Raccoons in the Attic and a Positive Set

All but two of the screws at the top of the vent fell out of the vent unit, providing easy access to a female raccoon looking for a place to raise a family.  Amazing how she found it on top of the garage.  

We removed the vent and went to work on a positive set, blocking the opening, except for a section at the bottom, soon to be occupied by a double door cage trap.  This Comstock double door trap had a smaller opening, only 6x11, a third smaller than the standard 9x11.  The cage to be used is a 6x11x36.  An ADC trapper named Gerrod Walker had us custom make him a bunch of them for coon and loves them.  Though they look small, in a positive set, coon do not hesitate to go through them.  A coon can easily fit into a 5 inch, hole, why not a 6x11 opening?

Two pieces of wire were all that were needed to cover the opening around the trap.  Note the "foot" unit clipped onto the end of the cage trap at the bottom to hold it solid and level.  We used a couple of clips to hold the cage to the wire covering the opening also.

This is an overview.   You will notice in all the pictures that my hair color is "beginning" to fail.  LOLs 

Live Trapping Raccoon with Comstock Humane Live Cage Traps (+playlist)

Coon calls here are rare after the rabies hit some years ago, but once in while we do get them.  This raccoon was taken in a positive set.  A flush mount trap was placed over the opening with wire covering the remaining space.  This was a textbook scenario for the flush mount trap.  However, since I did not have a flush mount trap on hand I was able to make "flush mount extension" 6 inches long to clip onto the existing cage.  What this extender means is that any trap 9x11 trap, single or double door, can be made into a flush mount trap in seconds when the need arrises and yet it is not permanent.  It's all about options and ease in adapting to situations.



These baitless den sets made with double door traps are the most effective, maintenance free sets that can be made for raccoons, woodchucks, armadillos, skunks, squirrels and more.

Cage Trapping Muskrats with Comstock Cages (+playlist)

In this video you will see how the Comstock swing panel squirrel/chipmunk traps double as a muskrat trap.  Two 6x6x24 cages traps were simply set in the run at the den site, side by side.  First night produced a muskrat in each trap.  It took only 1 minute 12 seconds to check, remove the muskrats and reset the traps.  Due to the effectiveness of all of the Comstock cages, we use them almost exclusively in our ADC business for skunks, chucks, squirrels, raccoon, opossum, beaver, muskrats and more.  Baitless trapping is the cornerstone of countless time and money saving success stories.  With no traps like them, these unique humane live traps have no equal.  They are the most advanced traps you will use.

Another side by side catch, a beaver and a muskrat

One of the great features of setting these swim through cages is that when set side by side they are great for multiple catches of all kinds.  Each trap works independently of the next trap, neither interfering with the other when fired.

Beaver Cage Double, side by side, Comstock Cage Traps! (+playlist)

Much of the time we use beaver castor lure and simply place the cage traps in between the beaver and lure.  If you don't catch the beaver coming into the set, you will surely take him going.  Where easy castor lure type sets are more difficult to make, we sometimes revert back to a basic "crossover set."



Where a beaver dam is present, beavers will usually have one path or "crossover," going from the pond to the creek channel below.  Though a bit subtile, they are very easy to spot once you have seen one.  Though a crossover set below a beaver dam is one of the most common sets and visible, they are usually made with snares and conibear type traps.  But, the Comstock wire trigger cage traps not only work better than any other device, they are faster to set.



In this video two traps were placed side by side with a deadman log over the front of the traps to act as a diving pole and two more traps were placed in the channel in the same manner, again using a log as a diver.  First check, first day, produced 3 beaver in the 4 traps.  Unlike other devices, you can place these cages side by side without a captured animal firing the second trap.  





 

Live Trapping Groundhogs using Comstock Cages without bait (+playlist)

'Possum Trappin' with Cam

Cam of North Georgia loves trappin' with his grandfather Stan and using Comstock Cages of all sizes.  If you ask him nicely, Cam might share some of his secrets to his success on the 'possum line.  Stan, an engineer, uses the Comstock beaver, 'coon and squirrel trap and says, "they are superior."  

3 Hour Woodchuck

Mike posted on Facebook, a nice fat woodchuck taken in a Comstock multipurpose trap, the most versatile trap on the planet.  This is a double door, wire triggered trap, with powered doors and built in 3-way nose cone.  The trap will take animals coming or going, with setting time usually taking form 1 to 5 minutes.  With a three flap nose cone and bottom hole, the multipurpose trap can be set over a free standing den or den under a building or porch.  Because of the 3 flap system this trap will flush mount perpendicular to a den hole or sideways in either direction to fit those hard to accommodate locations where trees, rocks or whatever is in the way.

Mike set the trap as shown, a positive set, and had the chuck in 3 hours!  Though catches are not made this quickly every time, this is by no means unusual.  In fact, depending on time of day and time of year, it happens frequently.  I have captured chucks in as little as 5 minutes after placing a trap in this manner in a positive set!

