Customer Reviews for Tomahawk Dura Poly Live Trap for Raccoons & similar sized animals - Model 1232

The trap worked as advertised. On the second night that I put the trap out I got the pesky raccoon that's been frequenting our patio at night. I've since had another coon visit. This time he/she managed to get the marshmallows without touching the trap door lever. Setting the trap again tonight. NOTE: I had to coax the trapped coon out of the trap by tipping it 180 degrees, it must have weighed 20-25 pounds. : )

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14 of 17 people found this review helpful

I've got three of these in use in my wildlife control business. Unlike a wire cage, the solid-side construction shields the animal from customers' view and it is a perfect euthanasia chamber. Catch and terminate in one tool. I want to give it 5 stars, but there is a bit of quality control variation. Build tolerances are sometimes a little sloppy and require some modification to keep raccoons from getting a hand past the door. I had one unscrew a door hinge and escape, so I've added lock nuts to those bolts (easy improvement). For other animals, the door gaps don't matter. The smaller version of this trap is ideal for skunks.

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10 of 12 people found this review helpful

We received the trap quickly and it was as described. Trap works great, we have caught 3 skunks. The only draw back is that it is hard to see what you have caught in the trap. The enclosed design is great for keeping the animals calm and making them easy to handle.

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7 of 7 people found this review helpful

There are more do-it-yourself elements to operating this trap than are suggested in the advertising. However, this is more humane than a wire trap, any smell is contained, and I could transport the trapped animal in the back of my Prius with no adverse smell or damage. The carrying handle is near the opening, and this means you can carry the trap level with one hand on the handle and the other on the lip at the closed end of the trap. I saw on Mouse-Trap Monday YouTube to put a contractor bag over the whole trap before moving it, and so you can transport in your car and contain any skunk smell should they spray. There is a wire tab where you can tie string, and then when you reach to free the door mechanism, you pull back on the string to open the door while you are behind the trap and walking backwards -- use 5ft + of string. Mouse-Trap Monday guy also showed to tip up the end of the trap and put some wood under, to encourage the animal to move towards the opening. If you are manually tipping up the end of the trap, hold contractor bag in front of you. If animal is in the trap for hours, it wont get wet, it wont claw the ground, the sides are too slippery for claw grip. Also, because it isn't a wire mesh trap, there is no possibility of reaching in and getting the bait without getting trapped. We used kippered herring to catch skunk, and kippered herring was the dominant smell. The skunk was well fed and then possibly too car-sick to feel alarmed. It waddled off.

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6 of 7 people found this review helpful

First, I want to say that domyown.com has excellent customer service and were quick to respond when I asked how long getting the Model 1232. It arrived within a week or so. My garden was being tore up by critters in the night. I never had that problem before but this year they found the garden despite it having a small fence around it inside my chain-link fenced yard. Raccoons, possums, skunks, and even coyotes were caught on film by my trail camera set up in my garden. This was hours of footage every single night of wildlife rummaging around my vegetable plants. (I lost a lot of planted seed this year) They dug it up as fast as I could plant it. No corn for me this year. I got tired of watching videos of the raccoons digging and pooping in my vegetable patch so decided on buying a trap. The trap did its job and so far I've caught 2 racoons in 3 nights. I do see a couple of improvements that would make this trap handier to use. There should be a handle on the back area of the trap to have better control when carrying or lifting a full trap. It would also come in handy when cleaning it. The coons reached out through the bottom metal trap door and drug a bunch of dirt into the trap. It made it much harder to clean out. Seems that door should be more snug so they can't reach out underneath it. Visibility is limited. To see inside the tripped trap you have to try and look in the little holes in the trap door. I could not see what I had in the trap. I sure wasn't going to poke my eye against a small hole to see if it was a skunk or not. The second night I set my trail camera toward the trap so I saw the raccoon go in. The first one I caught, I wasn't sure what was in there until I let it go. When releasing the animal you have to get down near the opening to unlock and hold the door open. Maybe a cord or something could be added so hands didn't need to be so near the exit door. I used a retractable dog leash attached to part of the trap door to pull open after I used my other hand to unlock it. The instructions have no tips for releasing the animal. It just says how to set the trap, not how to unset when releasing. Maybe as I get more use to releasing critters this won't bother me but as a novice trapper, it sure does make me nervous to have my hands right near where they come out. All in all I'm happy with this trap. I chose the enclosed poly trap b/c I didn't want to mess with throwing a sheet or blanket over a metal trap and I think it keeps the animal calmer being enclosed and not having to look at me at the buttcrack of dawn.

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5 of 5 people found this review helpful

I purchased this after raccoons tore a hole in my last "heavy duty" trap. Cons; I realize the website says to expect 2 to three weeks for delivery but figured it was a CMA in rare cases where there is a delay. Mine came in 2 1/2 weeks. Tough to take in todays Amazon world where most stuff ships next day. Plus many reviews raved over the quick delivery so i was disappointed. I requested tracking but did not get the notice that it shipped until two days after I received the item. Like others, I see the need for an additional handle towards the rear of the trap to make carrying easier. I installed one myself. The front door should shut tighter to keep the critters (raccoons in my case) from reaching their paws out underneath. I am experimenting with adding a large washer to keep the door tight. Raccoons are hesitant to leave the trap probably because you are not visible to them so the fear factor does not kick in like with wire traps. I've tipped it on end, upside down, etc but the coon hangs on to the trip mechanism. Eventually they do wander off though. Pros: the trap works. The first night, a coon went in and just stole the bait. But the last two times. I stuck the bait around the edge of the trip pan and that worked. I love that I don't have to wrap the trap before relocating the animal. I feared they would scratch or chew through the plastic but no evidence of that yet. The trap is easy to clean.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I'm a facilities manager for a property on a skunk infested island off the coast of New England. If you have skunks this is the trap! Animals don't panic or spray and you can pick the traps up easily. I would have given it 5 stars but I feel the trip mechanism can be improved a little. We do get robbed from time to time even though we think we've made it as sensitive as we can get it.

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My one complaint is that it didn't have air holes & I couldn't tell what animal was trapped. I drilled air-holes myself.

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