Drop Trap

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Home Welding Projects

Small Animal Drop Trap

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Feral cats were becoming a problem in my property. I like cats, but they were coming through my doggie-door and eating my dog's food at night, caterwauling at all hours of the night. Then one took a dump in my pool and war was declared.

I first made a rectangular box from 6mm round bar, cut a length of 15mm square tubing in half length-ways with an angle grinder and welded the pieces to the front of the box to form sliding channels for the door. Next came the frame for the see-saw trigger, which I covered with galvanized tin plate with a vertical bar in the middle for the trigger-pull. It pivoted or 'see-sawed' on a short length of 10mm roundbar welded crossways underneath. The trigger was a short length of brass round bar with a hole drilled at one end and a point filed at the other, which slid in a tubular copper pipe wired to the frame adjacent to the door. The trigger bar was connected to the trigger by a length of fishing trace and split rings. The box frame was then covered with small mesh braai grid and welded firmly in place. Initially I made the drop door from plywood, but this expanded when it got wet in the rain and no longer slid smoothly, so it was replaced with a metal sheet cut and bent to size, which worked beautifully. I no longer have a cat problem. They were caught and released many kilometres away.