Digging Problems

[GoBlueGuy]

I have had between 14 and 18 traps for fox and coyotes set out for the last three months. For some reason several have been dug up the past couple of weeks over and over. Some were fired and some were not. Most of the traps that were dug up were along ditches and tree lines and there are a lot of coon in these areas. I have caught many coon, possum, and a few skunk and depending on the condition of the trap I have made resets. Some traps have been taken out of service because I felt they were contaminated with scent (blood or skunk scent). But some sets have been dug up over and over. These sets appear clean and are still bedded very well but after every check they lie bare on the ground. Two weeks ago I pulled all my traps and redyed and rewaxed them. I waited 3 days and then set them at some different locations and a few at some of the old locations. I have caught three coyotes and one red fox so I am not complaining a lot but I would like to eliminate, as much as possible, these traps being dug up. I am trapping in SE Michigan and the weather has been very mild this winter. Coon have been moving frequently so I have moved some set away from the trees and into field corners. Still some of these sets are still dug up over and over. Some questions I have are:

1. Is setting traps for coyote and fox in heavy coon areas just increase chances of dug up traps?

2. I have pretty much stopped using bait and use only lures and urine in these areas but still the traps are dug up. Using only a Q tip dipped into the lure for an amount. Am I using too much lure?

3. I am bedding in peat moss and the traps are stable, yet they are dug up. Trap pans are between 9 and 10 inches from dirt hole and dirt hole is stuffed with grass to make target more curious. Is the trap too close?

4. For the amount of traps I have out (16) now, is this just a common ratio to have 5 traps dug up 3 out of 4 days?

5. If traps are dug out a few times should I pull them and reset them somewhere else?

6. These traps have been dyed and waxed twice in the last three months. I use different gloves to set traps and to lure and bait the dirt hole. I also use a kneeling pad and never set my small cooler, that has my lure and bait in it, next to the set. It is always about 10 feet away. Is that too close? It is a small cooler with a closed top. Cleaned on the outside.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance for all your help.

[scout]

Having traps dug up is something every trapper has to deal with sooner or later. IMO there is no one size fits all for catching a digger. The thing about diggers is that they can be caught sooner or later because they are coming back. That can't be said for the smart fox or coyote that turns around running 15 feet from the set. 1. Try a much larger roughed up area 4-8 feet, leave the original trap where it was and hide two more traps to the left and right of where the original trap is. 2. Make a set with the trap completely blended and no roughed up area of dirt showing. I do this by digging a much smaller bed and pound out the majority of the bed with my hammer. The trap can fit tightly in the bed when it is not freezing, but when below freezing no part of the trap can touch the sides or be able to freeze down, I prefer waxed sand to bed for this, but dry peat will work also, I do not cover the trap with sand or peat, and use no trap pan cover, but have pre-cut pieces of dried moss that fit within the trap jaws to place on top of the pan. Then blend carefully with material from around the site and bait..
3. Use a blind set on the approach to the set, sometimes I bed as with #2 or just pound out a bed and blend in well. Make several of these if possible.
4. If snow is coming make a urine post set an hour or two before the storm, let the snow cover the set and then stay as far away as possible when checking.
Note: these are not production methods, but when you have a digger and you have the time for the challenge, they can usually be caught.
Here is a mangy coyote that was digging all the traps on one property up almost every night. I started with a previous catch circle from a fox and with a pick and potato rake dug up everything so there was no way to tell where the trap was.

Be aware that some diggers may have a stump for a front foot, which will create their own challenges!

[redeagle]

Realize that coons, and other animals, too, will be curious about your trap bed and will dig around in it. They will start digging in the bed and dig their way to the dirthole. Once they feel the trap, they will dig it up out of curiosity. It's not that they are trap smart; they are merely curious. Coons will treat a trap as a toy and want to play with it. I have had the same experiences that you are describing. They seem to be really curious about the soft fluffiness of the peat moss and want to dig in it. The way I have gotten around this problem is to drag the dirt from the hole to create a dirt pattern in front of it just like a regular dirthole set. But, I don't bury a trap here. Instead, I will make two very small beds, one off to each side of the hole, put a trap in each and cover the traps with natural vegetation at the site. In my area it is leaves and pine needles. These two blended sets will get the majority of the animals by a hind foot as they dig around, messing with your set. They are so focused on the dirt pattern and the hole that they are not conscious of where they are placing their hind feet. Try it and see for yourself.

[trappnman]

1. Is setting traps for coyote and fox in heavy coon areas just increase chances of dug up traps?

No.

If such were so, then coon trapping with footholds would see a constant and consistent amount of traps dug up each day.

Animals dig at a trap (bed) for several reasons. Unstable trap, odors in the dirt or on the trap, or a curiosity factor as in different/fresh dirt or bedding materials.

sounds like your traps are clean enough. Even a bit of blood or lure on the trap doesn't mean much if you got what they want down the hole. if you got 1/4 an oz of lure down the hole, with that visual of a hole, a drop or two on the trap or in the bed isn't going to cause consistent digging, and 25-30% dug up, is far too many for an occasional "dirty" trap.

coon digging, and canine digging as well, can be combated almost 99% of the time, by having the right bedding materials, and by having a stable trap, meaning one that doesn't rock or tip when pressure is applied at any point. and no, I'm not advocating over zealousness in bedding, but a trap that's going to move, or a trap that's in soft materials with hard ground all around, is going to get more than its fair share of digging overall.

