Skunk Followup

Several days ago we posted info on a skunk problem.  We set four 9x11x18 double door traps with nose cone /skunk covers.  The first night we did 3 for 4 and posted a video.  Second nigh was 2 more, while the third nigh produced 1.  Thinking we might be getting done, but not wanting to chance by pulling the traps, we left them in last night.  Surprise, 3 for 4 again!  In four nights we have taken 9 skunks, not unusual.  We explain to people that 5 to 9 is common, but there can be more.  Again, all taken without bait!

Squirrels Caught in Positive sets with Comstock Nose Cones and Swing Panel Traps

Squirrels recently chewed 2 large holes in the siding, building a new home and were working on three more when we got the call.  It's nesting time, so squirrels often move into attics and walls to have their young.  Comstock nose cones were used with Comstock double door, swing panel trigger traps, without bait in positive sets.  The pair of squirrels was taken in hours overnight.  This method takes squirrels coming and going from either direction and does not rely upon attractants.  All the squirrels have to do is move.  The top picture shows a close up of the squirrel on the right of the bottom picture, while the second picture shows a close up of the squirrel of the squirrel at the left of the bottom photo.  The set at top left employed two traps, while one trap was set lower right.  This method of baitless trapping is used with both skunks and woodchucks on the ground and can be used for other animals as well.

Followup to followup

At some locations it seems there is no end to skunks.  How nice it is to do nothing more than place the trap, no bait, no re-bait, no maintenance, nothing to do but pick up skunks one after the other.

After taking 9 at the location I hoped it might be over, but the call came in yesterday that #10 was waiting for us.  A busy day, we got there just after dark.  Not a big surprise, #11 was nestled in comfortably next to #10.

At least the client was told that taking 5 to 9 was not unusual, while more was possible.

Testimonial

I just received a call from Kenner, Louisiana minutes ago.   A trapper called to say how happy he was about catching his first beaver on a first try at a culvert in the 12x18x39 Comstock beaver trap, something we hear all the time.  Though he fell in, got soaked and was quite cold he said, "I am very happy."  He said the location was a "hard catch" as he put it, no easy way to set it and a conibear would not have worked at all.  He opened up the culvert and placed the trap last night.  The beaver was there this morning.  Thousands of beaver have been taken in these traps in the past 3 years, but it's not just the numbers that count, it's all in how it was done and the circumstances.  What's important to realize is that these traps are the most versatile beaver traps ever made, bar none, offering a wider range of setting techniques than the others.  There are no traps better suited to take beaver than the Comstock Beaver Cage Traps.

Why we don't use or sell light duty traps

Jim Horton posted this picture of a raccoon disaster.  It shows the reason why not to buy cheap mail order or hardware store cage traps.  The client set this trap for a raccoon that had gotten into his house.  As you can see he caught the coon, but only held it for a short time.  The coon simply ripped the door right off the frame.  These cheap traps are made with "clipped on doors."  There is a light duty clip holding wire to wire clip at the door hinge point, that will work for light duty animals at times, but not raccoons.

We made the Comstock traps "bullet proof," overkill, with 1/4 inch door frame rods wrapped around 1/4 inch cage frame rods, impossible to break or come apart.  The Comstock traps are essentially escape proof.



  

Pictures of Skunks in positive and trail sets today, without bait.

The pictures show 3 of 4 double door 9x11x18 Comstock Cage Traps set for skunks during the late winter breeding season, each one of them with a skunk.  Skunks were living under the house and had sprayed.  Two traps were set side by side in baitless positive sets where the skunks were going under the house.  There is a "dirty" path in the snow where the male skunks were traveling in and out of the den site.  A second small building, perhaps 50 yards away, also had an area the skunks were frequenting with a beaten down path between the two dens.  Two more traps were set in between the two den sites, again no bait was used.

First check of the 4 traps yielded the 3 skunks, which is very common.  The reason for multiple sets is because many times there are 5 to 9 or more skunks at a location.  Multiple traps just makes the job go faster.  Because the urge to mate is so strong, skunks don't usually wise up to the traps, but keep coming until they are all captured.  Skunks don't always respond to bait well, but using a combination of positive and trail sets will usually take them all quickly.

Positive Sets for Raccoon in Winter

Tim in Ohio doesn't let the rough weather slow him down in his Nuisance Wildlife Control Business.  He uses positive sets in all sorts of creative ways.  Note the cage in the middle photo.  It is attached vertically while using a nose cone, usually used on the ground, to direct the raccoon into the trap on the side of the house.  Also pictured is a raccoon on a roof, again a positive, baitless set with a panless trap that can be used in any position.  "There's no wrong way to set a Comstock Cage."

Tim has been using the Comstock line of traps since the first day they were made available, nearly four years ago.  He owns just about every style and type of  Comstock Cages made, including raccoon, woodchuck, skunk, squirrel and  beaver traps, single and double door, multipurpose, nose cones etc.  Actually Tim may own more of these than anyone else in the country,  perhaps 70, maybe more?