Turtle Traps

[fossilman]

Anyone ever see or make a homemade turtle trap.....If so, can you give me any idea's on how to build one....

[sdbowyer]

I have used a larger version of the classic funnel fish trap with success. Just make sure the top of the trap raises above the surface of the water a bit so the turtles can breathe.

Another turtle trap involves a sloping basking log. The turtles crawl onto the log from the pond on the down slope, but if they choose to dive back into the pond from the other side of the log they dive into a cage that they can't crawl out of. Both can be made with chicken wire.

[inchr48]

My brother had one made from the drum out of a clothes washer. A wooden platform cut just smaller than the drum opening was mounted on a pipe which spanned the opening and acted as an axle.

He would wire chicken necks to the center of the platform. The drum would be set in the lake with the top just above water level. When the snappers would climb onto the platform, it would tip and dump them into the drum.

I remember one snapping turtle that weighed 54#! I haven't eaten any in a long time, but is very good.

[upperEA]

I have a couple out in the barn. I will see if I can find them and take a pic or two for ya. They are chicken wire boxes with 16 penny nails pointing inward so when the critter goes in the nails keep him from coming out by catching the bottom of their shells . They work well I have caught quite a few over the years with them. A BIG treble hook on some thin wire with a chicken liver or two work well also, if it's legal in your parts....

[upperEA]

Hey Foss, it looks like my traps are still up in the bushes by the lake I trap at. Here is a link to plans for the exact trap I use. Good luck, show some pics when you get some ea....

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/mcms/webtools/i...urtleTraps2.jpg