I am sorry if this has been discussed before but I could not find anything…
If you catch a tiger [feral cat] in a cage trap and you give it the bad news in the morning … do you wash the floor of the trap or leave it dirty ?
I have been told to leave it dirty but I have a suspicion that tigers can leave scents/pheromones which will discourage others from entering the trap ? Thoughts please.
I have modified my cage traps , they now have plywood floors.
Hello - generally I do not clean my cage trap floors after disposing of animals humanely within the cage. If it has been a tiger/feral cat in the cage - yes it may have left scent there - and that is an attractant for other tiger/ferals to investigate - they too may leave there mark, hopefully entering the trap …!.
Leave it dirty.
Hi I use a ply base on my cages and never bother to clean it after catching some thing, generally ends up with some blood etc after having to shoot what you catch, to me it all adds to the mix.
If you have the cage in the bush it would be difficult to clean anyway and if you used chemicals probably do more harm than good
Thanks for your thoughts. It has been interesting watching the game camera set up on one of my cage traps. I had 7 or 8 tigers visit this cage but not go in the trap after one had been in [and got the bad news] and I wondered if some sort of pheromone had been left behind. See what happens this winter. I have caught hhogs in the trap/s so they are definitely not to upset by the smell.
I will be changing the bait from saltwater salmon heads over to duck meat shortly as the flies give the duck a hard time over the warmer months whereas the salmon gets flyblown but the eggs dont hatch it just goes dry.
Hi probably another one of those things we lack research on, and the low number of replies may indicate that we just don’t know. I know one of the groups I work with use NO ply on floor they just throw handfuls of soil and leaf litter over the mesh on base, they still have feral cats /ferrets wander past, they use a big hunk of rabbit.
I’m developing a new trigger system for cages so have been trialing it at home, caught 6 Cats in a couple of weeks but the difference is they are pets from around the area so will have a different reaction to being caught
might be worth noting we have about 200 DOC 250’s all baited with rabbit, as well as 200’s I was going through the year to date data yesterday and we have caught more feral cats in 250’s than ferrets, they might not be approved for Feral Cats, but if they want to stick their head in the trap so be it.
I think [with absolutely no data to back this up] that a straight wire mesh floor is good as long as you have no rubbish leaf litter cabbage tree leaves etc that can get behind /under the trip mechanism , otherwise I will use ply. I saw a video Cam Speedy had of a tiger putting its paw on the rim of a No.1 leghold trap and pulling its leg back at lightening speed … its definitely did not like feeling that… Hence the interest in covering the treadles on doc traps ?
I do like the Tawhiti ply trap floor and treadle and trip system.
Hi I fully agree animals touching a bare steel treadle is a problem just like it is on the DOC traps, like i have mentioned before just watch some you tube videos of the lengths Australian trappers for wild Dogs go to disguise treadle plates.
The two cage trap trigger designs I’m working on and have running ok neither use a Treadle plate. Can’t say much about one as that might be going into production, but the other one which I might post some photos of and a handy person can make or I’m toying with the idea of making conversion Kits it simply uses a hanging Hook from the roof and a long rod to activate the door. simply hang you bait on the hook and it does not matter which way the animal moves the hook it activates the trigger, similar to how the cheap mouse/ rat cages work just with a better trigger system
One thing I have thought about but never tried on cages is would it be worthwhile to replace the Mesh end with a piece of perspex or polycarbonate to make it look open
cheers
Hi, we have video of cats being tentative on mesh so we put ply on all cage traps. As others have said, the ply absorbs blood etc which attracts predators. Our video shows predators following each others trails, leading them into the trap. We use treadle plate triggers because they work for every species and are set to go off at rat weight or higher. A critical difference in the cages we use is they have both ends open with sliding solid doors, so it look like a tunnel. No dead end. These are the Tawhiti cages, which I’m involved in the sourcing of, though don’t make any money form.
That’s interesting, thank you all. I cover the floor with leaf litter, but may try ply.
Had a feral cat escape through the front door, squeezing out the sides. Or maybe just caught on the way out. Will look into the Tawhiti trap.
Depending on what my target/expected species is and how filthy it is and have hosed them out before. This is with a plywood floor with minimal gap between the 3 sheets of ply. Sometimes there is a big pool of blood and they can make a real mess. But I would only do this if water was nearby of the cat had diarrhea or something. If you’re trying to catch other members of the cat’s family (or other cats), then leave as is. I don’t know what the science says, but I’m sure there are lots of caveats either way.
One other thing I try and remember to do is dig a wee trench under where the trap treadle hinges on the floor. This is done so as to make it easier for rubbish to go through the mesh floor and not get underneath the treadle where it can impede tripping.