Cage Tests Extended : County Continues Ban on Coyote Jaw Traps

A ban on the use of steel-jawed leg traps to catch coyotes that wander too close to homes in Topanga Canyon and other rural communities was continued Tuesday by Los Angeles County officials.

County Supervisor Mike Antonovich said a six-month experiment by county trappers using box traps to catch coyotes without injuring them has been inconclusive and must be widened.

Between now and Nov. 30, trappers employed by the county’s agricultural commissioner will receive special training on how to bait the walk-in cage traps and also will be asked to test leg snares that are being used to catch coyotes in Canada, Antonovich said.

Agricultural Commissioner E. Leon Spaugy ordered the initial half-year cage trap experiment in October after a coyote caught in a jaw trap in Topanga Canyon chewed its leg off to escape.

Since then, however, county trappers have failed to catch a single coyote in the four walk-in traps they put out in hilly areas the animals roam in search of food.

Two of the cages--which capture coyotes when they step inside to get at food bait--have been damaged by either animals or vandals, officials said. During the past six months, trappers would normally have caught up to 60 coyotes in leg traps, said Richard Wightman, head of the county’s trapping program.

Antonovich said the results of the first six-month trial were inconclusive “because the traps were not being baited properly and because there wasn’t a sufficient number of them.” He said funding will be made available to purchase more cage traps, which cost about $125 each.

Los Angeles animal control officers will be asked to show the county trappers how to use the cage traps, Antonovich said. At the same time, inexpensive leg snares that humanely capture coyotes will also be tested, he said.

County trappers will be authorized to use the old-style jaw traps in emergencies to catch coyotes that are menacing neighborhoods, Antonovich said. The agricultural commissioner’s office has about 150 of the leg traps, which cost about $5 each.

“Certainly public safety is the top priority and the agricultural commissioner is free to take whatever steps are necessary when lives are threatened,” Antonovich said.

The extension of the jaw-trap ban was sought by Lila Brooks, director of a Hollywood-based group called California Wildlife Defenders. Her organization has pressed for the elimination of such traps for years.

Brooks said cage traps have proven effective when used by trappers who know how to properly bait them. She said leg traps have been outlawed in several other California counties.

“L.A. County trappers have never used box traps before and do not have the skill and experience to catch the target animals,” she said.