(The reason for double door cage traps)
Though double door cage traps are far more difficult to engineer than single door cage traps, we developed them first because they are far more versatile, offering many more setting options than single door traps. We did the hard part to begin with in making these superior traps, soon followed by a line of single door traps to be used when double door traps aren’t required.
(Function))
Double door traps can be set in many more situations than single door traps, while still affording the option of using them with either one or both doors open. Once we had built the double door traps there was no problem in “going backwards” to make simpler single door traps. Removing one door from a double door trap was much easier than trying to add a door to an existing single door trap in an attempt to turn a single door trap into a double door trap that worked properly. A well made double door trap will have doors that fire together at exactly the same time, every time. “Hang fires” where one door fires ahead of the other or having only one door fire while the other remains set can not even be a possibility.
(Usage)
These versatile two door cage traps were primarily designed to be used without bait. What you will notice with any double door trap is that the trigger is, of course, at center, not as far back as the triggers on single door traps, which are usually about 2/3 of the way back. Double door traps are best utilized in positive sets at den entrances, in trails, runways or where animals have dug out an opening under a fence. In all these cases animals will simply pass through the trap without using attractants. Rather than bringing the animal to the trap, you will bring the trap to the animal. Undistracted by bait, which is what you want, animals will push forward through the trigger wires to fire the trap as they go from one place to another. In these situations not only is bait not required, bait could actually be a negative, a distraction. A double door trap placed alone, without bait, or used with a directional nose cone accessory at a den site is all that is needed.
There aren’t a lot of rules to follow when using double door cage traps with bait, but there a couple of things that must be avoided. Trappers who have used bait improperly will sometimes call for assistance after witnessing a fired trap that has missing an animal.
If bait is used with double door traps the bait should be used in the same way as it is with a single door trap. With single door traps bait is always placed to the rear of the trap all the way back, well beyond the trigger. To duplicate the function of a single door trap when using bait with a double door trap, one door should remain closed with bait, again, placed all the way back up against the closed door. We don’t recommend baiting in the center of the trap with both doors open or placing bait on the trigger wires at center. Because the trigger is not as far back in the double door trap as in single door traps, double door traps should always be used with bait as far back as possible.
When animals see bait on a trigger wire they will reach and pull the bait and trigger towards them while backing up, which means their bodies are often either part way or most of the way out of the trap as the trap fires. Because there is travel in the trigger before the trap fires, animals will actually have momentum working in their favor as they back up, making it easy for them to beat even a fast closing powered door trap and not get caught. They will not escape, but never be caught in the first place. Using the double door trap like a single door trap when baiting will go a long way to help eliminate misses.