Two questions on civits. Second one first.
How do you gas them? My pipe traps are made with 5" PVC capped at the back so they are air tight except for the entrance. I carry them back to the truck open end up and set down the same way. CO2 hose goes in top and I turn on at minimum flow while I count to 30. CO2 is heavier then air so it displaces all oxygen in trap and civit passes out even though it continues to breath. Sometimes they will stick their nose out the top and I follow them around blowing CO2 into their face until they drop. They will die from this however it takes a while so after they are unconscious I speed things up by adding a quart of water. Usually done in a few minutes however it doesn't hurt to take the time to have a sandwich and give them plenty of time.
How do you know where to catch the civit cats?
They can literally show up anywhere but they like small creeks the best. Habitat? Anywhere you might set a bobcat set.
Seriously though they are great mousers and hunt mice and voles in the winter so that second growth that attracts cats also attracts them. They have an especially keen sense of smell and are attracted to carrion. They are not squeamish about how rotten it is so the stinkier the better and they will never leave a carcass until it is gone.
So what I do is put out a lot of baits, really stinky baits. make sure to hang them so coyotes can't get them and I put a run pole up so the civits can for sure get them however from past experience I am not sure there is a way to keep them from getting a bait. They can climb trees very well.
With the baits out you only have to check them about once a week and set traps where you see action. I get fooled often enough but generally I can tell when it is a civit or something else.
If one of them sprays it attracts more civits. Doesn't happen often with the pipe traps but back when I used conibears it definitely brought more in. I can remember a couple places where I caught a dozen in one location. Not the norm with pipe traps.
You can use cages but you need something to put the cage in to gas them. Eric D and I went out and he caught three in cages. We used an old cooler I picked up from a dump. Worked great. The cages do increase the chances of getting sprayed though. Win, Win, brings in more skunks and keeps the Jehovah's Witnesses from stopping by.
Lady at the Post office the other day said "Oh, you're the skunk man" so maybe it keeps everybody away.
Bad thing about them spraying is it depletes the scent pods. Good money in them if full. I just sold $300 worth so it all helps the bottom line.
Maybe not of much importance if you are using cages but back when we conibeared them I always set on a run pole. You lose as high as 10% to cannibalism when set on the ground. Foot traps are an absolute no no. Civits are about the only animal I've trapped that chew their feet and they will do it at the drop of a hat.
