Live-Trapping Animal Pests (6614)

Live traps are often the best way to solve many wildlife damage and nuisance problems. Traps are readily available for a reasonable cost. They come in many styles and sizes. People like them because they offer a non-lethal solution to the problem and, if used properly, they are humane. In an urban or suburban setting, live traps may be your only available solution.

You can buy traps at most hardware stores and garden supply centers. Some seed or garden mail order catalogs also offer them. Popular brands include the all-wire Tomahawk or National live traps and the Havahart traps with sheet metal doors. Prices range from $10 to $15 or more, depending on size.

Use the appropriate trap for the animal you wish to trap. In most traps, the length is proportional to the dimensions of the trap door. For chipmunks, use a five-by-five-inch door. For squirrels, use a six-by-six-inch door and for rabbits, the door should measure nine by nine inches. Raccoons need a ten-by-ten or twelve-by-twelve-inch door.

You can capture smaller animals in a large trap, but large raccoons are too powerful for small, non-reinforced traps. Here are some tips for live-trapping animals:

- Put the trap in a proper place. Consider animal movements, ease in checking the trap, an even base for setting the trap, and the potential for theft or vandalism.

- Place the trap, set it, and spring it several times to make sure it works. Bait it with the appropriate foods.

- To improve your chances, sprinkle small bits of bait leading to the trap door and into the trap. You can trap a wary animal by baiting the trap for several days with the door tied open. This gives the impression of a safe feeding place. Favorite baits vary. Here are some suggestions: chipmunks and squirrels like peanut butter, nuts, corn and birdseed; rabbits eat fresh vegetables in summer, and apples, carrots, and hay in winter; raccoons like fish-flavored cat food, table scraps, and marshmallows. Opossums eat cat food or table scraps.

- Check the trap at least once a day, preferably early morning and evening. Captured animals should not stay in cages any longer than necessary for relocation.

- Relocate trapped animals to suitable habitats at least three to five miles from where you caught them. The further the better! Don't release them where they may be a problem for someone else. Urban parks may already be saturated with the species in question. To release your capture on state lands, such as wildlife areas, you'll need to get permission.

Watch your fingers when carrying or opening the trap. Captured animals will bite. However, when you open the trap, they will flee quickly.

You can capture some birds such as sparrows, pigeons or starlings in special live traps. However, you may have problems releasing them because of their mobility and homing tendencies.

Live-trapping can be effective, but you need patience and a willingness to learn a little about your target animal's behavior. Only rarely is one animal the culprit. One person captured and removed over 100 gray squirrels in a year using only one trap in a typical suburban backyard.

For more information on this subject, Please visit the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Web site.

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