Cage trapping Fox

[rye]

What is the right sized Cage trap for Fox?

[g3trappernc]

One at least big enough for a fox to walk into..... ;D

Maybe Tracy will pop on and fill us in....Saw some trail cam pictures at a taxidermy shop this evening that were taken last night.....a coon sized Havacrap and the fox worked it from the side, knocking it over....

[rye]

Hmm... I remember Tracey saying you had to hide it completely and also cover the floor with dirt so they can't feel the steel under them.

[UncleFester]

Here are the ones I use Ryan, this was set for a coon and Mr. Red found his way into it. I wanna say it is 14x14x30 ish.


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[g3trappernc]

Sean,

Do you have those made, or do you make them yourself?

Also, is that trap dipped or painted?

[UncleFester]

John, I bought those at the SE NTA a couple years back. They came speed dipped. There should be plenty of cages at the SE this year there are ussually a couple vendors and thats all they sell. Of course they dont want to tote all those cages home with them so they are reasonably priced.

[rye]

Thanks Sean,

I was wondering the same thing as John. I used speed dip last year and didn't care for it. You reckon painting them in the summer then allowing them to set would air them out enough ?

[cannonball]

I am sure that would be fine Rye.

[7oaksfarm]

Exterior Latex Paint-works well and is cheap
Get a large cardboard box-big enuf to lay all sides of the trap in
Cut the sides down to about 4-5 inches
Line it with a tarp or heavy plastic
Thin paint 50-50 w/water, it is latex anyway
Mix well in a 4-5 gal bucket then dump into tarp in box
Then dip away
I dip twice in a 2-3 day period
Hang in a sunny spot between and after dippings

Rustoleum would be longer lasting no doubt
But the airing out period is much longer
And it is much more expensive

BUT, if you can do it in the summer and let it air out a month or so it is better

I keep mine in a barn out of the weather unless in use, helping the latex keep longer

Hope this helps someone

John@"Seven Oaks Trap Line"

[Ldsoldier]

I remember Tracy saying that width is not as big an issue as height. He doesn't want anything on his back.

[treeman31666]

12x12x36 ,14x10x36 work well i sell a lot of them for fox and coon

[rye]

Thanks guys... things to keep in mind for next year!

[cannonball]

Ryan

Just cuirous. Why are you trying to catch a fox in a cage ? Just for fun or for a future ADC job ?

[rye]

Possible ADC work here in town.. there are dozens of them in the city limits and Animal contro is constantly getting calls to deal with them. Also, possibly live market stuff. Traps I have seem to play heck on their feet. Even the laminated and offset jaws do a number on them. I don't want to put too much into the padded jaws. Seriously thinking about going with MB450's next year to see if they aren't as rough on them. Buddy is using one and said there's been no damage on the fox at all.
If can use the cages for removing them in the city and for getting a few for the live market I figure it'll work out in the end. Just looking into getting two or three of them.

[cannonball]

I got you.

Funny you mentioned the MB-450. I am planning on buying several doezen of them for next year. Believe it or not I called MTP yesterday to talk with Rick Caven. He was unavailable at the time so I will call him back, but anyway, I was calling to see if there were any plans in the works for making a 450 with offset jaws. Turns out there are plans for doing this. Nobody would commit to when they will be available but it sounded like this summer. I bet they might be testing some this year when Tim and Rick come down south to trap.

I have not tried it but you know Tracey Truman uses those little Bridger #1's when trapping near a state road. Some kind of crazy law he has to follow requires all traps set within so many feet of a SR must be of a #1 or smaller or somthing like that. Buzzard mentioned a long time ago on here that the best gray fox trap he ever used was some old single coil spring #1's that he had back years ago. I had a friend that bought a dozen of them by accident. They were hard little buggers to set because of only having one lever but they weighed nothing.

I have not talked with or heard of anyone else using a #1 size trap for grays. I would think that any #1 coil and I think victor even makes a #1 padded jaw trap , would be worth trying. I guess you would just have to be satisfied knowing that you were going to miss or loose most yotes and probably quite a few cats as well.

I used to catch grays all the time in victor and B & L #1 longsprings when I was a kid and that was all I had. What are your thoughts on the #1 trap for grays Rod ?

Just a thought.