Hav-A-Heart Trap - How to set
Cheryl
havoc in my yard. I have a Hav-A-Heart trap, but for the life of me I
can't figure out how to set the thing. Can anyone tell me the trick.
Or point me to a site that has a picture of a set trap?
TIA, Cheryl
LeeAnne
If it's the same kind of mechanism that I'm accustomed to . . . you have two
doors, one on each side that can open - you'll notice when you move these
doors there are little bars or levers that move w/them, (on the outside
middle of the cage) one of these will be straight w/maybe a little bump and
the other will have more of a bend, or even a small loop out in the bar.
The object is to use these two bars as leverage against one another to hold
it open, then when a critter steps on the metal teeter totter in the middle
it moves those bars just enough to release them. Basically the pressure of
the two bars against eachother holds it open, but when that middle see-saw
is stepped on it releases that pressure causing the two end doors to shut.
Now, make sure when you finally do have it set that the 'lock bars'
(different from the release bars) are in place to fall down on top of the
doors -- you should notice that each door has a couple divots in it so when
it's shut these lock bars go into those divots preventing whatever is inside
from simply pushing the door open and walking out. Basically these locking
bars should be laying on top of the open door so when the door falls the bar
goes w/it.
MOST IMPORTANT -- shut the thing at night if you don't want to be catching
skunks. It is possible to release a skunk from the trap, but it takes a
blanket and a verrrrrrry long pole and a lot of hard work.
Good luck
L
"Cheryl" <ca...@caltel.com> wrote in message
news:decd7900.02082...@posting.google.com...
MikeB
Neil Law
wrote:
>
>MOST IMPORTANT -- shut the thing at night if you don't want to be catching
>skunks. It is possible to release a skunk from the trap, but it takes a
>blanket and a verrrrrrry long pole and a lot of hard work.
>
raise their tails to spray (a little hard in the cage). Also, they don't like to
spray themselves so they wouldn't do it while trapped like that.
Can anyone confirm or deny this? I do most of my trapping at night and I'd hate
to catch a skunk and find out I was wrong.
Neil Law
Waterloo, On, Canada
art
When I set the HavaHeart traps, I leave one door down & one open. I
have found that when both are open, the critters do not get trapped. I
set the bait, usually peanut butter, past the middle from the open
end.
Also, I use one size larger of the traps than HavaHeart recommends.
With all the good food around, the critters are just
bigger...especially the coons.
Ozzie
MikeB <Be...@bertcom.com> wrote in message news:<3D63DD9D...@bertcom.com>...
Cheryl
Cheryl
artwh...@earthlink.com (art) wrote in message news:<b22a9eae.02082...@posting.google.com>...
Dwight Sipler
The HavaHart trap is a mechanical device that is subject to friction,
particularly after a few uses when it is likely to get slightly bent.
For that reason, I find that it is helpful to add weight to the door or
doors when setting the trap. For a full sized woodchuck/raccoon trap I
use a brick on the door. For a smaller trap use a medium stone. The
added weight helps to close the door firmly and keeps the critter from
holding the door open with its tail.
LeeAnne
I've heard that too, but I know that I, personally, won't take the chance of
thinking they **won't** spray only to find out that they will when I get
close :-)
Young skunks also have less control over their spray than adults do.
L
"Neil Law" <neil....@waterloo.ncr.com> wrote in message
news:liu7mu8v0h5mmeaml...@4ax.com...
Dwight Sipler
I've caught a half dozen skunks (I can't really attest that they were
all different ones) in HavaHart traps and haven't been sprayed (yet). I
check the traps during daylight and the skunks don't seem to be too
active then. Don't know if that's significant. I generally walk up to
the long side of the trap (since the skunk can't turn in that direction)
and just unlatch the trap and sometimes put a stick under the door to
show the skunk that it's open. Then I walk away and check back in an
hour or so.
Once the skunk had pulled up some grass and made a nest. It was in the
shade and it was comfortable in there so even though the door was wide
open the skunk stayed put until it got dark.
I've heard that they won't spray if you cover the trap. Haven't tried
that. If you can walk up to the trap with a blanket or tarp in front of
you, you can quickly raise it if the skunk starts making threatening
motions (stamping its feet or turning away from you [I believe the
normal position for spraying is facing the threat, standing on its front
feet and lifting the hind end and curling the tail around]). When you
get close enough you can throw the tarp over the trap. Then you can
release the catches by feel through the tarp fairly safely.
If the skunk sprays, the old tomato juice remedy supposedly isn't very
effective. The new remedy is something including hydrogen peroxide, but
I can't remember the formula. It was published by our local extension
service, so it's probably on the web somewhere.
Phisherman
>Hi:
>
>When I set the HavaHeart traps, I leave one door down & one open. I
>have found that when both are open, the critters do not get trapped. I
>set the bait, usually peanut butter, past the middle from the open
>end.
>
>Also, I use one size larger of the traps than HavaHeart recommends.
>With all the good food around, the critters are just
>bigger...especially the coons.
>
>Ozzie
>
I leave both doors open. I want to catch squirrels, but usually catch
birds. One time a big fat possom squeezed into the trap. Very
strange to see a square-shaped possom. I use a piece of
corn-on-the-cob as bait.