You can accomplish the same thing with standard 9x11 double door Comstock trap used with either a metal nose cone or 3-way nose cone that come separately.    Some use flush mount double door traps too, which is just a trap with a recessed door, making 4 different ways to accomplish much of the same goals.

 

New You Tube Video

We just put a new video on You Tube.  This one is on the line checking 5 Comstock Swim Through Beaver Cage Traps in the woods up on a mountain.  It shows perpendicular and parallel dam sets as well as a pair of dam break sets, one submerged and one on top, half out of the water.

Though some might think it to be too much work to haul cages, this shows what can be accomplished without much effort.  Three cages were sledded in the first day and two more the second day.  Due to the effectiveness of the traps, with sprung traps rare, pulling the cages up the mountain proved to be very mush worthwhile in taking all 6 beaver in just two checks, without a miss.

Using a 2 foot wide sled, all 5 cages were loaded up with 3 beaver inside.  Because I usually set from 2 to 4 traps in most instances, the number of cages set was very much in line with what I have done in the past using conibear type traps.

Winter Breakup, Beaver Trapping

 Above is a very productive dam break set with an unusually small beaver for this time of year, alive in a 12x18x36 Comstock Cage.  This beaver weighed only about 5 pounds, perhaps less, which means he was born during the winter, quite odd.  Beaver are generally born from April until early June, depending on the locale.   This little bugger was no doubt born in January or February.  Beaver this size are usually found in July and August.  Since the owner of the pond wanted the colony thinned down because they we're mowing down everything in sight, but did not necessarily want them all removed, the little guy was released on site.  It couldn't have worked out better taking the small one alive and being able to release him.  You have to get lucky once in while.  

  

 The mat of peeled sticks in the two pictures above is reflective of a larger colony.  This colony had at least 6 beavers.  In two checks 6 were taken in 2 out of 3 sets on the first trip and in 4 out of 5 sets the second trip, with no traps sprung.  At ice out there will be loads of peeled sticks still floating, later to be woven into the dam or lodge.  When the ice is first receding from the dam like this, beaver are limited and confined to the small patch of open water, easy to catch.  They are looking for fresh feed after eating the feed pile all winter, which has by now gone stale and sour or is pretty much gone.  Additionally, these beaver were chewing holes in the dam so that they could leave the pond and find more food, which showed they were getting desperate.   There were a couple of holes they had made in the ice during late winter that provided access to fresh food.

Above is the 2 foot wide sled with 5 beaver cages and 3 beaver.   I was using an 18 inch wide sled, but found the 2 footer was not that hard to drag.  Also, with the two foot sled 2 traps can be placed side by side, standing or lying down.  At this site I was using an assortment of traps, odd sizes, 12x15x33, 12x18x32, 12x18x36 and 12x18x24.  The Xtra wide 24 fit in the back of the sled, the two 12x15 side by side while the other two rested on their sides.  I had all 5 cages in the sled with the 3 beaver inside them.

I know most trappers don't think you can haul a number of cages in at once, but where there is a roadway or trail it works pretty well.  This time I was able to bring in 3 cages the first time and add 2 more the second time.  If it was on the level, I could have easily brought in 5 at once the first time.  This was an steep uphill climb all the way, so I split the cage hauling into two trips, figuring on a set with two checks to finish the job and that's just the way it worked out.  Thing is, when I was setting conibears years ago, I often just set 2 to 4 traps anyway.  Two to 4 cages is quite doable with a sled and yields better results.

Yet Another Testimonial

Many trappers like to get their feet wet with one or two traps the first time just to see if they work.  We get frequent calls from first time users Comstock Cages, who express how happy they are with the results.  A couple of days ago we got another call from an older fellow from Iowa.  He got a 12x18x39 beaver trap early this year and has already "caught 15 beaver in them."  He says he will be expanding his line and getting more traps in the fall.

Though it is more trouble to carry or drag the beaver traps into a pond off the road, I do it myself, not to make a point, but because the success ratio is higher than any other device I have used and I have used most of them.  You have to compare.  Is it more work to carry a larger trap in and place it or more work to make extra trips into a pond because you have sprung traps?

I continue to experiment with shorter traps.  Both beaver caught yesterday were taken in 32 and 33 inch long traps.  I have taken at least 8 in the shorter traps up to 52 pounds.  The pond is still frozen except near the dam.  Went in after dark in the rain, not much fun, but working under the worst testing conditions provides first hand info on what others may encounter.

 

Beaver traps are great for Raccoons too

Another use for the 12x18x39 Comstock Beaver Cage Trap.  Almost looks like a nice pair of raccoons.  It seems that just about anything that goes into the cages stays in.   We have seen these traps used for bobcats frequently.  One trapper caught a coyote in one in a junkyard between the rows of cars.  Another trapper used his for badger.