Pennsylvania Game News - August 2010 - 26

cover. Red foxes, on the other hand, are mousers, feeding heavily on meadow voles and mice common in fields, meadows and pastures characteristic of farmland. Grays also seem to have a fondness for fish. Most biologists agree the gray fox has a smaller home range than the red fox. As a trapper, I usually catch any gray foxes at a location within a few days of when a trap is set. Also, I have noticed that once the gray foxes are trapped from an area, it takes longer for them to reappear than red foxes. Red foxes seem to repopulate an area more quickly. If a trapper had only one canid species on his trapline, he could tailor his set locations and methods toward that single species. Many areas contain both species of foxes as well as coyotes and other desirable furbearers. There are red foxes, gray foxes and coyotes on my trapline. I choose methods and set locations with the red fox in mind, because it is the most prevalent, but I try to choose locations, sets and attractors that are universally effective for trapping all three species. During the fall when I’m trapping fox and coyotes in the farmland areas, I use dirthole sets most frequently. It is an excellent set for land trappers who have reds, grays and coyotes to deal with. I feel backing is a bit more important for grays than reds, because they sometimes tend to work the set from the side or at odd angles. For me, the red fox’s step is easier to predict. If I have a set that was worked heavily and the trap is not fired, I usually assume it was a gray fox or raccoon. Very seldom will I have a red fox pull out my lure holders or eat the bait without firing the trap. I often add some debris to help guide the foot to the pan and add a grass wad to the hole to make it harder for the animal to access the bottom of the hole. Adding
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some grass to the hole is something that works for red fox as well, so I usually take the time to do so. I feel it helps to arouse a fox’s curiosity. When a trapper is trying to harvest red and gray foxes, and coyotes, lures that work equally well on all three species are crucial. Most of the time, trial-and-error is the only way a trapper can find lures that produce consistently year after year. These lures, once discovered, will be the ones that a trapper can count on for the majority of his or her land trapping. I prefer good call lures, which are a combination of food and curiosity ingredients. As for urine and gland lure, I use red fox urine and gland lure almost exclusively. Because gray foxes are thought to be more aggressive than reds, I like to incorporate red fox odors at my sets, in case I am working on an overly cautious red that might shy away from the odor of a gray. That being said, I have caught red foxes with gray fox gland lure and urine in the past, but because red fox gland lures and urine consistently produce for me, they are my first choice. I also feel that red fox urine possesses the strongest odor of the three canid urines, so it may help to lure an animal from slightly farther distances. And perhaps most importantly, there is much more red fox urine available for sale, so I have the option of choosing which one I feel is the highest quality. With a little experience it is easy to distinguish good urine from urine that has been contaminated or mishandled. Although there are many attractors that are well suited for trapping both species of foxes, as well as coyotes, trap choices are a different story. Most trappers feel that the No. 1½ coilspring is the best trap for grays, due to their small paw size and habit of fighting a trap. A larger trap, because of its size and weight, may cause a gray fox to injure its paw. A No. 1½ coilspring is also an effective red fox trap, but my personal preference is the slightly larger No. 1¾. I feel its larger size and power give it an adGAME NEWS

Pennsylvania Game News - August 2010

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