In my experience, with the tube trap, they are always dead.
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I’ve had a few birds trapped that were not dead; all squirrels were very dead. Maybe that trap was also messed up…
We’ve been using the tube trap outside our living room (60’ from the cherry rows which got devastated this summer) so we see when it pops so if they take some time to die we don’t know, we drown them. What kind of trap do you have? We have the Molar outdoor ones. This summer we had a terrible problem with the sweet cherries due to squirrels and chipmunks who got 60% or more of the crop from our 60 trees (all the big juicy ones), some entirely stripped before ripe. Put instant mashed potatoes and some bait out, helped a lot (fewer in the trees, but still enough to eat the fruit).
There were chipmunk holes under almost every tree in the orchard this summer, so I was worried that my pre-winter vole program would get over whelmed, and my late summer mowing caused hawks to fly over my shoulders to catch the mice running away from the mower (scary when you are not expecting them). So when I went out to put the vole bait under the boards between the trees, I only saw a few mice, and all the chipmunk holes were old and empty and none to be seen.
My wife saw several coyotes in the orchard and put the game camera up near the chicken house and what did we see? a Fisher looking into the camera. Looked fat after eating all the voles and chipmunks but he is not eating the squirrels (yet), Hope he doesn’t get the chickens, but I thank him (or her).
Eric
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Hello, I finally got tired of waiting for Molar Out Doors to respond an took the advice of the column and straightened the striker bar I saw in this column, but would still not set, so I cut a groove in the metal of the bracket so it would be lower and it now sets we will see if it kills squirrels. I left a bad review and they said "we are sorry you had a bad experience’ . Buy from someone else.
Trapped 1 raccoon and 2 squirrels in the last 2 days. That raccoon was tricky. Took 3 tries. Had to use the game camera to see what he was doing, made adjustments, and was able to get him. Fire and adjust. 
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Wondering if anyone else has these kinds of problems with trapping raccoons. The last raccoon loaded up the cage with so much dirt/mud from around the cage that I could hardly lift it. I’d estimate about 1.5" of mud covering the entire bottom. With the one I caught today, I noticed a piece of the cage sitting beside it (raccoon inside). Turns out the raccoon chewed the handle loose !!! (found inside the cage) and the protective plate around the handle (found outside the cage) was chewed loose (Shown on left of photo) so I couldn’t safely grab the cage w/o sticking my fingers inside. So I made a set of handles to transport the cage (shown on right).
The game camera shows these captures occur shortly after dark so they are in the cage a long time - more time to do damage, I guess.
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I had almost identical experience to yours when I got a raccoon in my squirrel trap last year, a ton of mud inside the cage and I lost the handle…
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I have had mud in cages on numerous occasions but never any damage. What are you using for bait when you catch the raccoons? I need to set my live traps back out, I am starting to see them on the cameras.
Coons can destroy live traps . I now use dog proof coon traps . They never seem to get wise to these .
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Along with the Squirrelinator there is a smaller one called the chipmunkinator. It is the same thing only smaller. I caught 13 chipmunks and 11 squirrels in 20 days with one. The squirrels are big enough to get out of this trap unless you put a log on top of it. It worked very well. I intend to get me another one this year. The squirrels and chipmunks ate all of my Asian pears and only left me 7 apricots. For any of you who fish or know someone who does, the squirrel tails can be sent to the Mepps company and they will send you lures in exchange. Go to Mepps.com and there is information on their squirrel tail program.
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I use marshmallows and have smeared on a little peanut butter for a ‘fetching aroma’, LOL. After observing them on the game camera, I’ve noted that it is worth the effort to make sure they have to go into the cage to get the bait. They will reach in the cage or over the trip plate, and even turn the trap over to avoid going in.
The photo above shows a can lid that I wired to the bottom of the outside of the cage. I put the marshmallows under the cage on the can lid. Then I take 2 pieces of rebar and put them through the cage in a criss cross to anchor it and prevent the cage from being lifted to get the bait. Kinda like this…
Don’t think they will mess with the rebar. 
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Alright…so I’m getting ready for another season of battling squirrels and groundhogs. I wonder if anybody can recommend a groundhog repellent?
Below product has good reviews on amazon but it doesn’t mention groundhogs. Anybody used it? I’m thinking about spraying the metal cages around the trees. Not the trees.
Bobbex deer products have good reviews. But not the all critter version. So I’m hesitant to buy it.
Electric woven fence has worked on groundhogs for me so far. It’s not real practical per tree, but has worked around a large vegetable garden.
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Where do you obtain it?
Looking at buying a zapper trap for mice, squirrel, and chipmunk. 7000v, reviews look alright. Anyone have any luck with this?
I’m at a loss with getting rid of rabbits. Had one girdle a nice branch off my cherry tree yesterday, makes me so mad!
Both Kencove and Premiere 1 sell them. I needed to buy extra posts for the Kencove fence, as their built- in posts seemed too far apart. I also bought a Premiere fence last summer, but haven’t tried that one out yet. Theirs were a little cheaper. Electrify it as soon as you put it up or the rabbits chew the plastic. I watched one do it! I also use some plastic tent stakes to keep the bottom down as needed. The baby bunnies and mice can slip through, so I put low 1/2 inch hole chicken wire a foot or so inside the electric fence for good measure. Ground squirrels can still dig tunnels into the garden, though. No groundhogs or deer in the vegetable garden in the three years I have used the fence, though, and they are plentiful in the area. One disadvantage is that you have to take it down in the winter.
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Any recommendations for a game camera? Think I will be needing one of those really soon.
Also for those of you who sink critters… how do you empty/clean out the bins? Dumping water makes splashes…
A little pricey but VERY GOOD…You need one with a very fast flash and will get pictures in less than a second. Squirrels are fast as hell and you may not see them with delays. I have a couple of cheap moultries and a fairly expensive one…($159.00) For expensive. The difference is STARK! You definitely get what you pay for. These were voted best in market 2018…ON Clearance…
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Stay away from the cheap Tasco , poor luck with Wildgame and good luck with Bushnell . Just my experiences .
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I’ve had bad luck with Cuddeback too…