Conibear animal traps

[zxcvbob]

I need to reduce the squirrel population in my neighborhood because the predators are all run-off and the raptors are not doing their job.  I just heard about these traps and think I might try a few 110s.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/235042529988  I have a couple of small leg-hold traps but I don't use them because they are cruel and I've gotten soft    I have also used a Havahart live trap for rabbits and then drowned the rabbit when I caught it, but a kill trap looks a lot easier and perhaps less cruel.

Anybody used these before?  Do I need to worry about birds setting them off?  Wife won't like that at all (unless the dead birds are starlings, that would be okay)

[Kingcreek]

I’ve used the bigger ones same design for raccoons and groundhogs. If you file tune the trigger sear or they wear enough they can get real touchy. A bird could set them off. A mouse fart could set them off.
If you set them under a side open box or something it won’t deter a squirrel but a bird is not likely to see it or be tempted to try it. Baited with peanut butter and/or nuts it won’t appeal to most birds.
Happy trapping to you. I hate squirrels.
I’ve also had some success with the tilting pvc squirrel trap.
https://www.google.com/search?q=pvc+squirrel+trap&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#vhid=w2US-VIPYVrjyM&vssid=l

[zxcvbob]

I'm a little concerned the neighbors won't like the traps and will call the city on me.  (biggest squirrel problem and the easiest place to set them up is in the front yard)  I'm hoping they don't like squirrels either and just look the other way.

I really like this setup.  I might can figure out a place to set this up in the backyard...  https://youtu.be/yTVVS5Sk5Zk

[Tuco]

Google "bucket set".
Start desensitizating the squirrels with baited buckets and add the traps after a while.
Squirrels will succumb to a 110 (single spring) no need to go to a double spring (120).  And a 110 is easy to set.  You won't need the little spring-lock setting tool (unlike a 220 or 320 that can break your wrist).
The only downside of bodygrip traps is the certain death of non target animals.  The bucket set helps with that.
If you're worried about rats, get a trapping license and do it in season in accordance with game laws.  Make the responding officers work to find a voilation.

[zxcvbob]

There's a trap called the Squirrelinator that looks interesting, and they have them for $30 (usually closer to $60) at my local Tractor Supply, but all the glowing testimonials are for catching ground squirrels, and I'm having trouble with tree squirrels.  Maybe it works for them too, I dunno.

But I do still have the Havahart trap, I should set it up and start drowning them one at a time while I'm figuring out a higher-volume solution.  Also the box trap won't upset the wife or neighbors, they don't have to know about the drowning part.

[JTHunter]

Bob - if you have a pellet gun (rifle or pistol), you can pop them from the side or top through the mesh and then just bag them up and put them in the trash.

"BTDT"

[zxcvbob]

Bob - if you have a pellet gun (rifle or pistol), you can pop them from the side or top through the mesh and then just bag them up and put them in the trash.

"BTDT"

I was planning to put them in the compost pile, or bury them under my tomato plants    "Sometimes you eat the tomato, sometimes the tomato eats you"

I do have a couple of pellet guns (one is practically an antique; a Benjamin that I bought over 50 years ago)  I'll try drowning and shooting them and see which is easier.

[zxcvbob]

Just caught one.  I tried to drown it but my bucket isn't deep enough for the trap.  (I still think that's the best method if I build a trough the right size to submerge the whole trap horizontally)  So I shot him with the pellet gun.  It's pretty high powered for a .177 but it's still just .177 and I was not using fancy hunting pellets so it didn't kill instantly.  So I shook the trap and let him fall into the water.  I'll go empty the trap in a few minutes and set it up again -- on the back railing of the deck, baited with sunflower seeds. 

Dog is really interested in it    She likes to chase squirrels but never catches them.  She did destroy a rabbit nest a few weeks ago (good dog)  I hate squirrels and rabbits.  They look cute but are so damn destructive.

[Tuco]

Squirrels thrash around quite a bit even with a solid head shot. My .22 pellet rifle pushes about the same energy as a 22short. A hit at 10 yards between the eye and ear they're "dead" before they're on the ground but still flip and flop for about 10 seconds. It's not pleasant.

[JTHunter]

Bob - do NOT compost the carcasses !!!!

