...is of value in many ways. Including traps. Sometimes it is deliberate, other times, an incidental success.

The past several days, some varmint was crawling up my outdoor table , to my flower pots and clipping off sections. The second night, more flowers.

I wasn't happy.

I enjoy my flowers every day . I shield them from deer and elk at night. This , howevah, was now a habit.

I first thought of a pack rat. I have played games with one years ago here. They do travel through at times, but I've never had flowers snipped by them. There are voles here, but I've never caught one or seen one active in my plants, either. My resident flyers have been here for years, but never bothered my plants . Mice behavior wasn't probable . They are easy to catch.

I had two old rusted tray Victor mice traps, one with a yarn tether , the other a wire teather. I used those in my truck engine , set almost all the time, to get any mice in the area. Works well and the teathers make it easy to pull the traps up when they fall down into the engine.

Tied now to my garden table, loaded with PB, the third night was a scramble. Next morning, one trap was gone, the cloth teather chewed apart. The other trap was still set. No flowers cut . I found the trap off the porch , empty and drug several feet .

I left the other still loaded trap for the fourth night. Nothing came in. Wondering how long it would take for a return visit, I let it go for a fifth night.

This morning, success. A more perfect snap placement , I couldn't have asked for. I was surprised such a small trap caught the rat and held it so well. Only because of the impact placement. Otherwise, it would have been as the first trap episode.

I usually get pack rats with rat traps. I had those too, but the old Victors were easier and right there, so I used them. My instincts told me they wouldn't be enough, but I ran the experiment regardless.

My other trap, not loaded or set , was carted off and I can't find it , so far. The rat made sure to dispose of it first thing last night, before it became cheeky enough to tackle the second one. Teaching me a lesson....

This one is well furred, heavy, healthy looking, with white feet . The whisker length on these are about as long and in abundance , as I've ever noticed on any animal. If they were not such trouble, I have liked playing hide and seek with them over stolen garden utensils.

I have read amazing true stories of big dangerous game being taken down by a ridiculously small caliber firearm, but of course, every story was of rare close distance and perfect shot placement. Something not to be recommended.

A small experiment with surprising accidental success , for me. Next time, it's the rat trap. Now, back to my pheasant art, I've been getting close to finishing.

How many truly amazing stories must be out there, of trappers surprised as heck to find a large animal in a small trap that technically should have never been able to hold them ?

Nice catch ! Good job.

Trapping in micro environments is fun.

Karamojo Joe Bell would have been impressed!

With that kind of luck i think I would go after skunks this fall. I usually have the opposite happen, like a muskrat in a otter or beaver trap. I have even caught a couple star nosed moles in 110 Bg set underwater for mink.

Looks like a bushy tailed wood rat. Cute little guys! As to your question: otter in #1 long spring, cougar in #3 soft catch, and one other one I won’t get into here!

Is that a Pica?

Somehow I caught a townsend’s mole in a #330 one time. Still scratching my head on that one.

I'm sure you've heard the sayings....

" you need a bigger boat"
" you need a bigger gun"

Well, I'm guessing a bigger trap may be in your future, lol.

Yes sir, Racer Man, my instincts told me the same ! And I do have two rat traps. I just wanted to see what my mouse traps would do. Part of me didn't want to snap a skunk ...and get it upset .

Newhouse 114, what a surprise that mole in a 330 must have been !

White Cliffs, he just might have at that !

Interesting catches too, Muskrat .

BigBob, lol I don't consider Pikas, because they are further up the slopes here in the high country. They are all over there. I love sitting at treeline and listening to them, seeing their haystacks on the boulders.

Cragar, those micro environments are fun for me. I have learned, working for editors who are fine trappers , illustrating articles by trappers , from all over the world, and learning so much here, that very large furbearers , to the smallest, have interesting habits in common that can be learned from. For example, cats, rodents, and others like to squeeze against walls , rocks, and use other structures as concealment when traveling. So I placed the traps in between the flower trays, leaving hardly any turn around room , but just enough for the trap to be approached from either front or back, but not from the side.

Trying to figure which way it would approach the traps, I guessed that they all like to access things from the farthest side away from a house . So I positioned the traps to face out from the cabin . If I was right, it would climb up facing the cabin instead of away from it. Once there, the narrow isle of the trays made for perfect travel concealment to the trap. I guessed correctly, evidently.

I like being the head tiger on the estate as far as ADC work is concerned

I wish I could have heard that snap , Hoss . I’ve set my trap again , just to see if there are any friends about from the first one . Still haven’t found my second trap that was dragged off last night .

It can kind of be like when you are cat fishing. The 40 pounder will invariably pick up the bait on your smallest rod and reel in the heaviest current. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you don't.
I once caught a black bear in a 1 1/2 coil spring on a log crossing set for raccoon.

Well, he was caught for a few seconds anyway.