The culvert above was plugged wtih a mud dam.  Mud dams are conducive to using The Comstock Beaver Cages, which can be placed in front of the dam with a small trickle of water passing through the trap.  Even a small leak in the dam will attract a beaver.   The traps are set in single door mode, upside down, with the upper end of the cage resting against the dam.  It is the closed door, of course, that is again the dam.  The lower end of the trap with the opened door is placed towards the pond, resting just below the surface.  Road fabric is used to cover the entire cage, even past the closed door right up to the dam.  Loose muck is then packed on top of the cage to conceal all of the fabric.  The trap will lie at a slight angle, raised perhaps a couple of inches at the closed door, leaving an air space. 

This shows a set and cage buried into the dam, totally invisible to passers by. 

Not only are the traps invisible, but better yet, the catch is too.
Pulling the fabric back reveals a small beaver in the cage.

A New Setup.  Feral Cat Capture in the newest Comstock 10x8x36 panel trigger trap.

Had a trapper take a bunch of feral cats in pan traps, but one was too smart for the pan.  He probably had been caught before and would actually sleep inside of the trap.

The new Comstock traps have a panel trigger that works like the wire trigger cages, same principle.  The trapper in this case tried something innovative and new.  Instead of using the trigger in the intended manner as a push through trigger, he clipped the panel back and used a stick as the trigger to replace the panel.  By propping a stick up under the trip rod part of the trap, the door was held open.  He then put some of the new Gary Jepson Cat Rub lure on the stick.  The cat walked into the cage, brushed up against the stick as you would expect and was caught first night!  

New Line of Double Powered Door, Swing Panel, Panless, Cage Traps in Action

Currently the skunk traps are 6x8x30 and 7x7x36, both working as they should.  It is possible that the 7x7 could be made a bit shorter, perhaps the squirrel traps also because when the door drops and hits the animals behind the shoulder or back, they are unable to back up.  The angle and powered aspect of the door is working even better than anticipated.

Live Beaver Cage trapping

REALEASING ANIMALS

RELEASING ANIMALS

An easy way to keep a door open is simply to open the door and put a stick or rod cross wise through the cage wire, horizontally.  This will hold the door open.  If you need to keep an animal from exiting prematurely, you could put rods vertically through the cage to hold the animal back in the catch box, open the door and hold it open with the rod, then remove the vertical rods.

 BEAVER SWIM THROUGH CAGE TRAPS SET UPSIDE DOWN IN AND UNDER WATER

I know there are some who may not understand the the virtues of setting a cage trap trap upside down in water, but there are many, making this trap and method of setting second to none when it comes to cage traps.

 A power door cage trap set upside will actually lift and push and animal into the trap as he swims forward, far superior to any guillotine door or gravity door ring or drop down door trap.  The power door firing up from the bottom works in tandem with the forward momentum of the swimming animal, propelling him into the trap as the door closes and locks.
 
A second advantage to the door coming up from the bottom is that as the door closes the animal's feet are located on a moving surface, the door, as it lifts the animal into the trap, meaning the animal can get no purchase to push himself back out of the trap as the doors are closing.  In conventional traps where the door comes down from the top, the animal has all four feet planted on firm ground, giving him the ability to brace and back out.  This can't happen in a power door coming up from the bottom.

Because the triggering mechanism is on the bottom when the traps are set upside down, these traps can be set in freezing conditions, even when a portion of the trap is left out of water and able to freeze in, yet still function.  When the traps are set in a dam break, with the upper door closed in a hole in the dam, water leaking through the trap, while the lower end of the trap is submerged, even if the exposed portion partially freezes in, the trigger and lower door will function flawlessly to make the catch.

Though traps can be left exposed and still take beaver readily, at times traps may require camo in the form of grass, logs, mud, brush etc.  When camo is applied to any trap with the mechanism on top, and/ or external components, care must be taken so that it is never placed in a manner that will interfere with the trigger action.  Cover can jam a trap a trap constructed in this manner quite easily, resulting in a misfire, no fire and lost animals.  The swim through trap set upside down with the trigger on the bottom can be camoed with any sort of cover without worry since all of the trigger components are out of the way on the bottom.  Even pushed into the mud, the trigger will still work as it should.
When adding camo, grass can be stuffed into the wires, logs laid on top of the trap, while mud and brush packed on top will have no effect on the mechanism, function or working ability of the trap.

By setting a trap upside down any debris that could hinder a drop down door will rest beneath the door.  These traps are stable enough to be thrown into the water without firing and yet sensitive enough to take muskrats with regularity.  When the trap is positioned on the bottom upside down, any potentially door clogging debris can be readily seen and removed.  Conversely, when drop down doors traps are placed, there is always the potential for a door to get hung up on an unseen snag on the bottom.

When these cage traps are set upside down and placed on the surface, suspended with wire, floated or on stakes, with the top of the cage just out of water, a beaver may stop and inspect the cage, but he is already over the door and in a sense partially into the trap and less likely to refuse.  Protruding doors from the top are far more visible and may act as a deterrent.













  

In a short while we will have a double powered door squirrel trap, 5x5x24, with a versatile new push through trigger never before seen in a small trap.  To follow, 6x6 and 7x7 for fox squirrels and skunks, perhaps a 7 or 8x10 for rabbits.  Each of these traps will have powered doors but will work as a colony traps simply by removing the springs and placing in runs for muskrats for multiple catches.  The traps will perform as either single or multiple catch traps.