Anyone trap Foxes?

[greybeard]

My uncle trapped under govt contract for 40 years on a Federal munitions storage arsenal and was very very good at ridding the place of unwanted game including fox. He long ago explained to me how to set the trap specifically for fox, but rather than I try to recall it from memory, I will call him tomorrow and get a fresh set of instructions. Will post back later tomorrow.

(Sqeamish and PETA types need not read it--he used steel spring traps)

As for coyotes, good luck. 'Yotes around here fear no dog or human--or no quantity or size of dogs for that matter. They own the night.

 

[greybeard]

GRAPHIC TEXT WARNING!! Some may find this cruel and inhumane.
According to my old trapper uncle:
To trap fox using a spring (jaw) trap....

1. A fox is one of the few animals that won't go directly to bait no matter how hungry. It will approach the bait pretty easily, but stay back away from it a couple of feet sniffing and listening, mostly using it's excellt nose to make sure all is safe.

2. Because of this, it is best to make preparations a couple weeks in advance. Pick the spot out and do the work, without actually doing any trap setting yet. This gives anything you do time to lose your scent, and to naturally appear to be 'natural'.

3. Look for, or create, an alley formed by a could of large libs or logs, close together with another on one end to block it off. It will look almost like a cave of fallen debris about 3-4' in length and no more than 1 foot wide, you want to make it difficult for the animal to turn around in, and you want it narrow and short in height to keep larger animals such as big raccoons from easily entering. A fox may look big, but a lot of his size is fur--they can and will wiggle into small areas. You want one way in, and make sure the animal can't enter from the top easily--just from one end.

4. About 1/2 way in the 'cave', reach in and hollow out an area with your hand to set the trap down into--it needs to be wide enough for the trap to be opened into the set position, and deep enough to cover without appearing to be a hollow when you get thru covering with natural debris.

5. Very near the far end of the 'cave', is where the bait will go--not in the trap itself. He reccomended using either a freshly killed field mouse or 2, or a live one that is tethered to a plain stick pushed into the ground. Use nothing manmade for covering or tieing the bait down. Cotton is ok, but not nylon.

6. A few days or 1 week before you are ready to bait the trap, go ahead and put the trap into the hollow, but don't set it. Put your trap stake down into the ground at his time, and cover the chain and stake well. Just cover it, and go ahead and place a bait at the far end. When doing all the above, wear old and "dirty" clothes, nothing freshly laundered that might have the obvious smell of man on them. No underam deodorant and certainly no aftershave. Wear 100% cotton gloves if your hands sweat. No smoking allowed either.

7. The day you get read to trap, walk around the area, about 100' away from the trap site, to get natural scents from that area on you--that way, is you do leave any scents, it will more likely be from that area and not from your back porch.

8. Set your bait in place at the far end. Again, make sure the top is almost inpenetrable. You can drip around a bit of oil from sardines or cat food , but not too much--enough to pique the interest of the fox from a distance.

9. When the bait is in place, then set the spring trap that has been down in the hollow place. Gently cover this trap COMPLETELY with light and natural debris, but use nothing that is heavy or thick enough to interfere with the operation of th jaw. The objective is for the fox to trip the trap as he approaches the bait. Even if he misses the trap on his way in, he has only one exit and has to retrace his way back out and it makes no difference whether he gets the bait first.

(Check your local regs in regards to trapping and please keep in mind any pets that may be in the area.)

(I hope I got everything----I haven't done this myself, as I have no animals small enough for a fox to bother.)

 

[secuono]

Nice, but no good for me.
My horses, sheep or dogs would get snared.

 

[secuono]

Well, so far I've caught two mice, out in the barn, not the huge trap, lol. Cars have been doing a good job running over foxes, though.
Mounted fox hunters came the other day, but I don't like them, they never kill them....ugh.

 

[secuono]

So far I have managed to catch a cute, little rabbit and a cute, little skunk! =] [=

 

[Cricket]

My husband managed to shoot one the other day. She was lurking and the dog chased her off, but stopped at the wood line. The minute the dog stopped, the fox stopped, sat for a moment, then started stalking the barking dog. I was worried it was rabid, but it appeared to be healthy and it had a belly full of mice. They are in heat here this time of year--guess she was just in a mood.

 

[GSCforester]

If it is grey fox this is a great bait: cheap dry dog food, peanut butter, honey, and a little anise. It really dosen't matter how much of each, just mix it up and bait the trap. Raccons like it a lot too, so be sure that the bait is in the center of the back of the trap because a racoon is smart enough to reach through the side of the cage with his paw to get the bait and never enter the trap. If it is red fox, they are the harder of the two to catch, but meat that has set out a day or two works, and you can order red fox gland lure from a bunch of places online for about $5 shipped, just put it on a cotton ball and put it in the trap. The gland lure is a territorial lure, they will check it out to see "who" has been in there.