Traditional Small Animal Trap

DDT then windmills have greatly decreased our raptor population so we have an explosion of ground squirrels that are destroying our fruit trees and gardens. These squirrels are even eating the leaves off of our trees and stripping them bare. We tried catching squirrels with an old cat trap but all we were doing is feeding the squirrels as they ran back out of the trap happy. The cat trap was just not sensitive enough to catch those squirrels. For us, this small animal trap has been a great improvement. First of all, this trap is very sensitive to small critters and we have caught 5 ground squirrels so far. Second, when a squirrel was caught at night, some predator tried to break open the trap to eat the squirrel... and the trap survived without even a scratch (even though the predator made quite a mess for us to clean up). So this trap is very sturdy. Third, setting the trap was so much easier than any other trap we have. Fourth, when the door goes down there is a latch that keeps the cage shut so even the strongest squirrels cannot get out. Fifth, there is a hand guard near the handle so the critters cannot bite or scratch you while moving the cage. Lastly, we like that this is a LIVE trap because if we catch the wrong species, then we can merely release them back into the wild. Now here is my only caution - if you use a live trap, then you have to be prepared to dispose of the squirrel. You really need to think about what you can do in your state and what you are comfortable doing personally yo dispose of the animals. In California for example, you can only use CO2 gas to euthanize the animal or you have to use a pellet gun. It is absolutely illegal in California to relocate squirrels. So before you buy this trap, make sure you know what you are getting into and are prepared to handle the animals in a legal and as humane as possible manner.

I almost gave this 3 stars, but I can't fault the trap for the prowess of some squirrels. I had to out-smart them in order for this to work better than it did out-of-box. In the past few months I've caught 8 squirrels, 1 possum, 1 rat, and in one instance, 2 doves. "Modifications:" • As someone else mentioned, I slightly straightened the latch piece that holds the door open • Sprayed white lithium grease on/in the moving parts, including the latch • Set the trap on an 18"x18" paver • Tie a whole peanut to the bottom of the trap directly in front of the trip plate • Set a landscape block (heavy brick) on top • Trap placed with the door facing the wall of my house Reasons for "modifications:" • Lithium grease because I tend to leave this outside for days, and wanted to make sure the moving parts didn't bind. • The paver underneath is to prevent removal of the peanut from below the trap, as I saw squirrels and crows digging through mulch, dirt, etc. • Tying the peanut down forces a critter to mess around inside the trap for longer, thus being more likely to trip the door. I've seen squirrels run in & out, right across the trip plate, without tripping it. • The block or heavy brick on top is to keep something from trying to raise the trap to remove the peanut, now that the trap sits on a hard surface. Also in case something figures out that it might be able to open the door with the trap upside down, with the gravity "lock" no longer keeping the door from opening. • Door facing the house is to prevent birds from wanting to go in. I've seen many curious crows trying to get the peanut, but I think they're smart enough now to stop trying (they've seen enough squirrels trapped). Birds don't seem as eager to squeeze into a small space like a squirrel. I like the idea I read here of attaching an Altoid tin to the bottom of the trap in front of the trip plate. I'm also considering covering the outside of the trap with hardware cloth, to prevent rats from escaping. The one rat that I caught could almost squeeze through the bars. I was surprised to have found one that couldn't get out. I've had a few squirrels recently run all around the trap but never go inside. Maybe they've been trapped before and aren't falling for it. I've since angled the trap a little so it's not squarely facing my house, and sure enough one squirrel finally did go in -- at the corner closer to the house. I also left a trail of empty peanut shells to the trap, to hopefully entice them inside.

In the past I've had a laissez faire attitude toward squirrels. Sure, they steal bird seed but a good quality tube feeder such as those from Droll Yankee will limit the amount of seed a squirrel can pilfer. And besides, squirrels need to eat too, right? So we've pretty much lived with squirrels at the feeders for the past few years. Our golden retriever loves to chase them... or at least try to. He'll go bounding out the door and by the time he hits the bottom step the squirrel is already 50 feet away at the top of a tree. He'll never catch one and a good time is had by all. ... That is, until the squirrels attacked our expensive Japanese Maples! I didn't know they could do this, but apparently it's fairly common for squirrels to strip the bark off Japanese Maple trees to use it to build their nests. Once the trees are stripped of bark they are as good as dead. We lost two beautiful JM trees this spring which will cost me hundreds of dollars to replace. Grrrrr.... Enter the Havahart. Once we got this trap, we caught 3 of them within one week. As others have pointed out, you have to bury the bait (birdseed) under the floor of the trap, or else they can walk into the trap, steal the bait, and walk right back out again. You also have to put a brick or some other weight on top of the trap because those little buggers are smart enough to pull the trap away from the bait. They use their teeth and tug at it just as a dog would tug at a toy rope. But with food set under the trap and a brick on top of it, this thing is a squirrel catching pro. I'd tell you to check with your local game warden because releasing animals is probably illegal in your area. I don't know what they expect you to do with the critters once you catch them, but I don't think anybody would really care if you release a squirrel at some random place in the forest. It might be a more serious offense if you were to release a skunk in your neighbor's yard. Don't do that.

