“The effect that most South African gin traps have on game in SA makes them hated and most types are barbaric, some even have teeth on them. If farmers knew how to trap lynx with cage traps they would find that they would be setting many animals free UNHARMED that are not problematic, with the gin trap you cannot. Also many farmers resort to using poison - this is a very stupid move as no gin trap or poison is target specific”. G Laubscher

In USA all traps that are manufactured must be approved by the TRDC. The Trap Research and Development Committee of the FIC (the Fur Institute of Canada). All findings from FIC-TRDC programs are used in the USA and Canada. All traps are personally licensed to an individual, strict laws on trapping apply. In SA no authority controls any form of trap made in SA and we have no laws regarding traps, anybody can buy traps and any amount. The centre in Alberta, Canada that carries out these tests on new traps is the most advanced and largest testing centre in the world. In the whole of South Africa no such service is offered.

We are all aware that the lynx is a farmers and game farm owners worst enemy, the fact that they breed any time of the year, have up to 3 (sometimes more) in a litter, and are very hard to control makes them hard to fathom out. They often kill and not eat any lambs or antelope, it seems they simply kill for fun, if they do they seem to favour only the meat of lamb between the legs at the rear. When the kittens are getting bigger the mother will teach the young to hunt, this is bad news for a farmer, as they will lose more at this time. A farmer friend of mine lost 52 lamb in one night to the lynx, that is a huge loss, not to mention the cost of the wool that was lost.

Black backed Jackals tend to eat much of what they kill. The Silver jackals go for newborn lambs up to 5 days old, as the lambs are so tiny and are so small, the African wild cat also takes new born lambs, antelope and ostrich chicks. Wildcats tend to eat at any location around the carcass, but the Lynx he seems to enjoy the rear. It is important if you trap a farm to find out from the farmer what his problem is as often some predators are not problematic.

I have found in my 17 years of trapping cats that when you discover a lamb killed by the Lynx and he has partly covered the carcass with grass that 95% of the time this means he will return to the spot were he did the nasty deed. So utilize this and use a trap to try and catch him.

Remember that trapping is a science; you must experiment to achieve your own success. Learn to understand cats travel routes, ie- a cat wont cross a wet wheat field but will cross a donga, walk its wall, or walk a dirt road. So in a catty area where a farmer has lost lambs find a donga that is crossed by dust roads, and if possible just below a slight ravine. DONT put a cage in the middle of an open field that has wheat etc. It is damp, wet and cut wheat hurts the cat’s paws.

If your areas have the usual open fields and have trees and deadwood as well that is a place to put a cage like in the photo.

CAGES

Cages must be well made and very well located to achieve success. The way that you prepare a cage will also be the difference between success and failure. I make my cages and have good gap tolerances so that if a door falls it falls freely, with NO chance of hiccups. The size is also important. A Lynx is a highly-strung individual, he is very cautious were he puts his feet etc, he will also NOT enter a cage that is small. So, I use a size that is time proven I use a structure like the photo shows. 1600 long, 62cm wide and 62cm high. The middle trigger plate is wide to allow easy sear release. It MUST have two entrances (Cats like to look through a structure). And the two doors are held up at each end connected to a trigger plate. A very simple design. Simple is effective!!!! We have a 3-hour video that shows the cage and all its mechanics for the novice to put together.

The following tips are vital to your success, I learned them as I went along, and they WILL work for you.

1. ALWAYS and I say again ALWAYS!!!!!!!!!! Put sand down on the floor of a cage like in photo, the complete runway, as a cat will not enter if he has to walk on metal. Before these two kitten lynx cats walked in, the cage was completely covered with sand on the floor, this is a VERY important part of cage trapping. COVER THE WHOLE FLOOR WITH SAND!!!!
2. My cages are 62cm x62cm x 1,700 long. Big? NO its NOT!!!! Because, a cat is highly strung, very cautious so it will hesitate to enter small spaces, so giving him space kills more.
3. Also you can use a SEPERATE cage on top that houses a live chicken, I will be honest with you, I never use it!
4. Hang a shiny piece of material in the cage, hang it so that it hangs about an inch below the top of cage inside above the trigger plate. Don’t let it hang low and get in a predator’s way. I use a CD disc, they are shiny, and a cat will investigate when it shines in the sun.
5. I use a solution of fish emulsion in my cages together with a piece of lamb meat WITH THE WOOL VERY VISABLE! Always make the wool visible.
6. Upon catching a cat in a cage set another cage next to it for a day.
7. These two kittens walked in next to each other, the mother however did not return, but many do! Cats leave their scent and urine in cages so set cages again afterwards.
8. Ok, now another good tip, I have a cat stamp, I made it out of a soft piece of wood, when pushing it on sand it makes a perfect paw print. I carved mine, it took about half an hour. Then inside the cage and around the cage apply paw prints to area BUT MAKE MANY and I repeat MANY inside the cage. This will make a cat comfortable knowing that other cats have been inside. (UNLUCKY HIM!!!) I use a medium sized lynx paw print.
9. Lastly ALWAYS put two or three old animal droppings inside the cage on the floor, this is a visual attraction and a cat will think other animals have been in the cage before him, it works like the cat stamp. Also a few feathers is good.

