Restraining traps are designed either to hold an animal by a limb, or to confine it in a cage or box, until the trapper arrives. They are used in a variety of circumstances.
Restraining traps are used by wildlife managers to catch and release animals unharmed. They do this for several reasons, such as attaching radio collars to track animals’ movements, or relocating them as part of a reintroduction program.
Restraining traps are also used for catching nuisance animals in settings where killing traps would pose an unacceptable risk to humans and pets. For example, raccoons nesting in urban homes are typically caught in cage traps.
As for commercial fur trappers, there are a range of situations in which they may use a restraining trap rather than a killing trap. For example, species like coyote and wolf are too wary for killing traps other than neck snares. A trapper may therefore use a foothold trap to hold the animal until he arrives to dispatch it, generally with a small-caliber firearm.
Restraining traps also guarantee a fur trapper will not harvest a non-targetted species. For example, a box trap set on a tree limb may attract several species of mustelid, but if a non-targetted species wanders in, the trapper can simply let it go.
NON-TARGET CATCHES
An important benefit of designing and setting killing traps for specific species is that it almost eliminates accidental catches of non-target species. However, these catches do happen occasionally, and they are taken very seriously by the trapping community because they almost always involve pet dogs.
The vast majority of trap sets are perfectly safe for dogs. For example, a foothold restraining trap can simply be removed, while a killing set in a tree is inaccessible, even if the dog is attracted by the smell of the bait.
On the rare occasion when a pet dog is killed in a trap, it almost always involves a neck snare set for canids or felines, or infrequently a body-gripping trap set on the ground for raccoon.
It is important for concerned dog-owners to understand that these accidents are avoidable. In almost all cases, either the dog is being exercised off-leash in an area where this is prohibited, or a trap has been set illegally (such as on private land, without permission).
In the first scenario, the dog dies because its owner has not only been irresponsible, but has actually broken the law. In the second scenario, it is important to know that trapping is a highly regulated activity, and every trapping association will cooperate fully with law enforcement to prosecute anyone setting traps illegally.
SEE ALSO: When pet dogs are accidentally trapped, why are media reports so unbalanced? Truth About Fur, March 12, 2023.
