Welcome to the CinchTraps blog. This is the first of what we anticipate to be many discussions about everything you ever wanted to know (or not) about trapping varments, gardening, pest control, agriculture, farming, erosion control, soils, agriculture and anything that has to do with moles and gophers.
Stay tuned for more cool, informative stuff in the weeks ahead!
Hi, this blog is going to really help me out with my garden. I need to either call you guys or Bill Murray.
Great product, but what should you do to keep them from rusting in half in less than a year?
Frank,
This is a great question to ask about prolonging the life of the trap. Of course, working with any metal in a lot of different weather elements and using these traps frequently can cause the metal to rust. We typically, inform customers they can use a lubricant based spray to apply on the traps, which would help protect it from these elements and use. We do provide a maintenance spray product on our website for the purpose of keeping the longevity of the traps. If for any reason you run out or wish not to purchase this product from us. The house hold WD40 spray will do the trick. We say the best way to keep these traps for long periods of time is to make sure after each use to rinse the traps off with water, which helps to remove any dirt or mud debris. After it is dry to apply the lubricant/ maintenance spray to the trap, then store them for the next time it is needing to be used. I hope this helps answer this question for you.
Regards,
Mr. CinchTraper
Not sure what I’m doing wrong. I have 5 cinch traps and I’ve only caught one gopher by it’s front claw. I’ve been setting them for 4 days now and many of the traps have gone off but no gopher in any of them. I’ve been watching lots of videos so I believe I’m setting them correctly. I’m wondering how far apart the jaws of the trap should be. Are they too narrow. Also is the trigger mechanism too far away from or not far away enough from the jaws. Many times times they have filled the holes without setting off the trigger at all. Do you have a troubleshooting guide?
That is terrible to hear this critter is filling the hole and not being in the trap. Sounds like to me you have a Caddyshack gopher!!! There is a lot of tips and strategies in getting rid of gophers or moles. Based on your situation of the plugged hole, the trap goes off, but no gopher. Here are some remedies I have seen work for me with increasing the catch.
Just like you may have seen in the videos. When you place the traps into the tunnel system, use a dirt clod or rock from the excavated dirt you dug out and place it under the metal plate of the trap. This gives a tilt to the trap, making sure the jaw end of the trap is as close to the tunnel floor as possible. This will let the low scurrying gopher move easily through the tunnel and not bump his nose on the end of the trap and plug the hole right there.
Another scenario I have seen is having a bend or ‘Y’ in the tunnel. That is why it is important to probe the tunnel system, before placing the traps. If there is an angle in the tunnel. This will butt the jaws of the trap at the wall of the tunnel and allow the gopher to go around the jaw and not through the middle, like it should. If there is a ‘Y’ in the tunnel system, when you place the trap in the main tunnel. The jaw ends will be blocking the path of the gopher resulting in a plugged hole. This situation is rare and is usually more noticeable based on a higher population of gophers in a smaller area.
Based on the trigger system, if you feel like this critter is not pushing a ton of dirt to react the trigger. I have taken a wine cork, cut it in half(long ways) and attached it to the trigger system. This gives an extension to the trigger. Another option, is setting the last loop wire more sensitive to the trigger wire. Even a 1/8 of an inch will provide more sensitivity to the trigger of the trap. Knowing little information about this situation, it could be the size of trap. We do say the trap size is based on the diameter of the tunnel. As an example, if you have a large trap, but a small gopher. The trigger system is moved back more on the large trap and this could make it hard for the small gopher to set this off if he does not push enough dirt. If you have determined the diameter of the jaws matches well with the diameter of the gopher tunnel, then you should have the right size trap. This is to help avoiding the gopher to go around the trap, instead of through the jaws of the trap.
Lastly, if you have animals and unconsciously pet them before handling the traps. Then go to place the traps into the tunnel system. This will send a predator sent into the tunnel system and they will plug the hole right there. If this does happen, rinsing, drying and adding a spray of our maintenance spray or WD40 will deter the predator scent.
I have trapped for some time now and most of these tips have been trial and error. The trouble shooting guide is your trials. These varmints all have their ways of getting around to find the perfect home and food source. I hope this helps and if you have additional questions or scenarios, please let us know.