Viewing post #444987 by OldGardener

We have a nursery up the street that is owned by an older gentleman (I actually believe that he is rapidly approaching 100 years if he is not there already). As his place is tucked in the hills, he has been doing battle with nature for many, many years (I met him 30 years ago and he had already been there a very long time - and, yes, was getting up in the years then, too - I think he was in his 70's when we met (?) ). When I first purchased humane traps from hm, he told me that some critters do get wise to the traps quickly and will steal bait without tripping the mechanism. His suggestion was to tie down the trip plate for 3 days and feed the varmints inside the trap. His theory was that after a few days, they lose their fear and start entering the trap more confidently. On the fourth day, when the plate is no longer wired down, they're trapped. I don't know if maybe the ground hogs are a bit trap-shy?

We also wrap our traps with a tarp or 3 pieces of plywood for 2 reasons. Some critters seem more comfortable entering a darker "hole" than a trap and, also, on occasion we have had the misfortune of trapping a very well-armed skunk who is none too happy to see us the next morning - primed for revenge.

I hear you concerning the fruit. We grow a dozen or so semi-dwarf fruit trees and it is a battle every year to get the bounty before the squirrels . I swear they can strip an entire peach tree in 2 days time. We have tried the netting, too, but it is a pain to have to wrap the tree, put a drawstring around the trunk and then remove it every couple of days to harvest, re-wrap, re-tie, repeat. We were doing too much damage to the trees over the course of harvest season as branches that managed to poke through would be ripped off or stripped when the netting came off. Also, when a tree is 15 or 20 foot square, it can become cumbersome.

I hope your battle goes well!