The Best Squirrel Trap

Are Squirrel Traps Legal in the UK ?

Just as for most other things, there are laws, acts and recommended best practices related to the use of traps to catch wild animals. So, if you decide to use a trap, you will be responsible for using it within the law and for what it catches. Traps are only tools, and just like a hammer, screwdriver or a ladder, they don't do anything on their own - so don't think you can blame the trap!

The laws are made to protect wildlife, they are not intended to prevent you from ridding your property of animals that are doing damage.

Grey Squirrels Sciurus carolinensis are not protected in the UK, and nor are they protected in many other countries where they have been introduced and have become a serious pest . If they are damaging your home, trees, crops or property you may legally use traps to catch and destroy them using humane methods only.

How to get rid of squirrels in the garden

Grey squirrels are intelligent and quick to learn and many people find their behaviour interesting and charming. Although they are a native of the forests of the eastern USA, they have successfully adapted to living in our towns and gardens. They can become quite bold and soon learn to raid bird tables and hanging bird feeders which are often destroyed by their strong sharp incisor teeth. They use their incisors to strip the bark from valuable trees in woodland, orchards, parks and gardens where they can become a serious pest. They are also known to rob songbird nests of eggs and fledglings.

Your choice of trap will depend upon several factors such as the garden layout, location and particularly your own abilities. Your particular circumstances may also determine whether you choose a Humane Kill Squirrel Trap or a Live Catch Cage Trap.

Traditional Live Catch Cage Traps

These traps are sometimes referred to as Humane Live Traps, but it is not the traps that are humane, it is the way that they are used. It is hardly humane when a squirrel is left in a trap overnight and dies from hypothermia or is captive inside an exposed cage being worried by the neighbour's cat. If you need to use this type of trap it should be covered to provide the trapped animal with protection from the weather and predators. You will also need to devise a means that prevents non-target animals and birds from getting in while allowing squirrels to enter.

The Elgeeco Squirrel Trap and Bird Feeder is mounted on a tree trunk, the side of a fence or wall, away from predators and non-target animals. There is an optional Refuge Cage attachment available for those who may not be able to check their trap as often as they would wish and which can also be used as a discrete aid for dispatching squirrels humanely. The Elgeeco Squirrel Trap is the most effective live catch trap for grey squirrels.

Having caught the nuisance grey squirrel in a live capture trap, it must then be destroyed quickly and humanely. If you decide on a single shot in the head with a powerful air weapon, then rather than chasing the distressed animal around the cage, use a trap comb or two to immobilise the animal.

Squirrel Traps that Kill

If you feel that you may not be able to carry out the dispatch yourself, a trap that kills the squirrel may be an alternative solution. Please note: It is the intention of this site to provide information that may enable you to choose a suitable trap - this is not a comparison site.

All traps used to kill grey squirrel must be on the Spring Trap Approval List. It is a legal requirement that several traps on the list must be set within a natural or a manmade tunnel and several others require a protective tunnel to be fitted in front of the traps' entrance. It should be reiterated here that all traps are indiscriminate and just because they are set to catch grey squirrels does not mean protected animals and birds will not try to enter. It is always the trapper's responsibility to devise a means that prevents the accidental capture of non-target animals and birds.

A trap favoured for a long time by professional pest controllers is the Kania 2000 designed in Canada and currently not available in the UK. The Kania incorporates a very strong torsion spring; one arm being the killing bar and the other arm the setting lever. This trap reliably kills squirrels humanely because it has a pendula trigger that is actuated by the animal'a head, which means that the killing bar always strikes the lethal area of the spinal ganglion.

The Procull Squirrel Trap, designed and made in the UK, has two powerful killing springs that operate on the killing bar. The trap is easy and safe to set with the integral setting lever and importantly there is a pendula trigger actuated by the squirrel's head. The Procull was tested and approved in 2016 in accordance with the latest World Humane Trapping Standard requirements.

Other traps currently approved for grey squirrel are able to kill quickly and humanely when set and baited correctly. It is recommended that traps actuated by a treadle are monitored to ascertain which part of the captured animals body is gripped by the killing bars so that any necessary adjustments can be made when baiting and setting next time. If a squirrel manages to actuate the treadle with a hind paw rather than a forepaw the animal may suffer needlessly.

The Best Bait for Grey Squirrel Traps

To be continued

To View and Purchase Elgeeco Approved Traps for Pest Control Please click here www.elgeeco.com