Fur damage

[Flight01]

First check on my marten boxes today. Was hard to know where to set them as its my first time and there was no snow.
Success on box number 1.
One jaw right around the neck. But fur was torn at the shoulder blade up to the neck. Couldn't see any missing flesh. Just torn fur. Was it trap damage or was an animal or bird just starting to work on eating him? I'm using belisle sx 120's

[Daslogster]

That is low enough to the ground and close enough to the tree that almost anything could have taken a swipe at it. I have had issues with foxes when that close to the ground.

[nube]

I had issues with some of my marten last year. Same trap and it was trap damage. Springs are too strong on them I found and if you did not get the perfect strike it was not good.

[Flight01]

Was afraid of that. Any suggestions to avoid trap damaging? Weaken the springs? Get another style of 120?

[tomcat]

IMO it's not the trap. I have used Belisle SX120 traps for many years and have never experience any fur damage from them. Your catch is to close to both the ground and the tree thus probably rodent damage. Set and anchor your trap so that it falls away from the tree and hangs about 4 ft off the ground

[nube]

Originally Posted by tomcat

IMO it's not the trap. I have used Belisle SX120 traps for many years and have never experience any fur damage from them. Your catch is to close to both the ground and the tree thus probably rodent damage. Set and anchor your trap so that it falls away from the tree and hangs about 4 ft off the ground

If it wasn't the trap I would like to know what caused it then? The skin was not punctures or ripped it just lost the odd small patch of hair where the trap hit the animal. It happened on about 4 of the 30 or so I caught

[Trappingman]

Originally Posted by nube

I had issues with some of my marten last year. Same trap and it was trap damage. Springs are too strong on them I found and if you did not get the perfect strike it was not good.

I have caught hundreds of marten in belisle 120's and have never seen them damage fur, not saying it can't happen but its likely damage from birds or rodents, flying squirells are the worst.

[martinnordegg]

I've never had any problems with damage from the 120's. I have seen damage from transporting the catch and trap loose in a sled and not bagged. Also damage from not properly thawing out the catch before releasing and taking the trap off. That's uneducated trapper error not the 120's fault.

I will agree as above in any case Flight's trap hangs way too low to the ground. Glad you are catching. Keep it up.

[nube]

I will have to try and take better care when transporting the animals then and see if that helps. I think part of the issue is I had my pans set wrong and was not getting the most ideal strike when triggered. I had a lot that were caught too far back. Changed things up this year and I am placing the traps in the right spot in the box now as well. Hope that helps.

[martinnordegg]

Originally Posted by nube

I will have to try and take better care when transporting the animals then and see if that helps. I think part of the issue is I had my pans set wrong and was not getting the most ideal strike when triggered. I had a lot that were caught too far back. Changed things up this year and I am placing the traps in the right spot in the box now as well. Hope that helps.

Have you picked up any more marten? I spoke with a few other guys in our area and it is unusually slow here.

[jim summit]

I have not had any trap damage with the Belisle 120, hauling frozen marten 100km is another thing.
I have not set yet, but hoping for a decent season.

[Flight01]

Thanks guys,

I will tie off further out on the limb and also need to account for once the trap falls out of the box plus the marten body length and try to tie off higher next time. Picture is a bit deceiving he's not as close to the ground as he looks but a fox could have grabbed him. But wasn't a large predator this time , due to location and size of damage.
Would a flying squirrel peel off a patch of fur and abandon the marten before eating some flesh? it really only looks like fur damage. No missing meat.

Anyways, I got some good things to do different now and am happy to be catching. looking forward to the season and some snow to see where the heck I need to be setting

good luck guys

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by nube

If it wasn't the trap I would like to know what caused it then? The skin was not punctures or ripped it just lost the odd small patch of hair where the trap hit the animal.

Probably removing the animal from the trap before it is totally thawed. Fur is still frozen to the trap jaw.

