I have a question. I have a big problem with flying squirrels and I was looking at your repeater trap, which looks like a good way to clear out large numbers in less time than a single-catch trap. However, my wife bought a have-a-heart live trap which I set out on a roof ledge a couple of days ago and came back to find the trap sprung AND the bait (almond paste on the trap mechanism) entirely gone. Could it have gone in, sprung the trap and left through the mesh? Is it possible that the flying squirrels are small enough to get through a 1″ X 1/2″ opening? That’s how small the wire mesh is in the trap I have, and I notice that it’s the same mesh size as your repeater. I’m just double-checking before I shell out for a repeater trap.
As explained in our FLYING SQUIRREL CONTROL article, it’s hard to capture flying squirrels outside the home (ie: on a roof top) compared to trap placements which are made where they are nesting in the home. For this reason, it’s strongly advisable that you relocate any traps to the key locations cited in our article.
Secondly, as explained in our article, traps using wire mesh of 1″ x 1″ will let flying squirrels escape so it’s imperative that the trap you use have a 1/2″ x 1″ mesh. That being said, there are many such traps on the market today which have big spaces between the door and the side of the trap which will still be large enough to allow the trapped animal to escape even after the door has closed. This is why we only recommend the traps featured on our FLYING SQUIRREL TRAPS page. The traps on this page are a sure bet and we know they’ll do the job; many being sold today won’t be “tight” enough to hold a flying squirrel and this could be what the problem is that you are experiencing.
Lastly, when trapping outside, it is entirely possible that you are attracting some other animal/insect that could be setting off the trap and not being caught. Common culprits include mice, large roaches and several birds. Lizards have been known to set them off too. These “animals” are attracted to the same bait but small enough to exit trap mesh of 1/2″ x 1″. I don’t know where you reside so it’s hard for me to list all possible options but this is just one more reason to keep your trap located inside the home; this way you’ll only be attracting your target animal and not everything that’s in the area.
Leave a Reply