Dont underestimate them. Looks like Scott wrote some type of warning on his trap. Living in more or less the intellectual Capital of the U.S., I’m thinking those squirrels will be able to read that warning. Big mistake Scott!
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I think they are reading it but then thinking they can outsmart the trap… I just pulled the third kill from it, this trap is proving smarter than the squirrel (at least for now). Its odd they have been completely ignoring my Kania traps this spring, maybe they finally wised up to them.
“I think they are reading it, but then thinking they can outsmart the trap.”
That’s good. I was going to suggest you post your warning in binary code, which I understand they teach kindergarteners in MD. I think squirrels are too ADD to read it.
Time to thin the herd!
I just watched a big buck squirrel stroll across the patio and climb my ‘Flavor Grenade’ tree. Before I could put on my flip-flops he knocked two pluots to the ground that were sizing up nicely. I just ordered one of the WCS traps.
I can only BirdBlock and wire mesh screen so much fruit. When they go after unripe fruit and don’t even eat what they pick, it’s just too much.
They’ve been tasting my fruit. Teeth marks.
That’s exactly what my son said. They make sport of knocking green tomatoes off the vine and then move on to do something else destructive w/o eating them. They did that to his apple trees too. I’ve put 1" chicken wire around my tomato bed and topped it with bird netting. Wondering when my trap will come back, LOL.
I am also doing comparative trapping with Kania and tube trap. Tube trap has been a failure sitting on the ground. I will try it with a hard support board as indicated and see if I get some success. Are you setting a “hair trigger”? With the Kania it did not seem to attract them. I’m not sure the scent gets out of the bait compartment well enough since there’s no way for air to flow thru. I put some peanut shells on the outside then got a kill within 24 hrs. Waiting to see if further kills prove the point. Also using Bon-bons but no way to track the success positively.
Hey Andy. Where did you put the peanuts outside? On the ground or tied to the inside?
My trap is about 4 ft off the ground. First I tried at base of tree - no success. Then I tried shells w/o peanuts up near spring mechanism and got a hit.
Cool. How did you hold them in place? I’m going to copy your plan today. 
I pushed one shell on to the cut off spring so it sticks out. Put another couple shells in the cup the spring coils around.
Andy, I am setting it as close to the end of that pin as I can. I am not doing anything more than that. I am thinking of marking the pin, put a line in the top like a mm back, so I can see how close to the end the set is, but so far I just eyeball it.
One thing that may be affecting fires is the U rod that goes through the trap can get bent. I found my old tube trap today and noticed one of those U branches was bent, probably from me testing the trap with a stick. I would not test the trap with a stick and if those Us are bent hammer them back straight (I did that by hammering with a file end through the slit in the trap tube).
I am using peanut butter on the plate and some on each end outside. They spend a lot more time working on getting peanut butter as opposed to grab-n-run with nut pieces.
I caught my 4th today. I’m positive enough that I decided to dig out my old rusty trap and see if it would work. I should also be able to learn more about how these traps fire by having another one to play with.
Check it out:
I had taped a warning sign on, it rusted everywhere except the taped spots. If buying the non-rust coated ones you definitely need to spray paint it.
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So my son caught 18 so far. He says that number is a reflection of his loss of interest in setting the trap over and over again. Must have a serious infestation, sheesh.
I was mistaken on how he mounted the trap. Recall I had secured the tube on a 1x6" board that had holes on either end to mouint vertically (for releasing the prey). Turns out he hung it on his fence vertically, in the same spot for all 18 kills. He also put the peanut butter on the trip pan. I think I’d put it on either side to at least get the squirrel further into the trap when it goes off.
They only object until you start decorating with them.
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I have a spot or two I put them in the woods, and Mr. Fox usually takes care of them overnight.
Looks like 'ol rusty trap is still a goody. Based on the continual failures before I have to believe the boards are helping - same trap never worked before, now its all rusted but is working mounted on the boards.
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I have one last tip for both the Kania and tube traps… When I was cleaning up ol’ rusty above I lubed the plate joint and also lubed where the catch contacts the plate, since it was quite rusty in both spots. Since I was having good luck with this old rusty trap I thought lube might help on the other traps. So, I lubed the catch on the Kania traps as well, the little hole where the pin goes. Well, I got two catches on the Kania traps the next time I looked, after no catches for many weeks. It seems like a very noticeable difference. So, one more thing to try if your trap is not firing.
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It looks like my tube trap hammer got bent from something setting it off and not getting hit. 
Is there an easy way to bend it back? The trap wont set now which sucks.
You can hammer the wires through the slits with a flat file end. I had used a stick to set off the trap which bent it, and I got it back in line that way. My old rusty trap was out of alignment, its another thing I fixed on it and could have been a factor in previous lack of firing.