(Continued from Part 2.)
Tools and Tricks of Trapping
First, I will discuss the small arsenal of tools I always take with me on a trap line. As with any hobby, marketing campaigns from supply companies can drive the unnecessary feeling to buy things you do not really need. Remember, marketing is a corporate tactic explored through scientific research and perfected to get you to feel the need to have the newest and greatest piece of equipment that is guaranteed to help you be more successful. I have tried a lot of these newer and better tools, and I still go back to my tried-and-true tools which are listed below. I do not claim this is the one-all-and-be-all set of tools. Use what works for you. As the old saying goes, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”
Requisite Tools
The tools you will never find me without on a trapline are as follows:
- An axe. It can be a hatchet, a tomahawk or a full-size splitting axe. Whatever fits your body frame and the environment you are trapping. I prefer a small boy’s axe/scout axe with a shortened handle. The overall length of my axe is 19.5 inches. This axe is used to cut branches, clear an area for a trap to go and to hammer in rebar stakes or earth anchors. The axe head is likely to get abused, so it is best practice to not take your nicest, most prized one out.
- Channel-lock pliers. This is my favorite hand tool of all time. I have used it to fix traps, reconnect trap chains to swivels, etc. Its uses are limited only by your imagination.
- Masonry trowel. I use this as a type of small shovel. In the places I trap and have trapped, I have never needed a shovel for setting traps. I prefer the masonry trowel because it will not remove more dirt than needed. The cuts into the dirt are more precise, as well.
- Hand sledgehammer. If I am resetting traps in an area, and I know I will not need my axe, I will take a small sledgehammer. The preferred weight is up to you. I like a three-pound hammer. I do not like trapline sledgehammers with the angled metal on one side, typically used for digging/carving out dirt. After using a trapline sledgehammer for a while, the hammer gets a little cumbersome and the digging edge tends to catch and tangle easily.
- Sifter. A sifter is primarily used for foothold traps. I have used dirt sifters around humane cage traps if I have a trap-savvy critter that I am trying to identify. I will use the masonry trowel to dig some dirt and sift it wherever I want. The deeper the fine dirt is, the easier it is to work with, and the easier it is for critters to leave their prints.
A few other items I sometimes carry with me, but that are not necessary in most circumstances are: bailing wire, a backpack or 5-gallon bucket and flagging tape. Bailing wire has unlimited uses and can be found at any decent yard sale or hardware store. A backpack or 5-gallon bucket is to more easily carry supplies on a trap line. I typically drive my traplines, so neither of these are necessary. If I am running a long trap line, or I am trapping in heavy brush or a densely forested area, I will without a doubt use flagging tape to help me locate my traps. The worst thing a trapper, or any sportsman, can do, is to be unethical. Without fail, I check my traps daily, sometimes twice a day, to ensure an animal isn’t suffering or injured. I have known many trappers who would check their lines every couple of days. Not only is that practice inhumane, but it also gives ethical, honest trappers a bad name. Plus, if you’re trapping for furs or profit, the furs may very well be destroyed or eaten upon, by other critters.
Trapping already has a lot of misconceptions associated with it. The practice does not need any other reasons for people to look down on those who partake in it. One day during a goose hunt, I was irritated there weren’t more geese flying. My hunting companion, a former Boy Scout mentor of mine, a biologist by education and career, told me, “You want more birds to shoot at, sure. Remember, they’re animals, not targets.” His lesson has stuck with me. From the moment he said that to me, I have looked at the pursuit of animals differently.
Varieties of Traps
Next, I am going to discuss the different types of traps that I use. Again, there are many varieties, makes, manufacturers, etc. Use what works for you and what is legal in your area.
Cage traps. This is the trap I have used, and still use the most. It is extremely versatile. I have caught hundreds of animals in cage traps. I have trapped raccoons, foxes, skunks, small dogs, squirrels, birds and even rats in cage traps. There are several different styles of cage traps, but they all have the same basic construction. If I get a new, never-used trap, I like it to get weathered by the elements before I deploy it in the field. I like it to look rusty. As cage traps age and get used, occasionally, they trigger needs to be adjusted. Again, each manufacturer of cage traps are a little different, so learn how to adjust yours.
