I have a groundhog job at the moment. They have burrowed under an old chicken coop next to a large woodpile. I have all visible entrances and runways sealed or covered with Comstock traps. Will they learn to avoid the trap if they see one of their compadres stuck inside for a few hours? I like returning the "seasoned" trap to the same location.

Thanks in advance.

They don’t seem to. If they do, their hunger gets the best of them and they are soon found in the trap.

If you catch one don't clean the trap , the smell is a great lure.

Thats exactly what I do. I'll transfer the animal to a cage and reset the trap.

thanks

Use their scat for lure and put some in another cage. Best attraction attraction there is for them.

Same for armadillos

Feces and some gland lure alone will catch many Ghogs even without visual bait / or lure at times. Use all 3 and it is a guarantee if setup in their foraging area.

I assume you’re talking about groundhog gland lure? I have not heard of this, do you harvest it yourself after a catch or is there somewhere you can purchase it?

ground up ground hog makes great bait for coyotes i would image their feces would work geat for them too

Fortunately chucks aren't the sharpest tacks in the drawer. Don't end up with smart ones very often. Set 10 traps a couple of weeks ago on one site at 2 p.m. Came back at 6. Had 7 in positive sets. Had 7 more the next afternoon and caught number 8 while we were there. Ended up with 28 before the week was out. Pretty quiet now. Good idea not to clean traps. Just have a transfer cage or two and put the traps back or move them to a new spot. Amazing that a dirty cage set out in the lawn will make a catch. Haven't used bait or lure outside of scat for 16 years. One year produced 142. Always use double door traps, 18, 24, 30 long interchangeably. Any of them work.

Been using Ghog feces, urine and making gland lure long before it was common public knowledge. Great on Ghogs and all predators.

Apparently they are capable of "learning' something. I had a small one this week under a porch. I ran out of double door traps, but found an old Havaheart double door on the bottom of a stack of single doors. I set it and got the groundhog. The door lock lever did not go down far enough and he got out. I replaced the trap and have several photos of him looking at the new trap but will not go in.

I think he has just enough room to slide under the stairs of the porch so he is avoiding traps. Tomorrow I will block the steps to see if he really is squeezing through that tight spot.

That is why it pays to buy good equipment. An old junk trap cost me 2 more trips to this property.