Friends of mine are having a real problem with badgers damaging their irrigated hay meadows. The holes they dig are hindering haying operations and damaged equipment. The badgers are after ground squirrels (I'm dealing with those). Would like to trap the badgers but there are a lot of pet dogs that roam the area so traditional traps have been ruled out. What about large, heavy duty box traps? Anybody with experience or suggestions?

Badgers don't hesitate to enter live traps. Just bait 'em with what they like......

http://icwdm.org/handbook/carnivor/Badgers/Badgers.pdf

Why would anyone ever want to screw with a live badger? Whatever, make sure it's stout.

If you manage to find a live trap that would hold a badger, the hardest part would be letting one go. Of course I assume that you would have no intentions on releasing a live one.
A raccoon is bad enough!
Ken

Never had trouble holding them, even in a Havahart......

Never had any issues releasing animals from a catch cage. Open the hatch, point opening towards the ground and shake. They tend to slide right out.

except coons, when there is a barking dog there, slathering to get at them.....

I Don't use live traps for anything, and usually get 35-40 badgers every winter with snares, the problem with catching badgers with snares is they rarely kill themselves, they start digging and will dig a hole it will take a hour or two to shovel back in, I can usually tell from 200 yrds away if I have a badger by the dirt piled up around the trap site. shoot them with a .22 and clean up the mess and fill the hole. I don't care if I ever catch another one. Rio7

just because you use a live trap does not mean you will release what is caught.

PO doesn't what to catch neighbors or his own pets in a trap that will harm them.

I release everything I catch in a cage, its just that some critters may not be alive when I release them!!

I run a few live traps in a buddies barn to keep the coons and possums from schitting on his lumber pile, always end up catching a few barn cats in the process and must release them to keep his wife happy. Some of those can be a little wound up at times.

We don't have to worry about our neighbors the closest one is 6 miles away as the crow flies,I have never caught a pet cat or dog in my traps, I don't like catching skunks or badgers, badgers always smell like skunks, for me foot holds or snares and a .22 pistol are the only way to go.

caught one last winter......plain ole live trap.......

young one......yea he was pizzed off......

told him.....'wait right here..I'll be back with my 17M2'

stunk like a skunk......either ate one......or slept with one

He smelled like a badger is supposed to smell.....

Don, One interesting side note is Texas badgers are about 1/3 smaller than Colorado badgers and Texas badgers really stink, like skunks I think they shack up with skunks down here. Rio7

As I mentioned, the landowner (my host) has ruled out anything but a live trap so not to harm any roaming family pets in the area. The badgers got to go as they are really causing problems on the hay production. We're going to try the live trap method (and continue the ground squirrel population reduction program I'm doing). I've read that a mature badger eats two ground squirrels/Prairie dogs a day to maintain weight....that's a lot of holes in the hay meadows! They have four large pivot irrigated fields and they are getting tore up.

Trap them then take the 22 to their little head. Easy peasy.

These look real good::

http://www.livetraps.com/live-traps/badger-traps

I just tie a cord on the handle and drop the trap in the ditch. 60 seconds and it is all over.