Victor Soft Catch Traps

[botebum]

Does anybody have any experience with these? I am going to need to protect our garden and our chickens from fox, raccoon, and rabbit. I can't use standard leg/foot traps because of our dogs and the eventual cat(or three ). If I use the 1½ size model am I going to be paying vet bills on sprained/broken dog and cat legs? Will these traps hold the animal until I get out there to either set my pet free or dispatch the pest? I'm most worried about my dogs(ok- I'm gonna worry about my daughter's cats too-geez) and how they will fare if/when they get whacked. The chances of my pets will be minimalized as the traps will only be set at night and, theoretically, tripped in the morning. But the dogs go out first thing in the morning and the cat(s) will almost never be in the house. Will the presence of cats deter fox and raccoon? Hmmm. Hadn't thought of that.

Doug

[Bearfootfarm]

Cats dont deter much of anything larger than a mouse. A good "yard dog" will though.

I dont know about the leg hold traps. I use a live trap around here. It doesnt take long for the cats to learn to stay out, and my dogs wont fit anyway

[longshadowfarms]

If you are not experienced in the use of foothold traps I do not encourage you to start. If you understand their use and how to set them properly, I encourage the use of them. For most people I think they should use good fencing and Havahart style traps.

That said. Use the regular 1 1/2 traps you should not have any injuries from them. The myth of injuries comes from traps that are not regularly checked or are to big for the intended animal. Now a racoon will chew on their own foot, because it becomes numb in a traps grip, the only way to avoid that is to use double jawed traps or to use small traps like a number 1. Therefore a padded jaw trap in 1 1/2 is less humane for coon, then a smaller or double jawed trap. I have released both cats and dogs (my own) with no injuries from a properly placed 1 1/2.

RW