X-Large 1-Door Humane Animal Trap for Armadillos, Beavers, Bobcats, Cats, Dogs, Foxes, Groundhogs, Opossums, Racoons, and Other Larger-Sized Animals - Humane Catch and Release - 1081

Excellent trap. Removes a large racoon each of the first two nights it was used. Sturdy construction and the door has a great locking mechanism. The door is closed by gravity and springs. When the door panel drops down and second locking panel, attached to the door at the bottom, swings up and forward. This locking panel closes and locks into two tabs at the top of the cage preventing the door from reopening. This is a very secure setup. I also quickly figured out a good way to let the critters out and keep your hands and feet well out of the way. Straddle the cage facing the same direction as the door. Lift the locking tabs and pull the locking panel out and up. This lifts the door while keeping you well out of the way of the by now very irate raccoon. This is a very good design. The second racoon gave this cage his best effort and there was no sign of any damage to the cage. This cage should last a very long time.

A raccoon I have been hand feeding decided to make his home in my attic by removing some flashing around an air duct. He had to go. This is my second Havahart trap. First of all, this cage is huge. Getting it inside, out of the box and setup was not that easy. The instructions are locked inside of the cage, so there is no way to view them and I could not determine how to open the cage. So, before I used it, I had to go to YouTube and type in Havahart 1081 and watch a short video, which really helped. After the 30 second video, no instructions needed. The raccoon was sitting outside the backdoor waiting for me to feed it. I got the cage ready and got my video camera. Before I was ready with the camera, the raccoon was already in the cage, eating cat food and the trap sprung. Less than a few minutes, I had accomplished my goal. The raccoon was safely caught and ready to be relocated. Ease of setup: Difficult because the instructions are locked inside of the trap. Once you know how to open and set it, it is easy. Ease of releasing the animal: Not easy and unsafe. There is no way to release the animal except for the way you set the trap, so you must stick your fingers through the cage where the critter is to release it. If you turn the cage on end with the door up in the air and the trip plate at the ground, the animal should slide/go to the trip plate end, then open the door carefully, set the cage down and move way. Build: Huge, heavy, cumbersome. This trap eliminates some flaws in other models that will allow the animal to easily escape. This unit is not easily turned over because of the size. There is a hook for hanging bait that is easily moved and enough space behind the trip plate to place food. If the bait is too big to go through the wire cage, then getting food into the long cage and behind the trip plate will not be easy. There is a double handle on top for lifting with a metal shield to protect your hand from an angry critter. Considerations: Once the animal is caught, you will need a truck to move the critter. It might fit in a large trunk area with the trunk lid strapped. I doubt it would fit in the backseat of a car unless the backseat is very spacious. The edges of the cage are sharp and rough and could easily rip car seats or cause injury to a person. Also, with an upset critter pacing back and forth in this cage, it makes it much harder to handle. One large, strong person can do it but it is not easy. This model works much better and is built much better than the smaller model. Setting it is much easier once you know how with much less chance of false tripping or failure. Be sure to read the measurements before ordering. It is as big as a moderate/large sized coffee table. Click Full Screen, X in lower right corner, for best view of video. **************** Update 7/31 **************** I have caught 13 raccoons, mostly babies. I have also caught the same squirrel numerous times (he knows I will let him go).

I guess it's too much to ask to have a metal product arrive without damage. The shipping boxes (plural) that it arrived in appear to be undamaged. But the trap/cage arrived pretty bent. See photos. It's probably still usable, and I'm pretty handy at fixing metal cages. But gees. Why can't the manufacturer insure higher quality? Here we are almost in the year 2020 and the human race cannot establish even the most basic of quality control or metal product durability. Until Havahart can get their manufacturing, materials, and quality control together... I cannot recommend this product. I mean... come on people. UPDATE: The animal ate the bait and didn't set off the trap several times already. The trip/trigger mechanism is too flimsy to operate correctly... even after fiddling with it ad nauseum. Im surprised Amazon allows this garbage to be sold. Alibaba, yes. Amazon, no. I have included some photos. One photo shows the bait was eaten (hanging bag) and trap not tripped. I've used bait in a bowl, bait on a plate, bait hanging from hook. ANOTHER UPDATE: The trigger design and mechanism are so incredibly horrible, that I replaced it with my own fishing line trigger mechanism. I had far too many critters stealing the bait and not tripping the floor-plate-activated trigger. I put bait sandwiched between two 5x5 inch pieces of hardware cloth (a metal mesh). The mesh held the bait. Then I hung the baited mesh from some yellow fishing line on one end, and attached the other end of the fishing line to the little metal factory-installed door lever that holds the trap door into it's spring-ready position. When the critter pulls on the bait (encased in hardware cloth) it pulls on the string, which in turn pulls the trap door lever holder, which releases the trap door to close. This setup is virtually fail proof now. I also cut the metal cage wire clips on the bait end (the side opposite the trap door) so I could access the inside of the cage without having to crawl my self up into the trap to place or manipulate the bait. With my modification, I could simply open up the bait end of the cage easily like a little door, and place the bait, then close the little door. I used some little key chain clips (see photos) to keep the newly created bait-side "door" securely closed when I'm not using it. I think I used 10 -12 of the key chain clips spaced about 2-3 inches apart on the cage. I'll attach some additional photos that illustrate my modifications. The little factory metal clips that hold the cage walls together are terrible, so I added some plastic zip ties for extra strength... including the hing of the trap door itself. With these $5-$10 worth modifications I made to it, the trap works well. I'm not going to give it more stars because its such a poorly designed product from the factory. I have caught a few critters in it since my mods.

