The second squirrel has apparently learned not to get all the way inside, so the door can’t latch down on it. It doesn’t always get the bait, but the trap never gets it.
This morning I lay in bed thinking I may end up taking the screen out of the window, setting out a plate of chicken pellets a la Wile E. Coyote, and waiting to snipe it from inside the Lair. It might actually come to that.
Gad, that thing was expensive.
They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means “The Ultimate Argument of Kings,” and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. “We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it’s about: You’ll do as I say or I’ll send my goons to kill you.”
I thought about that for a long time. If there’s an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I’ve got bullets – he’s got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that’s not going to happen. So if there’s an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain’t bullets.
It finally came to me – and that’s when I abandoned the city and most of my stuff, and gave all that was behind me a good stiff Randian Shrug.
The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.
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Laddie the Amazing Torso Boy 2011-2020
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so never having trapped squirrels* can I throw an idea out there? Is there a way to open the trap that it cannot be triggered? Close one end (if you can) , place the food in the trap by the trigger, and let him get it a few times, each time moving it farther PAST the trigger twords the already closed end…
Teach him “no, really its safe, HONEST” then make sure the bait is in there good, and will trip the trigger…
*outside of the large spring rat trap with peanut butter nailed to the side of a tree method
Or perhaps as I said a few posts down . . .
I’ve always used single-door traps. Early on I learned to put the bait clear down at the extreme end of the trap opposite the door so the critter HAS to walk over the trip plate. Works quite well.
Can the two-door trap be set with only one door open? Baited as I mentioned above might give you better results, but of course wouldn’t help if the mice steal the bait.
Just a thought. Perhaps you’ve already tried this.
🙂
Look at a small conibear type trap. Maybe a 110 size. Locate it where it won’t whack the dogs on the snout. I have placed them on a board nailed to the side of a tree with the trap on its side. The limb bacon just hops on the board coming down the tree and dies instantly. I’ll bet they would work on the big rats as well. And they only cost about 5 bucks.
I was just thinking, if you have some more wire mesh, or some kind of tube or box that will fit over one end of the trap, put the bait in it so the squirrel has to go completely through the trap to get to the bait.
Or, like they said above, just block one end with something that won’t stop the door from falling and put the bait near that end..
I used to catch flying squirrels in the dark with a Pringle’s can with peanut butter in the bottom. I’d set it on a picnic table and wait til I heard them inside, then pop the lid on. And hold it, because they weren’t happy.
I’ve caught many squirrels and rats with a trap almost identical to yours. I cover the back side of the trip plate with peanut butter piled about 1/2″ deep. The critter slowly gets comfortable nibbling on the PB and the trap snaps closed. I would guess I’ve I’ve caught close to 75 critters this way over the last few years.
Put a small spring or body trap or in the live trap where the dogs cannot get at the kill trap.