Hello. I've been reading the forum off and on for a while but just signed up yesterday. I have a couple questions I'm hoping to get help on. I live in a neighborhood with close housing and coons/skunks are tearing up my yard. I've seen them on my trail cam. So I made a box set with a Duke 155 in it (biggest above ground allowed in Ohio).

To date I've caught 4 coons and 2 possums (who weren't the culprits). I made it the way you see to get skunks up inside and keep them from raising their tail to spray when caught and stinking up the neighborhood. Came up with this design after reading about the Skunker style traps online. Those are live catch, mine intentionally isn't.

1) From trail camera images, I now know body grip traps aren't instant death. Takes about 4 or 5 minutes which bothers me a lot. I'm thinking about welding an 1/8" x 1/4" deep bar across the 2 jaws so when the trap closes, the 1/8" edges clamp down on the animal instead of the 3/16" round bar hopefully killing it quickly. The trap always closes just behind the skull but it still takes too long. Would my idea work and be a quicker kill?

2) Several times (when my trail cam wasn't set) I've had some creature go into the trap at night and eat the marshmallows and sardines without setting off the trap. What animal might that be? It's at night and they evidently slip through the open spaces without bumping the trigger. A weasel maybe?

The distance from the trigger to the bait is about 7" and the box is tight for a coon or skunk so I doubt they could go up to the trigger then reach through and grab the bait. But IDK, maybe I'll get a trail cam image some time.

Here are 2 pics of the set, outside and inside.

Kill bars came on Bulldog 220's when they were made, and some folks add them.

You could have better results if you turn the trap upside down, bend triggers and add a pan, for them to step on, to trip it.

Mice or rats could be stealing your bait.

Also, you'll get better results with slots barely larger than the spring wires, most folks make slots about 3/8"-1/2" max. It keeps the trap coming straight out without flying around.

Why do you have the trap so far into the box? I don't think a pan will help you out when trapping coon. It's feet will never get to the pan since a coon Is to big of an animal.
It's not the traps fault you are just using to small of a trap for the job. And adding kill bars Isn't going to help. Hate to tell you this but a skunk doesn't have to raise Its tail to deliver It's essence.

The other thing you should look into is how much trigger movement Is there before the trap fires.

I know you can only use that sized trap but the bottom line Is this, your using the wrong sized trap for the job.
My suggestion would be go to using live traps.

How old are the traps? I've used 155s for years and they never move except the odd possum or suitcased kit coon.

Do need to move your trap up in the box. Also realize that some raccoons just won't go in the box. Which is fine for fur work but nuisance work, I'm going cages nearly every time.

The coons are always dead. Hit right behind the skull with everything just the way I've shown it. I just don't like how long it takes - 4 to 5 minutes.

I thought some skinny kill bars would be quicker than the round rods the trap is made out of. Trap is only a few months old.

I have no problem catching them, I got a huge one this morning. They apparently don't mind going in.

I have a cage trap and have used it. Works well. However if a skunk goes in there I don't want to deal with it. I've read on this forum and others about how to do it, I just am not interested. Living where I do eliminates firearm usage unfortunately. Otherwise a cage trap and shotgun would be the ticket for skunks or coons since I'm not harvesting fur.

Mice are most likely your bait stealers...i dont think a weasel would be interested in marshmallows.
It's a coin toss whether skunks will spray in bodygrips but they most definitely can in my experience, whether in a box or or not.
Cage is better option, use a blanket or large enough box to cover the caged skunk for relocation...and move the cage slowly when you do.
Caged skunks placed in deep enough water to cover cage is a decent and cheap no spray option if not relocating.

I welded a kill bar onto one of my Dukes and have had good results. I now use Belisles when I can as I like the design better. I would add a spacer to bring out the kill bar out farther to tighten the gap more.

buy a CTM 5X5 and you will be amazed in the difference. I found the same in using the Minnesota Brand 160 with the kill bar compared to other 160s. Those are my go-to skunk traps as it is lights out. Beslisle is not making a two spring 5x5 to my knowledge, only a 150. I would assume there 120's would do it.

CTM is Ohio made too! CTM 126

Using Skunk baits will reduce other catches if you desire. By now I would suggest grub based baits.

Rob Erickson, Bob Noonan, and one of the Kaatz Bros each have good books on the subject.

CTM o r the 5x7 WCS is selling are what I run in Ohio. Springs are much better as they are using 160 springs instead of 110 springs

I would suggest using a pan trigger trap set back about 7-8 inches from an anchored down bait. In this situation the coon will generally step on the pan while working the bait with it,s head and shoulders thru the jaws. When the trap is fired the result will a neck/thorax strike resulting in the quickest dispatch possible.

Here's what I found: https://www.minntrapprod.com/CTM-126-5-x-5-Jaw-Spread/productinfo/CTM126/
From the picture it looks fairly similar to my Duke. How would the CTM kill quicker?

I'm a little confused...do you have a photo or drawing of this spacer configuration?

This spooks me a little. I'd be afraid of catching it in it's face unless I'm not visualizing/understanding it correctly. Before I figured out how to properly put the trap in my box set, I caught a possum in it's face, not it's neck and it was awful. It suffered all night and was still alive in the morning.

I have no experience with the spraying thing, just relating what I've read numerous places on the internet about the tail raising. Unfortunately I don't have anything large enough to hold my big cage trap unless I go buy a horse watering trough. Not worth it for this one problem. Plus drowning doesn't appeal to me. I have no problem killing them, I just want it to be quick and humane. Here in Ohio it's illegal to relocate skunks, coons and a few other critters.

my spacers are pcs of same dia rod as the new jaw, maybe 1/4"-3/8" long, welded perpendicular on old jaw and then to new jaw., like a "standoff" when in machinery. forms a T, then when you weld other end of spacer, it is an I......capital i.
2 spacers about 3" apart on 220's

I have used this pan setup for many years on mink, marten and fisher with total success. Never a bad catch when set the appropriate distance for the target species. With a 4-5" set back from the bait always a neck/thorax strike on mink and marten and a neck catch on fisher. With the appropriate set back for any species, including fisher at greater distance than 4-5", I do no see any problem with not attaining a neck/thorax
strike. You just need to experiment a bit to find the correct set back distance for the species.

Now if the critters neck was only 1/2" thick that might help. I don't think that's going to help In killing coon.

bctomcat those pans are great for those smaller critters but that small of a opening is going to have that coons chin hitting that pan.

Need I suggest to you; use a larger trap for a larger species set back the appropriate distance so that its shoulders are within the trap jaws or nearly so when it fires the trap by stepping on the pan.