Fast delivery, got here real fast. Set it up the next morning. I prepared a spot for the cage in the garden where the squirrels have been killing all my seedlings (watermelon and sunflower, little buggers aren't even eating them, just chewing the tops off and hence killing the sprouts) Dropped a bunch of cashews on the ground and set the trap on top so that the bait sits roughly under the step plate. Setup an IP cam and streamed the feed to my office. I camouflaged the cage with pine bows, twigs leaves etc leaving the opening looking like a little cave Nothing in the morning Chippy our resident chipmunk had a feast about 6pm, he was in and out no problem, didn't set off the trap (I think even if he did he could probably fit through the bars. So thats good). 7:30pm SQUIRREL alert!!! So here's where it gets interesting, the squirrel was VERY wary of the trap, he sat at the opening looking it up and down for a good 5-6 min, I could tell he wanted to go in, but he was definitely sketched out by the thing (oh I also hosed the cage down to remove what human scents I could). I think we may be unintentionally uplifting squirrels David Brin style. lol They seem to be smarter these days. Even the mice are setting off teh house traps, bait gone, no mouse. Weirding me out. Anyway, finally he goes in, wait for it, wait for it....and he comes out with a cashew in his paws. Sits at the opening and eats the nut. Goes back in, gets a second nut, comes back out. lol (BTW these nuts are behind and under the step plate, lol) So at this point I am thinking "dammit" waste of money yadda yadda. So I grabbed a large butter knife full of peanut butter went out to the trap and scraped the PB all over the step plate. Checked again at 8pm, trap door was shut and squirrel safely contained. I also filed the trigger mechanism a bit, giving it a little more sensitivity, so that may have helped the initial situation with it not going off. Or the PB was too much to resist. Or both. Removing the squirrel however was a challenge. The instructions say to place it down, open the door and prop it open with a stick, but I didn't even get the chance. I just put the cage down in the release field, stepped on it so I could get a good grip on the door, which is a little tricky with a live animal inside (wear gloves) and opened the door and he was out before I got it all the way open. that part was a little bit yikes! You may want to throw a blanket over it, might keep the animal calmer and not bashing around in the cage. He didn't appear to have injured himself although at release he was justifiably discombobulated. So, it indeed does work with careful placement, setting and bait, PB and cashews obviously work. Cage is sturdy as well. Good value!

Die Eichhörnchen waren zu leicht, um durch die Wippe die Falle auszulösen. Sprich die Nüsse waren weg und die Eichhörnchen auch. Nachdem ich die Wippe beschwert habe, hat es geklappt.

Sadly had to be returned, unused, but trap has the appearance of being a fine strong trap, but just not for rats. The only problem is that at the time, it was described as suitable for catching rats [quote]: "Havahart 1077 Live Animal Professional Style 1-Door Squirrel/ Rat Cage Trap". I had bought it to catch Norway / Brown rats. Except the mesh size is too large at just around 23mm (square mesh). For Norway Rats the advice: “seal all openings larger than 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) wide.”. It is notable that Havahart in their catalogue does not recommend trap 1077 for rats, they suggest it's for Rabbits, Squirrels, Weasels.

Très bon piège, J'ai attrapé sans problèmes 2 fouines qui squattaient mes combles. Fonctionne très bien avec un œuf pour ce genre d'animal, à condition de ne pas laisser d'odeur de notre passage.

I purchased this animal trap to see if i can capture the culprit that is eating my garden vegetables. As yet, i had no success in capturing anything, something had eaten the veggies i placed inside the trap, but, nothing was captured. It seems that the trap door does not close when the animal enters the trap. Not happy with the product.