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Posted by luckyjack (Member # 3462) on August 04, 2010, 05:55 PM:
Does a red or grey fox normally fight a cage trap pretty hard?
In other words, does it take a pretty stout cage to hold a fox without it tearing the cage up enough to get out or destroy it bad enough that it couldn't be used again without major repairs?
Might as well ask about bobcats while I'm at it. I've heard they are fairly docile in a live trap. True? Or no?
Thanks gents.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on August 04, 2010, 06:21 PM:
I trapped a housecat that I thought was going to eat me alive! The one bobcat I saw trapped in a cage was pretty tame. Fox, don't know but my guess is they are not very aggressive?
Good hunting. LB
Posted by Steve Craig (Member # 12) on August 05, 2010, 06:43 AM:
They do not "fight" a cage.
They will however do a lot of digging through the door, pulling up dirt into the cage.
Usually the first time they figure out they are trapped, they will bang and hit the back and door a couple times, then just settle down to digging.
Big Tom bobcats will give your cage a bigger test than a fox. Coons will tear the crap out of a cage, and will fight it harder than any critter.
Posted by furhvstr (Member # 1389) on August 05, 2010, 02:30 PM:
At the risk of running "afoul" of my head cheerleader Steve Craig I am going to have to disagree to some extent that cats "don't fight a cage"
My experience when using these trail cams at my sets is that they do fight the cage. Always for several hours until the camera batteries run out or the card fills up. Not continuos but for the first couple hours they trigger the cam quite a bit. They fight for 5-10 seconds then rest for 10-20. This goes on vigorously for awile and then slows to brief periods of activity and longer breaks between struggles. By morning they are only fighting the cage once or twice an hour and so when the trapper walks up on the cage they will find the cat usually resting and even sleeping. It is not uncommon to have 150 to 180 videos of a cat fighting the cage before the card fills up.
To answer the mans original question in my opinion I would not want to trap cats or greys with anything less than a 14 gauge wire with 1X1 inch spacing. Lighter gauge wire will work but won't last.
Gray fox are easy to catch and easy to hold.
[IMG]http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l427/furhvstr/cagingbobcats/th_IM000 016-1.jpg[/IMG]
[ August 05, 2010, 02:37 PM: Message edited by: furhvstr ]
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on August 05, 2010, 04:03 PM:
Well, there you go. ElBee
Posted by luckyjack (Member # 3462) on August 05, 2010, 08:11 PM:
Quote furhvstr
"To answer the mans original question in my opinion I would not want to trap cats or greys with anything less than a 14 gauge wire with 1X1 inch spacing. Lighter gauge wire will work but won't last."
Gauge of wire and spacing noted. That tells me a bunch right there.
Reds and greys attitudes once in the cage about the same?
Thanks to all.
Jack
Posted by furhvstr (Member # 1389) on August 07, 2010, 06:58 AM:
Don't know anything about reds other than it is commonly stated that they are close to impossible to get into a cage.
ML
Posted by Steve Craig (Member # 12) on August 07, 2010, 09:40 AM:
Mercer,
The "they dont fight a cage" I was refering to the greys the man asked about.
So no disagreement on my part with you about the cats. Like I posted above. All a guy has to do is look at his wire...LOL And another reason for going with your design as all the trigger wire is external and not internal.
Reds can be caught in a cage, but not the style we use to trap with. My good friend, Bob Wendt, uses a "repeater" cage he invented and takes many multiple catches at the den site. Kinda cool to see mom,dad and 3-6 pups all stacked in that one cage.
Once the reds are in the cage, they just dont "fight" it.
Coyotes in a cage is another story. And like I said above, coons tear heck out of them.
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on August 07, 2010, 12:08 PM:
Ron Fry (LAtrapper) is fairly proficient at catching reds in traditional cage traps.
Reginald Murray is also pretty good at trapping reds, using a chicken box in conjunction with a drop door cage trap... here's a youtube clip of Reg in action.
I've had pretty good luck, with only two cages damaged after several hundred 'coons caught.
Krusty 
[ August 07, 2010, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: Krustyklimber ]
Posted by furhvstr (Member # 1389) on August 07, 2010, 08:11 PM:
My bad Steve. I see it clearly now. I geuss my brain only works in bobcat.
ML
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