I am wondering how effective flagging for cats is, after dark. Since bobcats are mostly nocturnal, and flagging is primarily a sight based attractant, how far can a bobcat see or sense flagging in the dark? Has anyone ever experimented with glow in the dark tapes for flagging? I see a couple of glow in the dark lures on the market now. Why wouldn't a glow in the dark flagging also be usful to attract bobcats, or even other animals, after dark? What about noise making flaggings, that make some noise as they sway in the breeze? Anyone got any opinions or experience on these matters?

You may be surprised but cats do a lot of hunting during daylight.Use things that move easily and have a reflective service,white objects included.Their eyes are better than ours,on a clear night with a little moonlight they can see much better than you or I.As with any animal you need to be on location.Flagging is only good if they pass close enough to actually see it.I have a buddy that used to use glow sticks in the back of his coni cubbies,he would hang them with a piece of fishing line.He claimed it made a difference in his cat catches...

Would an old school plastic shinny pinwheel work?

Probably would,most anything works,old cd's,disposable pie tins,aluminum foil,cotton ball spinners ect...

I've used strips of those white, light-weight plastic bags that they bag your groceries in. Rip them into irregular pieces about two feet long and tie the end to a limb. Any light breeze will move them around, cats aren't too particular.

I have been using a piece of cardboard for years, brown on on side and white on the other. It's my experience that they are an excellent attractor. In snow conditions when fluttering in a breeze the white stands out against the dark forest background and the brown against the snow, like a flashing neon sign.

I suppose the pie tin with something like a stick, or maybe a fishing sinker, to bang against it, might make the noise. I'm just trying to think of attractants, besides the obvious.

Old DVD/CD disc's work well too.

bctomcat,that is a good idea with the cardboard.Contrast is always good.

Where do y'all hang your flagging in relationship to the trap?? Or is the flagging in the real close area of the set...to catch their attention then the see/smell the set and hopefully work it...say flaggibg a few feet infront of a cubby? Or is it right infront of the cubby? Or above the dirthole etc...??

I would like to try some next season....tough here as flagging will catch the human eye as well..but in ky sets off the beaten path or on my 2000 acres of private land i think i am the obly trapper on i wanna try it...


Contrast and reflectivity are probably both key.....unless it is just a super super dark nite, there is enough light in the woods that things with contrast and/or reflectivity will stand out...i run coon dogs at nite so i see the woods often..

My flashers are hung 10-15 feet out from the set where they can be seen from a distance in several directions. In the pictures I posted the lynx snare cubby sets are in the patches of timber behind the flasher in the first picture and to the right in the second picture.

I tried some glow in the dark stuff,didn't really make any diferance that I could tell...
But anything will work ...I think I have tried most everything
Pie Tins..


Orange Flagging..There was a bush there,I guess this Big Tom didn't like it..

Piece of a T-Shirt

Being on location is the most important..

Thanx guys! I will give em a try next season if i get to run my cat line...might help me get my first cat!

Had a bunch of spots set this year that would have been good for them..

I dont worry about cats seeing my flagging in the dark because as LT eluded to, cats see extremely well in the dark. I use white turkey feathers collected from turkey farms. I attach the feathers to a fishing swivel and attach the swivel to bailing wire.

I'm 5'11 and I hang the feathers at my eye level right above the set. Why? Because I'm counting on that feather to draw the cat in from a distance. However once the cat is close enough to fill his curiosity I'm counting on the set itself to have the cats attention and i'm counting on the set to allow the cat to take his final step.

I have to note though that I cant always hang the flag right above the set. When this is the case I hang the feather as close to the set as I can but in a position so that once the cat gets to the feather he cant leave without investigating the set.