Customer Reviews

Havahart 1085 Easy Set One-Door Cage Trap for Raccoons, Stray Cats, Groundhogs, Opossums, and Armadillos

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I have been plagued with pesky armadillos for the last several years in my Florida yard. After getting advice from several people, I have tried everything under the sun to get rid of these guys as my lawn has large dead spots where the root systems have been destroyed, not to mention the uneven ground that my kids play on due to the multiple holes that are dug. I tried mothballs, filling their holes with dirt and water, covering their holes, even tainted food. Nothing worked. I finally broke down and bought this Havahart trap 1 month ago. At first, I caught several animals except for an armadillo (opossums, racoons mainly) I tried using several different types of bait until I finally got my armadillo this past Monday. The bait---a rotten Mango. Did the trick!! I relocated this critter to an uninhabited preservation area several miles away where he can go about his business as he pleases. The handle on this trap made it easy to transport the animal without difficulty. I am a satisfied customer.

The first issue is how to outsmart the raccoon. I made a hook of coathanger wire and suspended it from the top back part of the trap. Using marshmallows for bait with one on the "hook," the raccoon is obliged to trigger the trap. With bait just on the floor of the trap the raccoon will recover the bait and avoid the pressure plate/trigger. Further, when the raccoon senses the trap door closing, it backs out of the trap before the door closes and latches. To solve this problem, I incline the trap back end down so the raccoon must back out uphill. Now the raccon is caught. Leave him alone, unsupervised overnight however,and he will escape. The door hinge is a pin the the raccoon disengages when he overturns the trap in his struggles. When one end of the hinge pin disengages, it allows the raccoon to force open the door. An earlier version of this trap had a door hinge not subject to coming loose when the raccoon struggled. Thus, either immediately move the raccoon to some other desired location for release, inconvenient in the middle of the night, or secure the trap in some manner so that the raccoon cannot move the trap around or turn it on its side as the raccoon struggles. Unless one takes these precautions, the trap is not suitable for taking raccoons.

This trap is so much easier to set than any other and makes a great standby for quick setup with no training. No fiddling around with balancing posts against each other to get the trap to balance the step plate just right, no worries about it being so tight that it doesn't trip.

However, the manufacturing of the trap seems to cut a few corners.

Small soft plastic nubs on the end of pivot points came off in shipping and these are part of what holds the trap together. These should be threaded nuts to stay on securely or permanently attached with press on nuts.

Also some of the metal pieces are a bit flimsy and I am concerned about long term functionality, especially after a few animals get trapped and try to get out. I use it to catch feral cats and have had no problems at all. But I can imaging a strong racoon casuing problems.

I do recommend this trap for anyone that has had trouble setting traps in the past, or has never used one before. This is really easy to set and open to release.

Luckily, my local Ace Hardware store carries the Havahart 1085; it only cost me $53. The trap is rather large, well built and very easy to operate.

I have caught 3 groundhogs (a.k.a. woodchucks), an adult and two youngsters. In my case, trapping these animals was rather simple because the entrances to the burrows they've dug all over my slopped yards are quite visible so all I have to do is place the trap right in front of one of the holes and wait a few hours (if I set the trap in the morning I'll have a groundhog in there in the afternoon).

Tip: Once you've set the trap, place a mound of dirt (a few trowels worth) to cover the metal almost all the way to the trigger, that way the animal will walk on dirt, rather than metal, as they enter the trap. Also, if you happen to have some at hand, use a piece of garden fabric to cover most of the trap so that the animal will see "the light at the end of the tunnel" ;) as it leaves its hole to enter the trap. That's what I've been doing and so far it's working very nicely.

For bait I've been using apple quarters.

*** UPDATE (September 2011):

The trap continues to work flawlessly for me. This summer I was able to trap a young groundhog even without bait. I'm very happy with this product.

The first time I used this trap the cable that opens/shuts the trap door snapped, making the trap unuseable. The cable was held in place by a tiny clamp which popped off. The mechanism for attaching and holding the cable in place needs to be made more durable. I would not recommend this trap.

