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Author
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Topic: Fox cage trapping question
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luckyjack
Knows what it's all about
Member # 3462
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posted 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.
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better to be lucky than good
Posts: 41 | From: 4 sections North of Clem | Registered: Jul 2009
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted 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
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31462 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Steve Craig
Lacks Opposable Thumbs/what's up with that?
Member # 12
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posted 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.
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Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction. - Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 442 | From: Cottonwood,Az, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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furhvstr
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1389
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posted 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 ]
Posts: 144 | From: California | Registered: Apr 2007
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted August 05, 2010 04:03 PM
Well, there you go. ElBee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
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luckyjack
Knows what it's all about
Member # 3462
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posted 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
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better to be lucky than good
Posts: 41 | From: 4 sections North of Clem | Registered: Jul 2009
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furhvstr
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1389
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posted 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
Posts: 144 | From: California | Registered: Apr 2007
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Steve Craig
Lacks Opposable Thumbs/what's up with that?
Member # 12
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posted 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.
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Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction. - Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 442 | From: Cottonwood,Az, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Krustyklimber
prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee
Member # 72
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posted 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 ]
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Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that!
Posts: 1912 | From: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia | Registered: Jan 2003
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furhvstr
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1389
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posted August 07, 2010 08:11 PM
My bad Steve. I see it clearly now. I geuss my brain only works in bobcat.
ML
Posts: 144 | From: California | Registered: Apr 2007
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