Customer Reviews

Havahart 1089 Collapsible One-Door Live Animal Cage Trap for Raccoon, Stray Cat, Groundhog, Opossum, and Armadillos

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

When we moved, my poor cat went crazy and wouldn't be handled, touched, approached, or even looked at. We knew she'd calm down once all the commotion was over, so our friend lent us one of these traps for her.

One day in an empty house later(save, of course, the trap baited with her very favourite food), we had a VERY unhappy cat in a very sturdy trap.

My only complaints are:

*the carrying handle is too short or the "guard" is too small. She was able to take swipes at me until I covered the trap with a blanket and carried it using a glove.

*the release mechanism is also too uncomfortably close to the unhappy trap-ee. Leather gloves solved this once again.

Otherwise, it worked perfectly!

(By the way, my cat calmed down after about two days and is sitting next to me now, purring)

This trap works very well. I've caught six stray cats so far on our property in about a month. The directions are well-written and have easy-to-follow diagrams. The trap has plenty of room for the cat, and there is no way that it can escape once in. The spring mechanism is just right -- the door has sprung only when a cat steps on the release plate. (Even slightly jostling the cage doesn't set it off.) I opted for this model over the Havahart 1079 because this one collapses for a smaller storage footprint and is just a few dollars more. It's been in continuous use, so I haven't tried collapsing it yet and don't know how difficult it will be. In a hot or sunny location, I'd suggest putting a piece of cardboard on top in order to shade any trapped animal until it can be removed. My only regret is that I had to purchase this at all because of some irresponsible cat owners.

This trap works well for the small to medium sized raccoons. The trap is easy to set up and bait. So far I have caught 8 raccoons in a one month period and released them all without any severe incident. The only draw backs are once the raccoons are trapped they obviously try and escape, they have actually cut themselves on the metal and left blood around the cage. Also, I had a large male raccoon actually escape from the trap by bending the trap upwards and pushing the door open from the inside. Being able to release them shortly after capture is always best, in some cases they were captured in the middle of the night and I wasn't able to attend to them until the morning.

I have an older Havahart and the latch on the door refuses to close, so I have had two groundhog escapes in the past week. Unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess it depends on how you look at it), I think it was the same groundhog both times, so I'm beginning to think that he may be educating himself in the area of traps. I've been told that I'm giving the groundhog too much credit and I'm inclined to believe that. Regardless, the new 1089 has a much improved trigger mechanism and a vastly improved door. I personally had to bend open the loop on the trigger rod so the trigger would fit in correctly, but I have read a few other reviews where this part needed a slight modification -definitely no big deal at all. This is the best live trap for the price. It's a breeze to set up out of the box; the pan/trigger mechanism is creative and inventive, and it looks like it'll be easier to release the animal in the midst of its psychosis with this trap -versus the other, older Havahart trap that I've got right now... Most importantly, when the door closes on this baby, nothing's getting out! The door is secure and I really don't see how a critter's going to pull an Alcatraz on this unit. Good trapping, folks.

Stray tom cat had taken up residence at my house, making my other cats nervous all the time and afraid to go outside. Plus, he had figured out how to use the kitty doors and was coming inside to eat. I could rarely actually see him, he was really wiley, but I could hear him and smell him (UGH!!). With the racoon trap I first caught two of my own cats -- they were not injured and then they stayed away from it. Baited it one more time and got the stray tom that very night! Very satisfied. This situation comes up now and then, so I'm glad to have a ready solution.

Outstanding trap with fast delivery. One small drawback which can easily be remedied is the release door lock. You must unhook the u-shaped wire holding the door shut which is bad when you have a skunk trapped. If you cut the locking hook off and tie a heavy cord to the u-shaped "lock" you can release from a distance by just pulling.

The produce was easy to erect, although instructions are a must for a newbie. Was able to get more looking at a picture of it than reading the instructions. In an effort to catch a couple of racoons who frequent my garage I set it outside with some cat food in it. The first night, sure enough caught the family cat, who meowed all night long in it. The next night I caugt a possum, since wife didn't know how to cook it, I took it down to a wooded creek area and let it go. Still trying to get those coons, but they're smarter than the average cat or possum..

I bought this trap to catch cats and raccoons. It works great on them both, trapping quite effectively and without any physical pain to the animal. The problem lies with it's strength of the locking mechanisms.

Raccoons are just too strong for this trap. A raccoon literally broke down the door trying to get out. It got out and trashed the trap. Not sure if its fixable or not. It broke out on the "in" door, not the release door.

Works great on cats though. Cats are mean. The other cats in the neighborhood kept coming up and peeing on the trapped cat.

This product works for opossum trapping. Within 48 hours of receiving it I trapped and relocated the first critter. No issues with the trap or seller. I highly recommend it.

I had a feral cat move in our backyard and have 4 kittens. I was able to get 2 of the kittens by hand, but the momma cat needed a trap. The other 2 kittens grew and also got very hard to catch. Animal control has traps you can borrow, but there was a long waiting list so I decided to just buy a trap. This Havahart trap worked great! I set the trap at night and found the momma cat the next morning. The two kittens were able to eat the food without tripping the trap so I bent the trip bar as shown in one the the user photos. Once I bent the bar I got the two kittens with no problems. To date I have caught the Momma cat, 2 kittens, and 3 other feral cats without any problems. I also got a possum that I just released.

I also bought a bird dish that hooks onto the wire mesh for a water bowl. I recommend getting one that clamps down as the one I got was knocked off by the larger cats.

Setting up took some careful attention, but it's easy if you take your time and follow the instructions. We live in a somewhat rural setting so having this trap will be very handy. Seems well built and should last a long time.

This trap shipped from Irving, Texas (20 miles from us) so I got it in 2 days.