2. I have pretty much stopped using bait and use only lures and urine in these areas but still the traps are dug up. Using only a Q tip dipped into the lure for an amount. Am I using too much lure?

NO!

why did you quit using bait, esp this time of year? bait use in and of itself, has no bearing on digging AT the trap.

forget the Q tips- dump in a bunch of lure- make that two lures, and big glob of bait and then urine- give him something he wants to investigate. That overluring or overbaiting repels coyotes is a myth 99.9% of the time.

3. I am bedding in peat moss and the traps are stable, yet they are dug up. Trap pans are between 9 and 10 inches from dirt hole and dirt hole is stuffed with grass to make target more curious. Is the trap too close?

while trap placement can occasionally be a factor in digging- for example traps set tight to the hole might be exposed while digging at the set, overall trap placement is not the cause or the answer to your digging.

I suspect your main problem, if not all of it RE: digging, is in your use of peat. Peat smells different, peat feels different.

if you are using the minimum amount, just in the trap bed, its going to, in my experience at hole sets, cause digging for a couple of reasons. Soft ground in the middle of hard ground, is going to cause curiosity. Esp soft ground that has an entirely different smell. The first few times I used peat, I tried to make a little stretch, and it was a nightmare. When I learn to make big, broad patterns with a peat/dirt mix around the entire extended trap bed, those problems stopped.

Bed your trap. Now, take handfuls of peat and toss it all around the set, take dirt in one hand and peat and the other, and rub together and broadcast over extended pattern. when you get done, peat should now be commonplace at the set.

you state you bed the trap stable, but are you? peat doesn't compress, so it can be hard to get it so a trap doesn't move. this might be your problem here and there, but again, IMO opinion unless extremely "rocky" most likely not your problem.

in my opinion, use lots more peat per set, and I think you will see the digging go away.

4. For the amount of traps I have out (16) now, is this just a common ratio to have 5 traps dug up 3 out of 4 days?

No. As mentioned in another post lots of little critters including mice dig in trap beds, but this is almost always because of again, the soft material in a sea of hardness.

When I've trapped out west in sand, I found digging to be a non factor. I mentioned that to Dave Hastings, and he commented that in his opinion, that was because the terrain was all equal- a sand bedded in sand, surrounded by sand (vs here hard ground & soft ground) so that NOTHING stood out at the actual trap

5. If traps are dug out a few times should I pull them and reset them somewhere else?

hard to say. if its an area where you have been trying for weeks, I'd pull those, set up elsewhere. if you have no choice but to continue in present locations, then if non coyotes have been digging, the above tips will eliminate that but if its coyotes every time, then yes, I'd move them to other spots at that location, with different looks and smells at the set

These traps have been dyed and waxed twice in the last three months. I use different gloves to set traps and to lure and bait the dirt hole. I also use a kneeling pad and never set my small cooler, that has my lure and bait in it, next to the set. It is always about 10 feet away. Is that too close? It is a small cooler with a closed top. Cleaned on the outside.

all non factors

[GoBlueGuy]

Thanks for all the information passed along to me. One more question. Can my trap beds be too deep? How much peat is necessary in the bottom of the trap bed to keep trap from freezing? I have about 1/2 inch. Can I use less and still make the trap function? Is 1/4 inch enough? I am running out of time to explore and experiment because out season ends in 10 days. With wet weather coming in about 6 days I think I am about done and traps will have to be pulled.

Thanks again.

[trappnman]

no, you can't get it too deep, but it doesn't have to be deeper than a trap bed you pack with dirt only.

I like a good amount in the bed, and if I had to deal with consistently changing wet/dry/freeze conditions on soaked ground, I'd maybe line the bottom with wax paper.

here is what I find works well for me insofar as bedding in peat. I like to put a half inch or so of dry dirt in the bottom, then a good layer of peat at least 1/2 inch and perferably an inch, fluffed in as it is, and then wiggle the trap down into it and I find it beds pretty well. if needed, a small clod of dirt here and there by springs makes it solid enough. Then I cover trap with pure peat, lightly pushing it down at trap edges.

I next fling and throw peat around, so its as much peat as not, then use the dirt/peat mixture to cover rest of trap bed. I will not "lightly cover the peat with site dirt" no disrespect to those that do, but I find that if you put enough on to matter (covering the peat enough to "disguise" it and keep it from blowing off and exposing peat) its got to be a fair amount, and if it rains its going to freeze and you think it doesn't matter, but 1/4 inch of frozen dirt does indeed matter. I've learned that the hard way- any less thna that, and it seems I get problems-

so my completed pattern, shows as much pear in actual trap pattern, as dirt- I want that mottled look all over.

I'm so convinced of the value of using a lot of peat when you use peat, that if you are limited in peat, I think you would be better off limiting the number of sets, and not the amount used.

If I don't need to use peat, I don't. but so far, I'm more than happy with the results when I do need to use it.