The cat will go in to investigate smells etc. This is a good trick, also remember to spread soft sand around the cage so that the next day you can see how many cats or other predators visited the spot. So, please remember that sand trick inside the cage with prints, it’s a killer.

Sprinkle bird seen near your cage, so a cat will spot bird activity and this will lure him nearer your cage set up.

Never leave blood in the cage from a killed cat, you will find it difficult to lure others. Some trappers use a strangle stick, this they place over a cats head and tighten the noose, a cat passes out quickly as cats have small lung capacity. They then pull the cat from the cage, and shoot it in the head while it is asleep, this leaves no blood in the cage.

I use a square piece of wooden board on a long stick, this board is an inch smaller than the door size, I slip it under the fallen door and push it backwards towards the other end, this makes the cat go backwards. And then you can do the deed, then open the back door and push him out afterwards. No blood at all.!

If you do attempt to pick up a “DEAD” cat, always first touch it’s eye a few times, if the cat is unconscious and not dead it will blink, you don’t want a lynx waking up while you are carrying it!

One of my partners and I use a system we call a call - trapping stand. We set 12 cages in the morning; we leave the set and return about 2 hours before the sun sets. When it is 1 hour to sunset we get to be 200 metres apart in full camouflage and we both call long range with Lohman 210 or Lohman MVP-4 long-range calls, we imitate fawn, this is a lynx’s natural food! Or we set an electronic caller on and leave it to run for an hour.

After about 30 minutes we quietly slip out of the area ( if using a hand call) and walk back to the truck that is parked no less than 2 kilometre’s away. Now you are saying- Why all this for trapping? Well!!! Because it works. A cat takes much longer to come into a call and they often approach a call from far, so by calling this gets the cats attention, so after a while he knows that in the area a fawn was crying so this helps to attract him to the cage areas. Try it as it does work. You then have as we have 12 chances of a cat coming in and seeing your cages.

Remember that when we were small we made mistakes, and so do cats, in the photo these two kittens walked into the cage trap side by side, we got two of the three. We set another cage next to the other one but the mother did not return.

You can also put in a small toy rabbit in the cage, it also works, but the toy must look real.

A farmer friend caught a female lynx, covered the cage at the top with a cover to give the cat shade, he then set another cage next to it. The next day he got a male. He then dispatched them both. It is not ethical to keep an animal captive longer than a day. However, to catch a male is not often. The male cats tend to roam, also when a female gives birth she is alone, the male plays no part. He just does his thing and leaves!

Trapping with cages is more difficult, they are big, bulky to carry around but they work when set up correctly. By leaving a cage open with no bait in it works well, just the previous lynx urine odor will bring in another just set the cage properly.

I use a floor plate in the centre of the cage, when they touch it the doors fall down, but under the floor plate I dig a hole and bury a bottle with cat urine mixed with dead reeds. This helps to contain smell and you don’t waste too much urine. Then I sink bottle level with ground. Then I move the cage over the bottle so that it is under floor plate, this way nothing can get to it.

LURES

The best lure is the cats own, but how can you get it? Lots of it? Well actually it is really simple. Take a dead lynx, turn him upside down, at the back just behind the vent at the back make a very shallow cut towards to front of the cat. Go on about5 inches; don’t cut to deep as the skin at the rear is very thin. Using latex gloves (ALWAYS WHEN SKINNING A GAME ANIMAL) remove the cat’s bladder; a cat’s bladder is nearly ALWAYS full. Empty the contents in a bottle now take out the intestine and remove his mess. Mix it with the urine and make a thick paste. You now have the best lure in the world.

Other good lures for cats are fresh dassie meat chunks with honey spread or watered down, an old piece of maasbanker fish with a little glycerin to preserve it. Even use a fresh piece of that lamb just killed, but make it interesting enough for the cat to take notice and show the wool. Also fish emulsion. Fisherman’s red bait is also very good!

Remember that a cat likes to kill its own food, it will not get turned on by a dead bird but will go ballistic with a live one, so remember this and utilize it. Make a cage on top of the cage like in the photo to house a live chicken. But I have enough success and don’t apply this method.

I found that a tube of clear Bostik glue that you buy in a hardware shop smelt very similar to coyote gland lure, so I emptied two tubs in a cage and I was amazed to catch a young cat and later a porcupine in the cage. Bostik works as it has a similar smell until it gets to be about 3 days old, and then the smell is no longer potent. I put it on an old rag, but it worked, that’s the main thing, and it cost me R6-70 for two tubes! Not much at all.

I make up my own simulated cat urine, it is very strong smelling and lures in cats to cages. I gave some to a client who trapped in Laingsberg on a game ranch and on his first attempt got two lynx in two cages just using the simulated cat urine, he used no meat at all. Another good lure is a local product called SEAGRO, that stuff used by gardeners to make plants grow. YES!!! It is fish oil and stinks BIG TIME!! Pour it on a cloth and use in a cage, no cat will resist that stuff, it really stinks and is good when you have a light breeze blowing. Give it a try, I found that by watering it down a touch it is still fine, but again it does work as a lure, and that’s what matters.

