Varmint Relocation Program: How to Trap, Humanely

So, a little weasel is getting your chickens. The raccoons are eating more of your sweet corn than you are. Or maybe a skunk is stealing eggs. Like most folks, you enjoy having wildlife nearby, but you have your limits. Live traps can be a diplomatic solution.

You can buy a metal cage trap pretty inexpensively ? especially when you consider the cost of your losses and the durability of a metal trap. You also can build a wooden trap from scrap lumber and some hardware cloth (wire mesh). It's a relatively simply process and you could make several different sizes of traps in an afternoon, even without using power tools ( instructions are online).

Bait the trap with corn, fish, cat food (lots of animals love cat food) or whatever works in your situation. The critter enters the trap and hits the release, the doors snap shut, and you have a trapped wild animal on your hands. Now what?

Trapping a varmint is easy. What you do with it afterward is the hard part ? especially if it's a skunk. You have several choices:

1. 
   
2. Put the critter (trap and all) in the back of a truck, drive to the next county and open the trap. (A friend of mine refers to this as the 'witness relocation program.') Just remember, turnabout is fair play. People in the next county might be relocating varmints to your county, too.
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4. Have a reasonable conversation with the critter. Explain your investment of time and financial resources in your garden or poultry flock. Offer to set out additional dog food if he'll leave your garden and chickens alone.
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6. Build a large, natural habitat with observation areas and call it a zoo.
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