WCS™ Tube Trap™ - Rust Resistant

The trap is extremely effective in catching squirrels on my fence top. However, it is not always a quick kill and I have had to finish off live ones in the trap. Not pleasant. The optional tool for setting the trap is worth buying as the spring is not easy to set without it.

Excellent to rid my backyard of pesky squirrels, I've caught two a week for the last month. Caution, will occasionally trap skunks and other squirrel sized animals. Adjust bait and location for best results.

This is my second trap. The first one disappeared, presumably with contents, likely removed by a coyote, bobcat, or something else big enough to walk off with it. It worked well and so does the now-anchored replacement. I do have one complaint which prevents me from assigning it 5 stars. The piece that holds everything to the tube was welded on crookedly and the bait spoon sometimes binds against the tube itself. The only screw on the trap can be adjusted to free the spoon but if you make it too loose the spoon drops after you bait it. I find peanut butter is all you need to catch the critters. If the welding is done in a jig, it should be adjusted; if not, align it better before welding it.

Some years ago one squirrel stole all apples from one tree weeks before the fruit was ripe. A neighbor did me an accidental service by running the squirrel over before it could teach its offspring about the fruit in my yard. Now another gray squirrel is up to the same program, taking 16 of 17 apples on a young tree. The trap came with a few scratches that could use paint, so I sprayed it with black and a rusty brown rust-proofing paint and gave it a camo-look. Before that, I had to figure out how to use the safety catch and set it. The safety was bent just a bit too much, so made that angle more useful. Now I'll screw it to a 2 x 4 or 6" board before attaching that to our very old wooden fence.

This trap kills a squirrel every time I set it. Squirrels were killing large branches by chewing off/girdling the limbs so they can lick up the sap. I screwed it to a horizontal branch in the tree that was showing the most squirrel damage and baited it with peanut butter. Check the trap daily or you will have to remove a rotting, dead animal.\nThe trigger was too sensitive which made the trap difficult to set. I took pliers and straightened the angle in the trigger wire a tiny bit which fixed the problem. But for that, I would have given it 5 starts.

These traps work very well when they are trigger set and are in good shape. I have caught many dozens this year in two traps I have. There are a couple things to watch out for though.\n\n- the U-shaped bar can get bent with repeated catches (especially if you are occasionally catching a bird like I do - there is no squirrel to soften the blow of the U against the metal when the trap fires). If the U gets too bent it will be touching the trap when set and the trap will not be able to fire. Look to make sure the U can still go down a bit more when the trap is set, and if not bend the outer part down to get it more back in line (it should be completely flat). Related to this: never use a stick to test the trap as that will bend the bar and the trap will not work any more.\n\n- It seems like the trap works better when it is attached firmly. When the squirrel pushes the trap may wobble instead of fire if it can rock. Use the two holes on each end to screw it to wood.\n\n- I regularly lube the trigger end to make it nice and slippery. For the non-rustproofed traps this is more important as the rust adds friction to the mechanism. Also on those traps the pan hinge needs to be lubed so it moves freely.\n\nI bought one trap ten years ago and it never worked, now I realize it is because I tested it with a stick before I baited and set it - I bent the bar before I even started. My new trap this year worked so I dug out the old one, fixed the bar, and now the old rusty trap is catching more squirrels than the new rust resistant one. The new trap stopped working mid-summer this year and I noticed its bar also was bent, probably because it had trapped 3-4 birds. Bent it back and now its catching again.\n\nI am giving the trap 4 stars because this ten-year old design flaw needs to be fixed. The bar needs to be stronger.\n