Only plant material should go in the compost pile.  Animal excrement (poop) from grazers is okay but not from meat-eaters.  Animal carcasses will attract all kinds of bugs as well as varmints like possoms and coons.  Also, animal flesh does NOT break down easily.  If you want to use them for "fertilizer", BURY them under the plants at least 6-8" down.

[zxcvbob]

I buried it about 6" deep between my tomatillo plants.  They are pretty heavy feeders if the food is available; they also do okay if it isn't.

I reset the trap last night and today I noticed all the bait was gone.  Wife said little birds were in the trap this morning hopping all over the trigger and eating the seeds. 😆  That's okay, bought the seeds for them in the first place, but later in the day after I had added more sunflower seeds there was a chipmunk in there sitting on top of the trigger eating them.  I ran him off but it didn't trip the trap.  I might need to add a string that I can pull from the house to trap the chipmunk.  Gluing sunflower seeds to the trigger might also work.  I can also put some grease on the trigger linkage so it trips easier.

The good news is that I haven't seen any more squirrels in the back yard; perhaps there was only the one.  Wife commented that she hasn't seen any squirrels in the back since I set up the trap; she didn't know that I'd already caught one almost immediately and killed it.  Maybe I shoulda kept my mouth shut about that even tho' she doesn't like the squirrels.

There are at least 3 squirrels in the front yard, stealing birdseed (I don't mind if they eat what spills to the ground) and digging up plants.  Every once in a while I see that all at the same time chasing each other.  Might be time to move the trap.

I still like the concept of the Conibear 110's and 120's, but I could only use that in the backyard, and I'm a little concerned birds could be killed by it.  If I put the Conibear in the front yard, with my luck a neighbor's cat who has never entered my yard before would get caught in it.  Or a stupid boy (not any one in particular) would put his in finger in it to see what happens.

[230RN]

There's an expression "Running around like a chicken with its head cut off."  Apparently the lower nerves get a message to run and the body does.

I've had several instances where my shot took the head clean off a prairie dog and the body kept wiggling and in at least one case ran a short distance.

Same phenomenon.

So they're dead, and it may be disturbing to see it, but they really are dead.

Terry, 230RN

[zxcvbob]

There's an expression "Running around like a chicken with its head cut off."  Apparently the lower nerves get a message to run and the body does.

I've had several instances where my shot took the head clean off a prairie dog and the body kept wiggling and in at least one case ran a short distance.

Same phenomenon.

So they're dead, and it may be disturbing to see it, but they really are dead.

Terry, 230RN

Yes, I remember butchering chickens when I was a kid.  They do run.  (I think there's a song about that, "They do run-run-run, they do run-run" ♫.  Sorry)   But I'm not sure that a .177 pellet to the lungs is enough to DRT a squirrel.  It will barely DRT a rabbit, and squirrels are a lot tougher even though they are smaller.

It is disturbing to see but not all that disturbing. Not nearly as bad as an animal caught for a few hours in a leg hold trap, or a glue trap.  I'm fine with killing them, but I don't want them to suffer any more than they need to, wasps and fire ants excepted.

[Ben]

I had to shoot four raccoons in the backyard a couple of days ago. Long story, but the BLUF is that Steve is okay and I pulled a Raylan Givens and told the coons that they had until sunup to leave town. They didn't, so I pulled out my Glock and shot them, and they all flopped around for a while, even the head shot ones.

[HankB]

. . .  But I'm not sure that a .177 pellet to the lungs is enough to DRT a squirrel.  It will barely DRT a rabbit, and squirrels are a lot tougher even though they are smaller . . .

My old home was over run with rabbits that were digging up the yard, and I found that a .177 pellet would put them right down. Armadillos jump straight up and tend to run off a bit before expiring after being shot. I don't think squirrels would be a problem, and I'd really like to take out the ones around my house. But in a residential suburban setting with neighbors in every direction, that's really not an option unless I want to have a less-than-friendly conversation with the local constabulary.

Squirrels are rodents, right? I wonder if rat poison would work - I hate to resort to that since it's "non-discriminatory" and I don't want to harm birds or small predators (like foxes) that might actually be beneficial.

 

[JTHunter]

Bob, do you have coyotes in your area?  What about feral cats?  They might try and dig up the bodies.  Other wise - good luck !

As for putting a string on the trap's mechanism, try 6-10 lb. monofiliment instead.  It won't be as visible to the varmints.