Remotely enabling live traps for mesopredator capture: Potential benefits and use of time‐controlled trap access

Abstract A method of remotely activating a live trap targeting raccoons ( Procyon lotor ) or other mesopredators is described in which a programmable chicken coop door controls access to a previously baited and otherwise readied live trap, thus enabling it for use after a strategic period of inactivity. Programming a live trap set for later animal capture can benefit often limited research or resource management budgets by eliminating the need for a second site visit within a given day solely to reset traps. Being able to remotely delimit active trapping intervals can also promote the welfare of captured animals by programming the unit to restrict trapping timelines to optimal times of day (e.g., to reduce thermal stress) and by reducing the length of time animals are held within traps. In our 2‐year study, the timed access door performed as programmed and without failure on all 185 trapping nights. While trapping outcomes for striped skunks ( Mephitis mephitis ) were ambiguous due to low sample sizes, raccoons and opossums ( Didelphis virginiana ) were captured at consistently higher rates by the trap within the timed‐access structure than by an unhoused, control live trap placed nearby, likely due to preferences for less exposed trap placements or the contrasting inability to acquire the provided bait without entry into the live trap within the structure. These results suggest that, aside from other benefits, the described method could produce comparable or increased trapping efficiency relative to traditional trapping approaches in many wildlife management or research settings.