LIVE trapping bobcats

[Brady Davis]

Travis,

Thanks for the pics...Makes a lot of sense. I am going to try to catch a few.

Some of y'all got a little worked up on this one eh?! In any case, some good points made. Take care guys!

[Budd Denny]

MadCatter, good looking sets.

[krk hunting]

Madcatter,

Thanks for the insight it was real interesting and to the point.

Kevin

[Racin_GT]

That looks like the same set that I recently put out for the first time with the same general concept. I hope that I get a hit.

[liontracker]

I saw a set the other day that caught a cat. The trap was in the open with no cover and the bait was a dead chicken. It was about 40 feet from the rivers edge along side a dirt pile. It caught the cat the second night.

[MadCatter]

Liontracker, with as many cats as you've got over there I wouldn't doubt catching a cat in the open like that. I think every situation or set is different. I've seen some like you're talking about consistantly catch cats. On a ranch I worked on in Texas and Oklahoma several years back, we caught cats by setting a homemade cage trap (all steel that weighed about 100 lbs) in the middle of a oak graove with no cover at all.

Now out here in SE Colorado, where the cats are not as densly populated, I have to resort to other meens, by covering the trap and making it blend in. Prime example: in one of the sets in the previous photos, this morning had cat tracks around the back side of the trap and the cat had moved all my sticks tryng to get to the bait. he never figured out (or maybe he was that smart) to go around front. So I turned it around 180 degrees and rebaited it.

Not "normal" from my experiences, leaving the trail and going around the back, but I had to adapt. Thats what the sticks are supposed to prevent (the cat from jumping on top or approaching from the side/rear and triggerign the trap).

We'll see if the changes make a difference.

Hope you all are having a good season!

Travis

[Brady Davis]

Madcatter~

What size of traps do you prefer (obviously live traps)...And, is there a brand you have found to be the most reliable?

[MadCatter]

Hey ColoradoB&T, I use just about anytype of live trap. The current ones I'm using are Advantek traps, 16x16x48. They are good sturdy traps, but the catch on the doors are a little different. They basically are a straight piece of metal rod welded on at an angle on the bottom end of the opening. When the door drops, it slides over the rod end preventing it from being pushed open. You depress the rod downward and pull the door up and out to open. They are OK, but may require a little fine tunning by bending the rod slightly. They can be set with a fine tigger, or a little heavyier. I've used everything from homemade to Havahart. In my opinion it just needs to be big enough for a bobcat and fairly sturdy, and have a good positive latch to prevent the door from opening once closed. I do prefer one door traps versus two door (more doors equal more chances of failure). Plus, the way I set, I try to leave only one opening. However, a two door may have caught the cat I just missed coming in from behind the trap! With a one door, the cat has to go all the way in to trigger the trap, leaving plenty of room for the door to drop. A two door may drop on the cats back and not catch him. Hopefully I'll have this cat soon and send a picture.

Travis

[Brady Davis]

Sounds good...I'm getting some sets out this weekend!

One other thing...what do you like for bait?

[MadCatter]

If I drive around enough, I can usually find a road kill rabbit or two. I usually take the head and toss it in the back of the trap so they will have to step on the pan to get to it. You can only use legally acquired, non-edible wildlife parts if your going to use rabbit. Chicken works well too. If available, I use a little cat pee to sweeten the set by squirting a little in the back corner (not on the bait).

Good luck, and let me know how your sets work out.
Travis

[Jason Waterhouse]

here are some great bobcat pics of cats in a live trap.Its from a bobcat study that the university of Vermont did a couple of years back.

http://www.uvm.edu/~ndodge/bobcat/

[jeff]

Good stuff Jason, thanks for the link.

[FullCryHounds]

I noticed he's using Safeguard traps. Best trap on the market.