THE TANAMI WILD DOG TRAP

Australian designed, Australian made big, live-capture trap for wild dogs that kill and mutilate livestock and native animals

Dogs can hunt alone and also instinctively pack up and instinctively work as a team with additional dogs to bring down valuable farmed cattle, sheep and other flock and herd animals, plus native animals. Animals giving birth in paddocks are particularly vulnerable to dog attacks. Ideally, wild dog trapping should be done well before farmed animals usually give birth. 

Even a domestic fox terrier can  instinctively team up with a wild, large bull mastiff or escaped pig dog, both males and females, to work together as a pack to hunt and kill. One dog will bite off the tendons on the rear legs and another will take the throat. Larger dog packs take down cattle. German Shepherds crossed with dingoes produce wild dog offspring that are particularly savage.

Unlike foxes who hunt to eat, dogs hunt and kill for the thrill of the chase and not always to eat.

A wild dog pack can destroy valuable breeding livestock year after year and put farmers out of business. These dog traps can pay for themselves with each destructive wild dog taken out of future breeding cycles to save generations of expensive farmed animals and countless numbers of native animals every year.

Tanami Wild Dog Trap Dimensions

Size    1,230 x 710 x 1,000 mm. 
Trap weight   40 kg
Trap weight attached to shipping pallet for forklift unload at delivery site is around 50 kg


How to use the Tanami Wild Dog Trap

Check all set traps daily, promptly deal with trapped animals and reset the trap at the same location until no more wild dogs are left in that area before relocating the trap in another area. Remember where you set the trap in remote areas or if you have mobile reception, use an app like Trilobite, officially known as Australian Geology Travel Maps, to mark the traps position on the screen map so you can retrace your trap's location later.

Place the trap on flat ground where wild dogs have been seen or where they regularly mark their territory. If you have your own dog, let it out of the vehicle and watch where it goes as they may help identify a good trap location by sniffing out and marking on top of where a wild dog has already deliberately urinated or pooed at their usual fence post, tree or other regular marking spots. This is natural top dog behaviour. That regularly-visited marking site could be a good location to set the trap. These dog scents fade and are regularly re-marked by wild dogs to claim their territory and deter competitors from moving in. Scent is an animal communication mechanism.

Hammer in and wire up a steel star picket on each corner to hold the trap securely upright so that big trapped animals cannot roll the trap and escape after capture. Wild dogs will want to bite everything to escape after being trapped. Check and test that the trap door will drop cleanly and quickly after attaching the star pickets. The trap door has a strong spring to close it fast when activated so the dog cannot easily spin around inside the trap and escape. 

The trap has four carrying handles, for two people on each side, to move this heavy-duty 30 kg cage trap plus the weight of the animal to another location. If you have a live wild dog inside the trap while taking the trap elsewhere, wear heavy leather gloves as it is going to have a serious go at any human within range. Some wild dogs are bigger than young children who can also be targets for wild dogs hunting on the loose.

Feral cats that have been living in the bush for generations and thriving on eating native animals, birds and reptiles grow bigger than the previous generation. Some feral cats are as big as medium-size dogs and are just as dangerous, especially when trapped. Never let that feral go alive either if you find them inside this dog trap.

Shooting the feral animal trapped inside the cage is safe for you and a fast and humane death for the dog. For those who cannot shoot on the trapping property or do not have a neighbour with a firearm, another option is to contact your local council Ranger before trapping starts to see if they can put the wild dog down. The answer can differ from Council to Council. Your odds are better if you tell them the wild dog is in an approved cage trap.

Melted paraffin wax from the hardware store is used in cooking to seal preserves like home-made chutneys from air because this wax has no scent to taint the food. Paraffin wax can be rubbed along the trap door rails and where sliding metal has friction with other metal. Paraffin wax can assist with the speed of the trap door and locking bar dropping smoothly. Do not use candles for this purpose as they have the man-made chemical smells from their origins as petro-chemicals which are likely to deter wild animals from going near the trap.

To help put the trapping odds in your favour, when the trap is set, lightly spray it on all surfaces with a 50 - 50 mix of eucalyptus oil and water. Wild animals are already familiar with the smell of eucalyptus. This helps mask the man-made scents from the factory, the couriers who delivered it and everyone else who has handled the trap. They instinctively treat human and man-made scents as something to stay away from and dogs noses are way more sensitive than human noses for picking up strange scents. After this, handle the trap with chemical-free gloves. When setting traps, wear footwear that has not been worn in workshops, service stations, supermarkets and locations that are loaded with chemicals and humans. Or slosh the soles of your boots through cow or sheep manure before walking around while setting the trap.

Some trappers conceal the man-made boxy trap structure and improve their odds by laying bushy branches from local trees or scrub along three sides of the trap, but not across the entrance, and to also to help darken the trap interior. Some wild animals instinctively like to live in dark dens where they feel more secure. 

Sand can be placed on the floor of the trap to prevent the wild dog feeling unnatural metal mesh under its feet. Sand is better than soil which can set like concrete after rain.

Naturally suspicious wild dogs, especially experienced adult wild dogs, may wait for some days before they approach a new object suddenly appearing in their territory (being cagey), until they are used to seeing the same trap in the same spot for a few days and then they expect to see it there as part of their regular environment. For these few initial familiarity days, maybe up to five days, wire the trap door open, parallel to the ground, so the door does cannot drop. Do not bait it, yet. Do nothing else other than walk away while the wild dog/s get used to seeing this trap and then it becomes normal and expected in their environment. 

Next, while the trap has the door still wired open, give the dog a free feed of meat just inside the door. When it takes that meat, put another piece half way inside the trap. When it takes that, set the trap. Put a chunk of fresh meat inside the circular bait holder, unwire the trap door and set the trap. Test is and reset it.

Place meat in the circular bait basket near the back of the trap. Kentucky Fried Chicken has a strong scent on the breeze, as does cheaper, freshly cooked liver. Keep chunks of meat bait in the freezer for each time you want to bait the trap for the next wild dog. There is always a next one to take over the territory after the previous marking scents left by the previous trapped wild dog fade away in the weather.

A food scent trail of small meat bits, fish oil or used cooking oil/animal fat can be dribbled out in front of the set trap for a few metres for the wild dog to follow the scent trail inside the trap towards the bait. The dog has a go at the meat in the bait holder at the back of the trap which activates the trap door behind the dog.

Come back daily to check the trap and deal promptly with the trapped animal. 

Where there is a permit to shoot, a .22 to the head is a quick and humane death for a wild dog, fox or cat. If an unintended animal is trapped in the cage, such as your own dog or a native animal, it is reversible. Simply lift the locking bar, tilt the trap door up and let it out. 

To save native animals from feral meat-eating predators, this trap can also be used in national parks and areas where shooting is not permitted or practical, including being of use for property owners whose land backs onto national parks which can be safe havens for feral animals.


Shipping (freight): 1310 x 900 x 1360 mm, 40 kg, Skid.