dispersal winds down.
4) It's not unusual to have a run of mostly one sex for a period of time, sometimes triggered by the mating cycle. There's a lot of things going on in a coyote's world throughout the year that we never will understand.
5) A lot of it is what Corky said, just the luck of the draw. If you're catching coyotes, don't worry about it. It will all even out in the end.

Whatever your doin...keep doin it!

Some good facts! Thanks for posting.

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We always catch a high number of males In every specie we catch.

We believe it has to so with the fact that the males of most species have a larger home range than the females of any given specie.

Don't know but just our guess

Cathryn,
As one who's done coyote research, I can speak to the fact that during typical fur season months, males roam far larger areas that females as they make their travels and fend against invaders. During denning months, travels are specific to the rearing of pups, but during fur months is about fighting and breeding.

Most all species has females with a theme of finding denning sites and areas, and the males go about about their Friday night Prom dates and brawling. So males of all species get into more trouble as a result. They stick their neck, paw, nose, etc. in a lot more spots and as a result they get skinned more often.

If you continue to trap an area and take out males, you will eventually get to the females also, or if you are on top of active areas that females are traveling there's a good chance you'll catch them too. In my years of research while observing coyote, in a group setting (mom, dad and juveniles).... dad typically steps in to investigate and check out new smells. BANG, you got him!

The Alpha gets in trouble a lot. We call it good trouble on our end. He calls it bad.

Good stuff Mark

In addition to the greater range and movements that Mark and others have mentioned, males of all species have much higher levels of testosterone which will result on average in higher aggression. On average the females will be more tentative and cautious in their approach to unknown or frightening situations which, coupled with lesser opportunity due to lesser range, will often result in reduced capture rates. Of the species I have personally made substantial catches of, beaver and mink stand out in this regard but canines usually also show skew in sex ratios captured.

I would largely echo what cathryn, Mark, and cohunt have already pointed out. In large collections of most furbearers, there is a preponderance of males. Of course, reasons behind this are varied depending on species. In general, I would think the following...

1) Males with larger home ranges, thus greater chance of encountering traps.
2) Males with higher levels of testosterone, thus more aggressive, less cautious.
3) Males generally bigger, thus need for greater caloric intake.
4) Males generally disperse farther from natal range, thus greater chance of encountering traps in areas they are unfamiliar with.
5) Males in territorial species more prone to "mark" or "advertise".
6) Males with generally higher extra-territorial exploration.


Hope this helps...

Jack

It don't matter the species, the young males always seem to find trouble

I've of the firm opinion that across the board the females of any given species are the "smarter" or more cautious of the two based on pure biology. They have rearing of offspring and survival of the next generation as their prime drive. The males, "hold my beer".

That said though, by choosing methods I can skew things in my favor. For instance with squirrels I catch 90% adult females and young as my main set is 110 over the entry hole of the nest site. Invariably any adult males caught are caught after the female and young are gone and time to close the job.

The males don't just lay around the house whining about how "someone" doesn't vacuum enough, and when he does, he does it wrong, therefor the male spends as little time at the house and steps into traps to receive the "sweet release" from it all.

Year after year after year my male to female catch rate for otters is 80-85% male. I believe it is because I mainly trap toilets during the breeding season and the males are "cruising the gut" looking' for some action.

My latest catch:

1 mature male coyote
1 mature male bobcat
1 mature male raccoon
1 juvenile male raccoon

2 female opossums.

Here's our irrefutable conclusion: We should all be trying to catch more 'possums to even out our male to female catch numbers. Let's get to it!