I've had a couple of this company's traps over the years. My last medium trap caught a large raccoon that was heavy enough to warp the bottom of the trap when I picked it up, letting him push open the door and escape -- back into my attic. That's when I bought this trap. It's much more robustly built and the door is foolproof. Also the trap is pretty big! I caught the raccoon again, no problem. This time no escape. Other reviewers have mentioned having to mess with the trigger rod to get it to work; I suspect the manufacturer ships it slightly long on purpose to accommodate production variations in the distance from the trip plate to the door release. I slightly bent mine near the top of the cage to shorten it just enough for the hook to hold up the door with the trip plate as high as it would go, leaving the trap at its most sensitive. Works perfectly every time.

Trap is good--has a few design flaws--but did the job!!! Had problems with a raccoon at night eating the bird's and squirrels' food. Tried the smaller trap, but all we caught was two cats. Got this bigger trap and made sure I had everything ready to help with the transport. First night, the raccoon came into the trap eating every marshmallow up to the trigger plate, but not those on the other side in the back corners or poking up from under the trap (including eating the one hanging above the trigger plate!). So I covered the bottom of the cage and the plate in mulch--added more hanging inducements, and a nice pile of marshmallows in the back corners, and on night two...got the thieving critter! Probably a 20 to 25 pounder--and clear to see what the smaller two door trap didn't work as his butt was too big for the doors to close! Going to set the trap a couple of more nights just to make sure they're aren't more of the darn critters! Luckily there were two of us to carry it with the critter in it, as it was unweidly with a moving, pissed off raccoon! And we use a rod across/through the mesh on the front to make sure he couldn't force the door open, and to provide a set of carrying handles. Handles on top were problematic--beyond weight distribution. The plate under the handles is much too small, and he was reaching through the mesh to grab the handles! (Looked like he was trying to find a release catch up there!) Plus if you cover the cage as we did, you either have to cut a hole through the cover to use the handles or just not use them! And for a few time use, the cage is great, but can see when other who use theirs all the time complain about have to re-secure connections, etc. And watching him, I'm actually surprised we got him. Cage is big enough for him to literally hang upside down gripping the top mesh while he moves around--he almost could have hung upside down from the top and got most of the marshmallows without ever touching the pressure plate! But guess he was just too greedy and careless in the end. And putting the cage into my small SUV was no problem (after covering the floor)--had the door pointed to the opening and when we stopped, opened the cage doors, he just jumped right out and ran for the field we were by. So I'll set it again for a few nights....see if there is any takers for the marshmallows (cat food might work but all I caught with it was cats!)--and then sell the cage. If I even get half of what I paid for it, that means it was still far, far cheaper than paying a pest removal company!

My suburb has been overrun by feral chickens that roam the open land behind our houses. They will start crowing at 4am, and continue on throughout the day ruining the peace that once was. The problem has been getting progressively worse and I decided to take matters into my own hands. Originally I had purchased the Tomahawk 511C rooster trap which independent rods that allowed you to enter, but not to exit. After several months and no catches (even with proper baiting) I was starting to lose hope. I finally stumbled across Havahart's trap advertised towards larger animals such as raccoons and cats and figured it was my last hope. My only concern was with this product being marketed towards such animals, would a chicken be heavy enough to activate the trip plate and close the door? Upon arrival I placed this trap where the old one was located (where the chickens usually congregate) and put a hamburger bun at the end of the trap by the plate, and sprinkled bread crumbs in the surrounding area. I made an effort to balance the hook that activates the plate/door function BARELY on the cage, so the littlest disturbance will hopefully trigger it. My expectations were low being that my last trap provided zero catches, so I kind of just set it up and waited. Two days later I checked on it and was shocked with what I saw. A hen in my trap!!! It was almost a dream come true that I successfully trapped a chicken finally. The action hasn't stopped there, just today I went out (after resetting it of course) and low and behold a big beautiful rooster was in there. I'm finally getting this feral chicken population under control and all thanks to Havahart's trap. Thank you!