[Trappingman]

Originally Posted by Flight01

Thanks guys,

I will tie off further out on the limb and also need to account for once the trap falls out of the box plus the marten body length and try to tie off higher next time. Picture is a bit deceiving he's not as close to the ground as he looks but a fox could have grabbed him. But wasn't a large predator this time , due to location and size of damage.
Would a flying squirrel peel off a patch of fur and abandon the marten before eating some flesh? it really only looks like fur damage. No missing meat.

Anyways, I got some good things to do different now and am happy to be catching. looking forward to the season and some snow to see where the heck I need to be setting

good luck guys

They pluck out the fur for their nest.

[nube]

Originally Posted by martinnordegg

Have you picked up any more marten? I spoke with a few other guys in our area and it is unusually slow here.

Just got back Matinnordeg! Had 70 sets. Caught 8 marten , 11 weasels, 1 squirrel , 2 magpies and one raven. Had 3 boxes in a 1.6km stretch that got smashed by a Grizz I am thinking as well. Overall my catch ratio was about one catch in 4-5 boxes basically. One in 10 for marten which I am not sure is good or not? I am trying to keep tabs on numbers like this so i don't kill them all. I want to find out what an area can handle. My thoughts are that i will hit an area every 2nd year. It will be interesting to see what the numbers are next go around. I got another dozen boxes out as well in new spots to see what is around. Tons of wolves as well so if you got any ideas of how to catch them let me know guys. I got a pile of snares made up for them and I am just trying to locate the best places to hang them. I got some nice little spruce bogs near where I have seen tracks and got some beavers that have been rotting in buckets all summer.
Sure are a ton of weasels again this year. I can't keep them out of my traps it seems

[nube]

Originally Posted by tomcat

Probably removing the animal from the trap before it is totally thawed. Fur is still frozen to the trap jaw.

Nope for sure not. I hang the whole critter in my cabin overnight and take trap off in the morning when thawed. I honestly think it is from the trap and only on the marten that were caught around the belly. I had some issues last year with the trap flying out of the box and hitting them too far back last year. I think with the guts getting hit and freezing and being in the trap for a week it got frost bit and dried up just where the bars hit the marten. It was usually about a half in patch that the fur would peel off on the lower belly. They froze solid so it was not green belly either

[tomcat]

Yes that is a plausible cause being in a trap gut caught and in freeze and thaw conditions for a week.

[nube]

I had a weasel today with fur damage as well. Hit got smashed in the trigger system. Had a couple others almost cur in half as well. Those 120s are tough on weasels and I hope it looks worse than what it is.
On a brighter note I had all these marten today caught very well except one that was further back than I wanted but luckily no damage.

[tomcat]

Yes Belise's are very tough on weasels but, why do you think you having bad catches on marten further back than you desire? I have not had that happen ever with the trap set close to the bait in a 14 inch or longer box and the trap set 1 to 1 1/2 inch ahead of the slot ends..

[Trappingman]

Originally Posted by nube

Nope for sure not. I hang the whole critter in my cabin overnight and take trap off in the morning when thawed. I honestly think it is from the trap and only on the marten that were caught around the belly. I had some issues last year with the trap flying out of the box and hitting them too far back last year. I think with the guts getting hit and freezing and being in the trap for a week it got frost bit and dried up just where the bars hit the marten. It was usually about a half in patch that the fur would peel off on the lower belly. They froze solid so it was not green belly either

Spots can get kinda freezer burnt, that can happen with any trap not just belilses.

[nube]

Originally Posted by tomcat

Yes Belise's are very tough on weasels but, why do you think you having bad catches on marten further back than you desire? I have not had that happen ever with the trap set close to the bait in a 14 inch or longer box and the trap set 1 to 1 1/2 inch ahead of the slot ends..

I was getting bad catches because I had the trigger wires bent over the wrong way so that the pan was further outside the trap and not centered in it and also my spring slots were too close to the box. Took me a bit to notice what I was doing wrong. Got it all fixed up now and it works just fine now.

[Flight01]

Got a fisher today in a stump set 120sx. Jaw was tight behind the skull. Dead in seconds. Sight was barley disturb. Love getting fur