As some of you may know from a previous post I have a group of fox living close by so I have decided to take advantage of the situation and "do some testing" and share the results.

What would you like to see tested?

How they react to a scent posts using different urine.
1) Coyote Urine
2) Grey fox urine
3) Bobcat urine

id like to see the attraction of just straight ground castor

Nice post Hobbie!!

I would like to see you make a set (minus the trap, of course) without taking any precautions about hiding your human scent. Use bare hands, take a leak next to the set, etc. and see if they will still work the set. We always hear about how animals are shy about human scent, and I want to see if human scent really does make a difference in animal behavior. You might want to see if they will work the "set" the first night, or if not, how long it will take before they finally come around to working it.

gloves or no gloves

50yds. From here........



High traffic.........



A hand made hole baited with a peeler (lower center).....



Hand sifted sand and a generous amount of human urine........



The time was 15:14...........Check back tomorrow for an update.

you will have to tell em what a peeler is and we both know that peeler will be so rotten by tomorrow morning it will make your eyes water...

Peeler...Isn't that a blue crab that is loosing his shell (not quite a soft shell yet)?

If your close to your home the human scent won't bother them a bit.They expect it there.I have deer in my yard that I can walk up to, but if I go across the street to their yard they run like any other wild deer.Go to a more remote area and try peeing at a set also to see if theres a difference.That nice sand ground should tell you the whole story if they stand back.

Every canine's reaction to humans and/or human scent will vary from animal to animal and region to region depending upon each individual animal's conditioning. I won't be impressed by the experiment regardless of which way the results show, positive or negative or somewhere in between. However, in the long run a "cleaner trapper is a more productive trapper". I have personally performed many such testings over the years, watching animals from blinds for my wife's wildlife photography and from watching mock sets from my deer blind each deer season. In my wilderness type area at least, when a set is made using reasonable scent control the animals genmerally aproach, stop look around a moment and right straight on in. When I deliberately contaminated the area with sweat, urine, etc fox and coyote both would appear to get all nervous about the set, some would just plain leave, others would fidget areound, circle the set, go to higher ground to look around sometimes leaving after a considerable evaluation from a distance or many times aproaching the set in some haphazard way by crawling on thier stomach, trying to examine it from the rear or side and always looking fearful of lowering thier heads to do a thorough close up examination. My results of the exeriments taught me that if one want straight forward set approachs and a higher percentage of set acceptance they will use reasonable precautions. By reasonable precautions I mean no spitting, urinating, spending excessive time in the set area tracking around, wear reasonably clean clothing, gloves, footwear and if they kneel at a set use a cloth or pad to prevent making an intense human and foreign scent spot directly in front of a set. That is my opinion. Asa

Hope ya don't mind Asa....I put it in my signature......

Clean means organized as well....Looking from a distance and bringing all that you need to the set....Organized.... so you can get in and out......

I am a "squatter"......and i think asa is right on on the "intense human roadblock that can accrue....especially on a werry or pressured animal..

Ok, the heck with it.........

LOL!

Don't let my thoughts stop you from the experiment Hobbie Trapper, doing experiments like that can be very educational and fun to do!

Vinke wrote...Clean means organized as well....Looking from a distance and bringing all that you need to the set....Organized.... so you can get in and out......

Well said Vinke, thanks for that input!
Probably the most important factor in areas where it is a significant factor is organization. After stopping at a potential set area I take my traps and gear to a point where I can survey the area analyzing it for set backings and anticipating the likely approach and travel routes of the coyotes. After picking set spots I go directly to that spot, spread out a kneeling cloth, quickly put in a set and straight to the next spot without having to traipse and track all over the set area leaving one scent trail after another. Professional dog trainers once explained to me how when one is walking that dead skin cells are falling down thier pant legs like snow leaving a blatant long lasting trail for a canine to follow and that by tucking one's pant legs inside of boots reduces those skin cells to a minimum making it more difficult for tracking dogs. After ataining that knowledge I began getting out of my truck and pulling on a pair of clean zipper ovrershoes and tucking in my pant legs while in the set area. It only takes a moment to pull on and off the overshoes and I noted a marked increase in production plus first night catches. The grass and weeds are always wet in my country so I keep my feet dry as a bonus. Asa

Anything this morning Hobbie??

Once while turkey hunting on a farm that had alot of human traffic I walked a couple of hundred yards down the edge of a field in grass that was half way up my calf.Just after daylight I watched a coyote cross the field heading towards the edge I walked down. When it got to where I had walked,it stopped and backed up.It then ran parallel to my tracks,every few yards it would angle in toward my path then angle back out into the field.It eventually ran past me then entered the woods.It did not want to cross where I had walked.I was wearing rubber boots with my pants tucked in.Granted I was'nt deer hunting so I was'nt using scent control.If human scent is encountered where the animal is not used to it they will react negatively most of the time.I won't say always as every animal is different and everyone has their own expeiences.

Good example clear lake trapp!
I have seen many times by tracks in the snow where coyotes and even red fox have turned and run when they come to my tracks and trails. I have seen coyote fight thier way through 4 feet of snow by paraleling my snow shoe trail rather than get in the packed trail where the going would be easy. Other coyotes can't wait to get in the trail. The coyotes age and conditioning to humans probably is the determining factor but I believe a majority of any animal species are inherently fearful of humans. Asa

Sorry folks I had a fishing trip planned this morning and just got home.

I checked the "set" about 05:50 and they walked all over the area like they owned it. "Peeler" was gone and it appears the urine didn't even phase them.



I did have a trail cam out and I have 7-5min clips. As soon as I figure out how to get them from the chip to my computer I will have a more in-depth analysis.

I thought I could get by bare handed, but I figured urinating on the set would have scared them off for sure.