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Ch. 5 (old book)
Capturing and Handling Wild Animals
Ch. 10 (2005 book)
26 August 2009
Note: The figure numbers and pages refer to the old book unless otherwise stated.
The new book has fewer pictures/figures for this chapter than the old book, but I
want to show the pictures I have and need to keep the same figure numbers so I
show the correct ones.
Baits
Deer – different baits have been used in different areas – examples of baits for deerapples, pears, alfalfa, cottonseed, salt, corn
Game birds – grains – corn, milo, oats
Rodents/small mammals – peanutbutter and rolled oats mixture
Scents
Carnivores (furbearers) – often use “curiosity” scents – carnivores are attracted to
“stinky” baits
Coyotes – mixture of coyote urine and anal glands, fish oil, and glycerine as a
preservative
Various carnivores – attracted to scent of meat “stink” baits made from fish, poultry, or
beef—can punch holes in can and let meat rot for a long-lasting bait
Other ingredients – rotten egg smell, seal oil, beaver castor, skunk musk
Sometimes smelling plant extracts are added also – e.g., roots of Asiatic plant called
asafetida- imparts strong, persistent odor to the scents; also oils from anise and valerian
(herbs); some add cheap perfume to the mix
Capturing Mammals
1.
Steel and Snap Traps
Leghold traps – sometimes use padded jaws – laws have changed in some areas/countries
on what kind of legholds can be used
Conibear – square-shaped – often kill by breaking back
Bailey live trap – for beaver – see Fig. 2, p. 108
Snap traps – kill traps (Victor); Museum Specials – do not destroy the skull as readily
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2.
Leg Snares
Sometimes used on large carnivores (e.g., wolves, coyotes, foxes, skunks, raccoons)
3.
Box Traps
Lots of different kinds
Stephenson box trap – for deer – see Fig. 3, p. 108
Clover trap – for deer – see Fig 5, p. 109
Culvert trap – for bear – see Fig 4, p. 109 (2005 book = Fig. 13, p. 263)
Small Mammals – caught in box-like traps—kinds include Havahart, Longworth,
National, Sherman, and Victor
Some traps are designed to capture more than one animal, but most are for 1 capture
at a time
4.
Corral Traps
Corrals with wings are often used for big-game species (large ungulates) – like the
corrals at Teddy Roosevelt National Park
Some are permanent, others portable
5.
Net Traps
Cannon nets and rocket nets – deer, bighorn sheep
Drive nets and helicopters for large ungulates
Long-handled nets – muskrats
Drop net – see Fig 7, p. 110
6.
Net Gun
Hand-held net gun – fired from helicopter – has been used on golden eagles,
waterfowl, caribou, coyotes, other ungulates – see Fig 8, p. 111
7.
Oral Drugs
Not often used, but to be effective the drug would have to have these qualities:
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be readily taken in food or water
have wide safety margin because of difficulty in controlling amount
ingested
be fast-acting so animals do not move away
not be injurious to other animals who might eat it
8.
Miscellaneous Methods
Pitfall traps – for small mammals, insects
Drift fences often used with pitfalls placed every so often – amphibians, reptiles
Read about others
Capturing Birds
Baited traps – seed-eating birds can often be lured in with food; often box held up with
stick (with string attached)
Funnel traps (quail recall pens are like this) – wide portion of funnel is at outside of trap,
small end projects in; birds usually overlook inner smaller opening as it is not on
perimeter of trap
Tunnel traps – tunnel leads into trap – see Fig. 10, p. 112
Ladder traps – walk up ladder and drop in – Fig. 11, p. 112
Read about others
Net Traps
Projectiles and drop nets- put bait out for the birds, when they are there, shoot net over
them—used on wild turkeys, waterfowl – birds that are too wary to enter an enclosure –
see Fig 12, p. 113
Nets and Lights at Night
Use spotlight on a pickup, people sit on seats affixed to front with long-handled nets –
can catch pheasants, soras, Virginia rails, barn owls, screech owls, northern bobwhite,
greater prairie chickens, etc. – see Fig. 13, p. 114
Mist Nets
Nets that have very fine mesh – put up horizontally (usually with poles) so birds fly into
it without seeing it- get caught, then researcher removes them from the tangles they make
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in the net – Joe Gartner will give us a demonstration for this; see Figs. 14, 15, 16,
pp.114-115
Drive and Drift Traps
Often used when waterfowl molt and they cannot fly away – herd the birds right into the
traps- often have wings that lead into trap- in water, they might use fishnet to make the
traps—can do it on the water or land
Drift trap – see Fig. 17, p, 116
Decoy and Enticement Lures
bal-chatri trap – chickenwire cage holds live bait of rodent or bird – on top of trap are
many monofilament nooses that can snag the talons of hawks or birds of prey that attack
the caged animals – see Fig. 19, p. 116
read about others
Snares
Perch snares, snares on poles, nooses around burrowing owl hole entrances
Nest Traps
Birds are caught on the nest – often with manually-operated drop net
Cavity-nesting birds – can make trap out of nest box – see Fig. 20, p. 117
Oral Drugs – read
Capturing Reptiles
Drift fences and pitfalls
Box traps, funnel traps, nooses
Candy’s famous floating turtle trap – you will get to see this one
Handling Captured Animals
Many animals can be restrained in some sort of catch bag made especially for the species;
we have special triangular bags for prairie dogs; we use plastic bags for small mammals
Squeeze shoots