General Trapping Tips

2 Door Trap The following tips should be used when preparing to live catch your nuisance animal.

Havahart recommends that you contact the Humane Society, or the local or state game commission before setting a trap to determine the lawful method of releasing a captured wild or nuisance animal. Many species are protected by law in various states.

Following the instructions contained in the carton, you may want to test the trap and spring it a few times to make sure that it works properly. For example, spring it by touching the trip plate from each end, This should be done also after the trap has been set and camouflaged to make sure it works freely. If you feel the doors do not work fast enough, place small stones or other weights on top of the door. This will cause doors to drop faster.

When you receive the trap it will be bright and new. Therefore do not be discouraged in case you do not catch what you anticipated the first night or day. The effectiveness of Havahart traps usually improve with age. Some animals do not mind a new trap while others do. So instead of setting the trap to catch the first animal to come along, bait the trap, or simply place it where you intend to set it and fasten the doors open by means of a stick or wire.

After a couple of days, when you notice the bait has been disturbed or taken, it is time to set the trap. Camouflaging the trap is an effective means to entice the animal. Place twigs and leaves all over the trap to remove a lot of the glare from the trap. You can even spray it with water and throw dirt on it to give it a conditioned look. Animals will not be discouraged from entering the trap by the smell of your handling the trap or from supposed machine/oil odors in the manufacturing process.

Top Trapping Tips

• Be aware of weather conditions. Trapped animals should not be left out in the elements as they can die from prolonged exposure to heat and cold.
• Check traps FREQUENTLY. Wild animals stress easily and may seriously injure themselves as they attempt to escape.
• Other animals besides the target animal may get caught in the trap. If this happens, advice on releasing it safely can be obtained from a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in your state.
• Depending on the time of year, you may trap a nursing mother and if you relocate only her, her babies will not survive. To see if you've trapped a nursing female, stand the trap on one end to observe the belly.
• Traps should be washed, disinfected with a bleach solution (1 part bleach to 9 parts of water and let it remain on for 20 minutes), and thoroughly rinsed after each capture to stop the spread of any potential disease. Animals frequently defecate and urinate when captured and it is unhealthy to put bait down unless trap is cleaned thoroughly.

The following are good bait suggestions for squirrels:

• Cereal
• Grains
• Nuts (especially peanuts)
• Sunflower seeds
• Anise oil (a drop or two on bread)
• Shelled corn
• Apples
• Mixed peanut butter and oatmeal or peanut butter and molasses, popcorn
• One trapper swears by almond extract on bread as bait to tempt the nearest squirrel

The following are good bait suggestions for skunks:

• Chicken entrails
• Cracknels
• Fish, canned (sardines)
• Fresh-insect larvae such as may beetles
• Crisp bacon
• Cat food
• Bread crust coated with peanut butter