Rat, Mouse or Squirrel?

Hav-a-hart works well. I've trapped squirrels, groundhogs, possum, raccoon and skunks in mine. I bought the groundhog size trap but wish I had bought the biggest one for the larger raccoon pests. Peanut butter is a universal critter bait.

In that case I don't think you have any choice other than a Havahart.

Peeny butter's great, but I always liked to use pistachios... because I like pistachios. -----

- gpsman

I have caught numerous squirrels with Hav-A-Hart. Sometimes I catch one an hour after setting the trap. Cookie, peanut, graham cracker all work fine. I once caught a square-shaped possum in the trap--the possum was larger than the trap! There's a squirrel soup recipe ("The White House Cookbook") if you want it.

Thanks all for the yuks and advice. Hav-a-hart it is!

Harbor Freight has a similar trap at about half the cost.

One thing with live trapping is, what do you do then? In a lot of places, it's illegal to transport critters w/o a license. [skip long story about releasing a skunk, and having to convince some guy with a cell phone not to call the cops.] I just drown them now, but that's kind of a lot of work, and you might want to think about how big a drowning pool you have before you buy the trap.

That doesn't seem hard. Just figure out how to make square pine cones. (Pine pyraminds)