NOOOOOOO!!!!!

T

trapper-predator-caller_04

New member
I'm new to trapping, so I finnally got some traps for trapping fox coyote and coon. Finnally got some land to trap 'em on. Just got some snow so the critters moved, and i finnally learned how to trap, but when i went out to check the traps there were fox tracks right on top of 3 of my traps!!! They all froze up! I only set four out there. Well at least i know there out there and Im doing every thing else right. They're not smelling me or my traps. Any info on helping me would be appriciated.
I'm kinda on a budget so anti freeze is out of the question. Well, not really im just poor. If I catch any thing before the end of the season I post it here.
 
trapper-predator-caller_04 ,
Go inside an old shed, or maybe under a bridge somewhere and collect a few five gallon buckets full of dry dirt. Use this dry dirt to bed your traps in. If you lay wax paper in the trap bed before bedding the trap, moisture from the ground can't wick upward to get your dry dirt wet.
 
Ditto what Rich said. Also, try to use a soil type for bedding that has larger aggregate than the soil you're bedding in. In other words, use a sandier soil since the larger particle size is less inclined to wick moisture out of the substrate. Also, anti-freeze is as cheap as a 1# container of good ol' table salt. Yeah, there are better things to use, but for 30-cents a carton, the price is right. Without it, you'll just be wasting fuel and time checking frozen steel.
 
ONE WORD...Vermiculite.

Carry some in a gallon sized zipo loc in your basket. its the very best for bedding.. will not freeze if you keep it away from moisture.
 
Screech- call me stupid but what's vermiculite and where the heck do you buy it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif New antifreeze/bedding materials are always nice to know! I've used dry moss packed in around the pan and just a very light coat of dirt that the trap usually breaks through even in Minnesota winters. Its a pain to have to gather materials on site though. I've also heard you can use calcium chloride from fleet supply stores but I have never tried it myself. Would be cheaper than glycerine though.
 
Calcium chloride,works well,you just need to wax your traps or they'll rust badly.I used to use it alot,but switched to propylene glycol mixed 50/50 with water.But in a pinch sidewalk salt will work fine,most of them contain some percentage of calcium chloride.
 
I've been using some of the stuff we spread on sidewalks that claims it's good to -25 degrees. It's weird stuff because it attracts moisture. I carry it in a plastic bottle and mix it with the soil covering at the site and also sprinkle some on after it snows. The 7 coyotes and 1 red fox caught this season didn't seem to mind the wet spot.
 
They sell Vermiculite at most plant stores, nurseries, etc...They have it at my local Home depot.Cheap stuff too. I think it's just styrofoam, maybe not.
 
Vermiculite and perlite are the white pieces in potting soil (perlite is bright white, and vermiculite is greyish).
They are made of glass and minerals (like gyspum), superheated and "spun" into a foam.
Perlite was made to hold air in the soil, and vermiculite to hold moisture.

The vermiculite probably would absorb any moisture created between freeze and thaw cycles.
Peat moss (another of the main ingredients in potting soil) is said to perform the same job, added dry to the sifted dirt it will absorb ten times it's dry volume in water.

Coilspring traps (and smaller longsprings) can also be placed inside a ziploc plastic bag. Cut one corner off the bag, just big enough to slip the chain through, and use a twist tie, to seal out any moisture.

The cheapest anti-freeze there is, is plain ol' table salt. Mix a handful in with the dirt as you sift it back into your set, or pre-mix it with the dry dirt you collected ahead of time.

Krusty
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