Animal Trapping Techniques to Use in the Wild

Why Trap?

• Trapping is an effective means for removing animals. It can be done on land or water and, in some instances, trappers can release the animals they catch somewhere else. But many people trap animals so they can sell their fur to people who make items like fur coats and hats. The best trappers learn the habits of the animals they target, and set their traps to take advantage of those tendencies.
  
  

Traps

• There are a wide variety of traps available to trappers. There are live traps that can be used to trap animals and move them somewhere else, and conibear traps that kill the animals immediately. Other traps, known as leghold traps, can be used on land or in water. Animals caught on land in leghold traps can be released. Those caught on leghold traps in the water cannot be released because the animal drowns.
  
  

Raccoon Trapping

• Set a live trap in natural places that attract raccoons. The best spots have timber and water, though they also can be set around trash bins or other places where raccoons are causing trouble. Once you decide where to set the trap, open the door and attach it to the top of the trap via the metal piece that holds the door to the top. When a raccoon walks into the trap and presses down on the trap pan, the door will close, trapping the animal inside. Lure raccoons into the trap with sweet foods like marshmallows. Sardines and wet cat food also attract raccoons. The bait should be set just behind the trap pan.
  
  

Beaver Trapping

• Find a spot with beaver dams and acquire the requisite traps--No. 330 conibear. In addition to the trap itself, you need two sticks to drive into the ground and hold it in place. Find trails that beavers use to cross their dams. These should be readily visible. The trap should be half in the water, half out of the water. Insert the sticks into the circles on the sides of the trap, and hammer them into the ground so the sticks are at 45-degree angles. Attach one end of a 6-foot or longer wire to the trap, and affix the other end of the wire to something solid. That way, if the trap fails to kill the beaver instantly, the animal will not be able to move far.
  
  

Rodent Trapping

• Select leghold traps ranging in size from No. 1 to No. 2. Set the traps in areas that rodents frequent. Locate such areas by finding footprints or scat. Use a shovel to dig a hole that is deep and wide enough so the trap pan is level with the ground when you place it in the hole. Place a light covering or brush, dirt or grass on top of the trap. You want it to blend in with the area. Dig a smaller hole several inches behind the main hole. This is the bait hole. There are a variety of commercially available baits that will attract rodents. Your goal is to have a rodent step on the trap pan as it smells or licks the bait.