Author Topic: Trapping season has just begun  (Read 352 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline T-Rex

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Trapping season has just begun
« on: April 16, 2009, 03:41:18 AM »
Obviously there isn't a lot of fur to trap, but I do have a couple of problems to take care of.

First I am planting a new garden within my deer fenced orchard.  I  noticed a few woodchucks out there and don't want to give them the opportunity to have at it.  The only ones I have trapped in the past were just outside of their holes.  So, does anyone have any tips on finding those holes?  Any particular features I should be looking for?

The other pests are the pocket gophers.  I've got a short grass runway for a powered parachute, and those mounds can make for some rough landings.  That has been an ongoing battle for the last four years.  I guess I'll just need to expand the area I trap enough to keep them from migrating.

Offline Bigeasy

  • Trade Count: (5)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1986
  • Gender: Male
Re: Trapping season has just begun
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2009, 04:13:37 AM »
T-Rex

On chucks, I would use a body gripping type of trap.  I have never trapped for them speceficly, but I think they have a reputation for twisting off like a muskrat does in a foot trap.  Snares might be a good option. 

Speaking of out of season trapping, When I was a kid, I would live trap a pregnant coon or two early in the year.  Take one from the litter to raise, then release her and her kits as soon as they were able to go, usually in the spring.  They made great pets, as long as you kept em outside.  The males would get aggressive at about 2 years old, so I would just let em go.  The females usually stayed friendly.  My mom took a shine to one female in particular, and tried making her an inside coon.  After raiding the fridge, climbing the drapes, stealing and hiding anything reflective, like coins and jewelery, making a nest inside the new couch, etc., she ended up joing the others in the big pen in the back yard.  One summer, a local kid got bit by a rabid skunk, and the DEP came in to rescue us all.  They freeked out when they seen my "coon collection", and ordered them turned over to the state (To be destroyed, I'm sure), so I took em all out into the woods, and left them there.  The DEP Officer was pretty mad, but what are they going to do to a 13 year old kid?....

Larry
Personal opinion is a good thing, and everyone is entitled to one.  The hard part is separating informed opinion from someone who is just blowing hot air....