Bobcat chewed his toes off

[snowman623]

Seem to be a lot of trappers in this section. I'm new to it this year. I'm mainly trapping bobcats. I've heard of them chewing their foot off but thought this was only if trapped for days. This cat had a broken leg in the elbow joint. It was an old wound. I'm thinking he had no feeling in this leg. The trap caught in the ankle area. He had pulled it down to the pad, broke the ankle almost into, and chewed off 3 toes. This was overnight. The paw was a littler smaller on this leg too. None of the other cats had any damage at all. Ill have several for sale later on. Y'all think he had no feeling in this foot?

[mvernelson]

Get better traps! Sounds like the springs are no good anymore. Or laminate the jaws.

[snowman623]

Their brand new dukes. I caught the cat and several others. I was just surprised he chewed off 3 toes.

[franchi612]

chewed off or broken off? Alot of people think animals chew their feet off when on reality they twisted off, or your trap is too strong and cut off all feeling to the foot and then yes they will be more apt to chew since they can't feel it.  Never trapped bobcat, but sounds to me like you might want to try some softcatch traps or offset jaws unless for some reason they won't hold a bobcat. If you are catching them up on the ankle, you might want to make sure your traps are waxed and possibly file the dog down a bit to make them faster and get a good foot catch instead.

[snowman623]

 I'm new to trapping. Ill check into those other traps. Most have been caught on their foot. His was in the middle of his foot but looked like may have started on ankle and he worked it down. It wasn't near his toes. Ill learn as I go. I really screwed up yesterday. One got away with trap on his foot. I've been sick. Spent 4 hrs looking and found him in a hole. Can't get him out so I set 2 traps at hole to catch him when he comes out. Probably loose the foot and hurt my sale. But I would just like to put him out of his misery.

[Bill Yox]

I love doing this... ...if his leg has an elbow, he might have lost feeling, and couldve chewed the trap and his toes inadvertently, but he sure didnt do anything to his ankle. A leg with an elbow doesnt have an ankle.

[josh s.]

I love doing this... ...if his leg has an elbow, he might have lost feeling, and couldve chewed the trap and his toes inadvertently, but he sure didnt do anything to his ankle. A leg with an elbow doesnt have an ankle.

bill your such a know it all!! Tell me....how many wrists does a deer have wise guy!!

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[kikkertinz]

Josh i bet i can guess how many middle fingers Bill has lol

[josh s.]

Josh i bet i can guess how many middle fingers Bill has lol

hahahaha!!!! Me too!!

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[Bill R.]

Reminds me of an incident in Maryland about 25 years ago when an anti-trapping bill was introduced in the legislature.  The hearing was attended by animal rights activists and a lot of trappers, and the animal rights guy was testifying about how horrible leg hold traps were. So he starting quoting a story from the Md. Trappers Association newsletter about the rare polish blue fox, that when it's leg was caught in a trap chewed off it's other three legs.  When the whole hearing room broke out in laughter, the animal rights guy couldn't understand why everyone thought such cruelty was so funny. 

[jbconnected]

Over all the chewing off the leg to escape is a wives tale. The only animals I have ever had chew is raccoons (rarely), & that happens when they are caught out in the open (as incidentals) with nothing else to chew on or occupy their minds. That said I always check every morning so have no experience with extended checks.

If the leg was broken previously could the toes be missing from that incident & reopened?  Animals are always getting hit by cars & many other strange injuries.

Those Duke #3 traps (& most others) have a lot of sharp edges from the factory that need to be dulled. I do a lot of work to all of my traps before they are ever set. Also some people use 4 coils when they are absolutely not needed. Knowing it was caught in the ankle area & it slipped to the pad hints to me that the traps may be over powered. Without knowing more about your setup it will be difficult to diagnose the problem. I will be glad to talk to you about trapping if you like or point you to some good information. Just PM me.

PS: always double stake. Never underestimate the animal.

[Bill Yox]

Coons and skunks are notorious chewers. Antihunters love to use that against the trapper. Truth is, they chew the trap and occasionally transfer over the the LOWER part under the trap jaw and obviously feel nothing, or they wouldnt do it. In this day and age people use a smaller jaw space so this doesnt happen, drown sets for coons, as well as swivels to prevent injury due to twisting. Someone concerned about the content of this post reported it, (thank you for keeping an eye on thingsd) they were worried we might be setting ourselves up for criticism with antis. I respectfully reply that they have all the ammo they need with those who dont do this in a humane way already, not to mention the staged photos they set up themselves.

Josh, your answer? Both of them, of course.    If a leg has an elbow, hes got a wrist, not an ankle. His hind leg has a hip, knee, heel and ankle. His front leg is set up like an arm...shoulder, elbow and wrist.

[snowman623]

Sorry I'm no anatomy expert. Thanks for the input. Wasn't trying to stir up anything. Just want to humanely trap as best I can.

[Bill Yox]

Snowman, nothing to be sorry for, we were just having some fun while answering you. Laugh with us ok? 

Bill. Just give me a call sometime. Things are very hectic here as you know. TTYS !!

[Patrick J]

The only animals that will chew off their feet to escape a trap are beaver, muskrat, badger, coon and skunks. If you have an animal missing toes other than listed previous, you need to take the time to make sure your traps are worked over properly. Rounded edge and laminated jaws along with swivels and shock springs will save from injuring an animal anymore than you must