Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

A field study of unpadded and padded foothold coyote traps was undertaken in six western states in 1986-1987. Tests were designed to determine the capture efficiency and extent of foot injury caused by different trap modifications. Results were similar to an earlier study undertaken in 1984-85 that showed padded traps reduced foot injury but captured and held fewer animals than did unpadded traps. Both studies showed that unpadded long-spring traps used operationally by Federal Animal Damage Control specialists were the most effective (75-78% capture rate) but caused more foot injury. Padded long-spring traps were intermediate in efficacy (52-57%) and foot injury, while padded "Soft Catch''™ traps were the least effective (30-58%) but caused the least injury to captured coyotes.