Your trapping will become a success, the more time, effort and ambition you put into it the more luck you will have, you will also learn as you go along. Never put lure, cat urine on the metal doorway of the cage as the cat will rub against it and will then dislodge the doors and they will close.

If you find a spot on your farm with many different age cat droppings, a lynx hardly ever covers his mess, it has bone fragments and hair/ wool in it. So if you find a lot of sign at an area, that’s a scent spot, if you have a spare cage leave it at this place with your home made paw prints inside. Remember to use sand at the bottom, a shiny object and some cat mess inside the cage.

GENERAL

For many a cage trap is bulky so many resort to some South African gin traps, but how many did you successfully catch with this kind of trap?, you would have caught plenty unwanted animals in the process. I can guarantee you today that with a cage set up you will be able to catch plenty lynx as long as you go by the basics mentioned in this article, I have caught a few cats in my time, far more than you can imagine. And you will sleep peacefully at night knowing that some poor animal is not dying from your poison you put out or that another animal is in pain because you put out a gin trap. Only one trapping way is target specific, that’s to trap with a cage. And all animals you catch by mistake like bat eared foxes can be released unharmed simply by lifting the door- other traps and poisons cannot offer you this alternative!

South Africa has plenty wildlife, we must preserve it, as long as we trap problem animals we owe it to ourselves to trap ethically, avoid poison and barbaric South African gin traps, boycott the people and companies making and selling these items, resort to ethical trapping- use a cage trap! IT WORKS!!!!!!! In SA we urgently need laws and authorities approving traps made here.

If you are a landowner and have a few cages in the garage on the farm, but haven’t lost a lamb lately, then still go out and SET THE CAGES! Rather set them and inspect every day, it is better than leaving them at home. As you never know, I ALWAYS utilise my cages, EVERY DAY, EVERY HOUR. I have caught plenty animals that I have set free, many porcupines and polecats, mongoose etc. So, by using a cage trap I can sleep peacefully at night!

CAGE PLACEMENT

Before I set a cage I go into what I call “PREDATOR MODE” .The art to trap is a science and you must become one with nature to understand a predators travel routes, pathways etc. You can’t expect to just put down a cage and catch something.

If you have a wheat fields and its been raining or just damp don’t put down a cage in the middle, a cat wont walk as its wet, also if the wheat has been cut the stubs will hurt the cats pads so it wont walk in those areas. But he will use a donga or dust road next to it, also a sandy wall of a dam, these are areas that you will find paw prints. Get down on your haunches and look over the pathways from a predator’s level, a predator won’t follow a dust road but will cut corners, so look for good positions and try trapping it. By getting down you will see different things also sometimes you will see something that may attract a cat, try putting a “FLAG” this is a feather or piece of wool on top of a small bush, then behind the bush place a cage trap, I use a few dirt holes in the ground and I fill them with wool, this attracts a predator. No other way exists in the world that is better to get a predators attention than making a hole in the ground!

A predator will ALWAYS STOP when he walks past a tree or old dead tree stump, he will look for food and smell the area over. It is also a draw card, so if a predator walks over a hill and down the other side and he sees a tree you can be sure he will walk that way for reasons mentioned above. So leave cage traps at these locations. THINK LIKE A PREDATOR TO CATCH ONE!!! Use feathers as FLAGS tied to a tree, ( it attracts a cat!) Then put a cage at that place.

Look for that scent spot with lots of different age droppings, and cage trap it, many different age droppings at this place is just not a coincidence it is like that for a reason, TRAP IT!!!

A trap at the 4 way intersection of different dust roads is a good option, use a few cages all the time not ONE! I have 10-12 cages working EVERY DAY! Trap with cages over big moon conditions more often, predators see better with moonlight and are on the move and you will catch more. Try placing a toy fawn or rabbit in the cage, sometimes it works. But the toy must look very real.

You must be dedicated, motivated and determined to succeed, never accept failure, if a cage is sprung set it again. Check traps every day, don’t keep animals captive for more than a day at most, release ALL innocent animals from cage unharmed. Check cages everyday. I once found a porcupine in a cage that was in a cage for 3 days, it however did live after we moved it to a cool place. Also collect old cat mess, put it in a bottle with a little water and use it in a month, it will be a paste and good stuff!!!!

Remember that when you set a cage to put sand on the ground in the cage, hide the steel framework on ground, put down paw prints in cage, MANY! Put down sand around cage so you can see what walked at that spot the next day, put old droppings on floor in cage, put in lure for smell, use a shiny flag (attractor) and set cage in a good location. These small things will give you the edge when cage trapping. THEY WORK!

NEVER FORGET TO CALL OR TRAP AT A RUBBISH DUMP ON YOUR FARM CATS KNOW THESE PLACES HOUSE RATS AND MICE SO TRAP THESE AREAS.

This article has been written by me after years of trapping experience (1984) and the tips will help you succeed in ethical cage trapping. G Laubscher