Intro: We live on the edge of a large forested area and have all kinds of wildlife coming through (which is fine) but unfortunately some of them like to go live under the deck around the pool, which isn't cool as they'll gnaw on wood, wiring and plumbing. Plus the porcupines destroy pine trees. So, I have two other havahart traps, one small one for squirrels and a large one (12x12x36) ... both of which I have had for 3 years. With the large one I've caught over two dozen raccoons, porcupines, ground hogs and skunks. In two weeks time this spring I caught 6 porcupines that had moved in this winter. My recent attempts to get the big new groundhog have been going on for two weeks and I think it is because my trap is too small. So I decided to purchase a larger one, which means I will also be able to set two traps out. Trap 1081. --------- Arrived in its box, fully pre-assembled from Amazon in one and a half days. Which I was happy about as the email said it was going to arrive Wednesday May 2nd. The trap is pretty well made and looks sturdy overall, but unfortunately Havahart skimped on quality and/or quality control in a few areas: ( I will post photos to detail these ) - the rear panel is of thinner gauge then the rest of the trap. Experience has told me that is where the animals try to get out (not under the slanted part) and will pry paneling open, so if anything the gauge thickness of the panel in my opinion should match that of the rest of the cage - the clips holding the rear panel in are of the wrong size (too big), are not closed all the way ... and there should probably be at least half again as many clips. Again, from experience with my other trap, which I have had to reinforce. - there is a handle on the rear top end ... but not on the front top end? So you cannot carry it with two hands across the widest part or have two people carry it. If you buy this trap, you're quite likely looking to trap something big, which is going to weigh a lot and you will not carry it by the center handle. Again from experience with my smaller trap, where some critters have had me walking lopsided. - the center handle has a protective piece, keeping your hand safe, but the rear handle doesn't? - the handles are pretty thin and you will need to wear gloves whenever you move the cage with the trapped animal - the hook to set the door open is pretty small, smaller then the manual suggests as far as setting the trap with light pressure or heavy pressure. All you can do is heavy pressure. - there is some bent wire included to open the trap to release the animal, I'm not thrilled about that. My other trap has easy close and easy release with one hand. It seems with this trap they suggest you turn the trap over 90 degrees, unlock the door then fold the flap up. The door does open easier on its side then when it is right side up. I may employ a small leash so that once it is unlocked I can stand away a little and pull the flap open to let the animal out. I prefer to have my hands away and be a few steps back. Many times the critters hunker down away from where your hand is trying to open the cage. A little extra distance is a good thing. Prior to deployment, to counter the loose back panel, I did tighten up the rear panel with 16 loops of #14 gauge copper electrical wire. Cut a section of wire and twisted it like a twist tie and then trimmed it off. I would suggest other people getting this trap to do the same. Clips that are loose with only three per side (two corners, one in the middle) will open up farther when a determined critter is fighting to get out. All in all not a bad trap. I hope it will serve me well for several years. Just a bit disappointing about the above details. For the price, from supposedly the #1 manufacturer of these things, they should have this thing solid all the way around, without a thinner end panel nor loose clips that the homeowner needs to correct. That thinner gauge panel is just cost cutting and not using proper clips nor closing them tight is just sloppy. If you can have all the other clips tight where pieces meet; why not those on the rear end? And, judging from other comments and reviews, this has been going on for years. I still have to figure something out for the front handle, and may slip some old garden hose over the other ones. It is no fun trying to carry to 20+ critters by a wire handle.

It is a good value. I have seen sturdier traps for more money, but they are also heavier. If you have to move a 20 pound animal, plus the big, unwieldy trap to lug around, it can get old real fast. The quality is pretty decent. The catch rate on the trap is okay. It's paid for itself and then some and shows no wear at all at this point. I find that it is a good idea to tie the bait to the bottom of the trap, so that when animals pull on it, they are standing on the release mechanism and they trigger it more often. If I don't tie the bait down, sneaky animals never step on it and they just walk off with the bait. The crazy thing is, sometimes even though the animal is trapped, they STILL EAT THE BAIT! Rascally thing to do but I can't fault their logic. I suspect it would be a good trap for just about everything in the size category except wolverine. A wolverine would slice this trap in half with its claws and then use the trap to scratch those hard-to-reach itchy places on its back.

Récupérer des chats sauvage que ne cesse de se multiplier très bonne cage!

If you need to catch a large cat (or a small/medium size dog) this is the brute to use. It could really do with an opening panel at the rear of the trap to assist in tele a sing the prisoner but that would probably increase the cost. Very quick operating trap door so no escape.

Works Great - The Coons are gone

Très bonne qualité et efficace 2 blaireaux et un renard...

It is a very good product, and it builds to last a long time. You got my five stars from me. THANK YOU