As I became more familiar with different animal habits, I learned efficient and effective ways to camouflage the traps with natural materials from the environment I was in. For example, swamp skunks are genetically no different than city skunks. The only difference is where they call home and what food options they have. A cage trap I set for a swamp skunk will be covered, and I mean covered, with swamp mud, grass and other local, natural debris so the trap entrance appears to be a hole/den the skunk will feel more comfortable in. I may even hang up something shiny at the back of the cage, above the pan, to entice a traveling skunk to come in. Never underestimate the power of hanging shiny objects to attract most critters. I will discuss this further when I cover attractants and lures.
Cage traps set for urban critters get very little, if any, special treatment. The cage trap gets set, baited and left. Urban animals are so used to people, traffic, different odors and different unnatural obstacles in their path, there is very little need to camouflage the trap in any way.
I rarely ever use the small cage traps that are advertised for squirrels. I have a couple of them, but I find they are more of a hindrance than anything. If you are ONLY targeting squirrels, specifically ground squirrels, I recommend using the square or rectangular squirrel traps that can capture and contain multiple squirrels at one time.
Foothold traps. There are several different styles and designs of footholds. Foothold traps take more practice and patience to set. I have mostly used the Oneida/Victor and Duke brands. Foothold traps are designated in size by the type of animal they can/should be used for. Each foothold trap has a range of targeted animals it should be used for. A trap meant for coyotes can catch a raccoon, it is simply overkill and will likely severely injure or cripple the animal. On the flipside, I have caught larger critters in traps that were designed for smaller animals. I have caught many animals in foothold traps, though, I prefer cage traps because if I catch a non-target animal, I can release it more easily. Releasing an animal from a foothold is doable, it’s just a little more technical.
Foothold traps are really the only live traps that need to be set in a specific way. If you talk to five different trappers, you will probably get twenty different answers on ways to do things. The one thing most trappers will probably agree on, is ensuring that the dog on a foothold set is facing away from the “entrance” of your set. The dog is the little lever that holds one of the jaws of the trap down while “locking” the pan. The pan is what you are trying to get an animal to step on. If you want an animal to enter your set from the South, the dog of your trap should be facing the North.
Animals are curious by nature. Foxes and coyotes are extremely curious. On more than one occasion, I have made a very nice-looking foothold set only to come back the next day and see the trap exposed. Each time, it looks as though the animal brushed the dirt aside to see what they had stepped on. When an animal does this, they typically step on the jaw instead of the pan (this is why you want the dog facing away from the direction the animal is approaching from.) A way to correct this, is to move your “step over” item. A step over on a foothold set is typically a rock or something stationary that will not move easily. Typically 8-10 inches is sufficient. I make the “hang loose” sign with my hand, touch the tip of my pinky to the jaw (opposite the dog) and put the step over at the tip of my thumb.
As you set your foothold, ensure you are packing sifted dirt around the outside perimeter of your trap jaws. Packing the sifted dirt not only secures the trap from moving, but it also helps level your trap. Your trap should not rock or move. I use my fingers and hands to pack and level. DON’T PUT YOUR HANDS NEAR THE PAN.
Remember, use a pan cover when using sifted dirt.
I forgot to use a pan cover once. When I checked the trap the next day, it was obvious a fox had stepped perfectly on the pan but was not caught. Upon further inspection, enough powdery dirt had made its way under the pan and prevented it from being pressed down. I never made that mistake again. There are reusable commercial pan covers, but I always use dollar store sandwich bags or parchment paper. I prefer the sandwich bag. Take a bag, tear it in half and use one half on the pan. I have used sandwich bags on foothold sets in all kinds of terrain.
One time, I set a trap on a crushed granite levy. Covering the trap took a little work, but the sandwich bag did wonders. The next day I had a red fox in that trap. Before winter comes, I will sift a couple 5-gallon buckets worth of dirt. I store the buckets of sifted dirt in my garage “for a rainy day.” Dry dirt is hard to come by in the wet season and mud is plain miserable to work with. It is nearly impossible to make a functioning foothold set with mud, if targeting land mammals. If you are trapping in wet weather, then make the sifted dirt a little thicker on your foothold because it will pack down with the rain.
(To be concluded tomorrow, in Part 4.)