Water Rat

Hoping for the best.

I only noticed a decline in movement on windy nights. However the night after a snowstorm seems to get them moving again too.

Here’s a suggestion for what it’s worth. Get yourself some wax paper and cut it to the size of your trap bed. Crumble it good so it doesn’t make any noise. Lay it down and set your trap on it. Take another piece of wax paper and cut it to the size of the interior of your trap when it is set. Make sure that you crumble it so it doesn’t make any noise when the animal steps on the pan. Now slide it under the loose jaw of the trap and over the pan. Both jaws should now be sitting on wax paper. Now add the dirt around the trap and bed it solid so that it doesn’t move. Now add about 1/4” of dirt over the trap area and spread it out so the lowest part of the bed is where the pan is. Animals will normally step on the lowest part of the trap bed. I use a small clean paintbrush to even out the bed. If you see a blowdown in the woods , you can usually get some dry dirt from the root ball. Just sift the dirt so there’s no twigs , sticks etc...This will work with calcium chloride added in but I rather use waxed dirt. Hopefully your traps are waxed because the salt will damage them. This will prevent your traps from freezing to the ground. It would have been easier to show you , then for me to try to explain it. There’s probably some YouTube videos that show what I mean. Best of luck out there.

I made a bobcat set on Monday figuring that they might be moving before the predicted snowfall. On Tuesday morning , I found this female (15 pounds ) waiting for me.

I saw this on another website. Sure wish we had badgers and wolverines in NY.

Good looking bobcat.

I only have 6 sets out but had to clean them up today after yesterday’s snow. I also had to add some more bait , gland and call lure.

Just a little suggestion...... you need to have some sort of backing behind the dirt hole. You can clearly see the tracks as it walked behind your set. Looks like he also took a dump while he was there. If you have access to some wax dirt , it’ll help keep the set operable. If this was a urine post set , the trap wasn’t bedded good enough or it was dirty and the canine started digging it up. Anyway it sure is fun and experience is the best teacher. Hope to see something that you catch before the season ends. Best of luck !

Congrats on your certificate.

Happy birthday guys..... enjoy your day.