The 1085 trap arrived Tuesday, Aug 23 and that night I put it in my backyard baited with a steak bone. The next morning I had the raccoon who has been digging up my lawn looking for grubs in custody! I carried the critter to a park about 20 miles from my hiome and released him there. Wednesday I put the trap out again and the next morning I had an oppssum in the trap lured by a can of cat food. I was able to handle the Havahart 1085 easily and with no danger to myself or the animal during transportation and release. Best of all, it came ready to use right out of the box, no assembly required! Tonight I've got a dish of tuna salad waiting to see what other furry miscreants are in my backyard menagerie eating my wife's flower garden, digging up my lawn and overturning my garbage cans.

An excellent product, easy to use and sturdy construction. My only complaint is that it's not big enough for deer.

Great product. So easy to use. So very effective.

Caught 3 squirrels and a fox. Easily relocated them. You are protected from the animal, and you release them with just the flip of the lever. That same lever sets the trap in one second. The mechanism is so well designed. Just bait the back of the trap and you have your animal. I even caught one squirrel without baiting the trap. I guess he could smell the previous bait.

This is an A+ product. I highly recommend it.

I prefer this catch and release method for taking care of nuisance critters. I have no desire to kill an animal foraging for food. Someday I might be out there foraging myself.

It's highly recommended that you wear thick impenetrable gloves while handling this cage with a critter inside, as most critters have sharp teeth and claws and will be frightened and try to scratch at you when you go to pick this up. We lay an old sheet over the top of the cage to comfort the animal as we transport to a new location.

Whatever you do, make sure you check your trap a couple times a day. Morning and evening. It's inhumane to leave an animal trapped for more than a half day in cold or hot weather.

The trap itself works great and it's hard to imagine how a critter could get out, once trapped inside, but really tiny critters might not be heavy enough to engage the trap door and really big critters could just get stuck, but not contained. We've had no problems thus far and are relocating raccoons that have taken a liking to our veggie and fruit garden. I can't speak to whether or not the raccoons are enjoying their new homes by the lake, but we are enjoying our garden without the raccoons.

The trap is well designed (including the plate protecting the handle)and functions great for the larger animals. The box states you can use this with smaller animals but I found they don't always trigger the trap. I did find using peanut butter that I let dry on the trigger helped with small squirrels. This trap is a good way to relocate problem critters with the safe release trigger. Worth the cost.

I am very familiar with Havahart live traps. We've used them in the past to remove pests--mostly squirrels. We live in a neighborhood blessed with lots of pecan, oak and fruit trees. We also feed birds. All this combines to attract hoards of squirrels to our backyard and house. We've had problems with them getting into the attic and infesting our lawns with fleas. While some find squirrels to be cute and enjoy their presence, this would not be the case if you had over a dozen of them running around in your yard at one time, digging up planters, dropping hungry fleas, destroying ripening fruit and pecans or have them wake you at night building nests in your attic. We've also had a few incidents of raccoons and possums finding their way into our backyard. The solution was using a Havahart live trap to remove the pests. The Havahart we used in the past was effective but you had to fiddle with the setting of the trap. It wasn't hard to do once familiar with it. This particular model has the "Easy Set/Release" mechanism. It's outstanding. All you do is pull a lever on the top of the trap and it locks the door. As usual, a light touch on the spring release will let the door close, thereby trapping the pest so you can carry it to another location for release. Preferably a location far away from your home, in an area with plenty of available forage.

Like all Havahart traps I've been familiar with, this one has a guard around the top-mounted handle to prevent an angry animal from scratching or biting your hand while you lift the trap. There are no sharp areas inside the trap that can harm the animal. It's lightweight but pretty well built. The only concern I have about this trap is the fact that the construction uses pop rivets in some areas. While rivets are okay, the use of bolts that can be tightened is my preference. That way you can easily repair loose fasteners. But the trap is sturdy as is and an excellent choice for occasional homeowner use. There's an information sheet enclosed that gives you information on what to use to bait different pests.

The easy set/release trap is a great improvement on the original Havahart live trap.