Live Traps

If you’ve invested enormous amounts of resources and time into your garden, animal pests that damage the garden can be very annoying and exasperating. Animals like rabbits, moles, squirrels, deer, possums, and birds often wander into the garden and feed on the flowers and vegetables that you’ve so hardly taken care of. When this happens, some control measures need to be done to stop the problem.

There are lots of ways available to keep animal pests out of the garden like fencing, repellents, live traps, and even modern “mechanical repellents” that scare away animals. Among the effective solutions for permanently removing the type of animal pest invading the garden are live traps.

There are various types of live animal traps and some may not be that ideal even if they fall under the category “live trapping”, like those that use footholds and snares, which are considered “merciless”. Although they don’t actually kill the animal, they hurt the animal to restrain them; of course, depending on the trap design chosen, they can also be lethal traps. The use of these kinds of live traps is considered inhumane and cruel.

On the other hand, other more commonly used live traps such as cage traps are the more “humane” alternatives, as they don’t injure the animal. They can be baited with meat, chicken parts, fruit, or sardines and once the animal is captured, they may be released at a “good distance” from the garden area. There are two common forms of this kind of live trap: the wooden box trap and the open mesh live animal trap.

Wooden Box Trap

The wooden box live trap can be home made from one among several trap plans. A general design for this kind of trap is one with door on its front and a sort of trigger in its center, which is normally a “wooden peg” that has a string or wire attached to its entry door. Its bait is positioned at the box’s back to lure the animal inside the trap. These traps are ideal for hares and rabbits, but can also work with other small animals pestering the garden.

The trap works by coaxing the animal into the trap with a bait, and once the animal enters the box, it bumps its trigger “in route” to its bait; thus, setting off the trap and the animal gets captures. Wooden box live traps are usually easy to make and are quite inexpensive. Its main drawback however, is that it can be rather weighty to transport even if made of plywood.

Open Mesh Live Trap

These types of trap are made from heavy gauge wire and can have steel frames. The trap comes in lots of assortment including single entry, double entry, and collapsible. Single entry traps are those that have an opening at one end; the double entry traps have opening on both its ends; and the collapsible traps are those that can easily be transported and takes up less space for storage.

Open mesh live traps functions exactly like wooden box traps; however, it has more advantages including openness, can be designed having two doors of entry, and lighter in weight. Moreover, since the trap is “transparent” it provides the animal a feeling of not being “confined” so it may be used rather successfully.

Tips For Live Traps

It is important to set the trap along the travel path of the animal. Select bait that’s appealing to the kind of animal that’s pestering the garden, and not something that attracts unwanted animals. Cover the trap’s bottom with leaves or soil to persuade the animal to go inside the trap. Always test the trap after it’s been set; ensure that its trap doors close “smoothly and firmly”.

Live traps are perhaps among the good tools used for removing an animal pest without harming or killing it. Just remember that live traps can also be ineffective if they’re used improperly as the animal can die inside it from lack of water and food if not checked regularly. Bottom line is, live traps will help you rid the garden of animal pests without hurting them, but it must also be used responsibly.