OFI 872: How To Start A Trapping Business | Peter Dalton | Hunt Country Wildlife Removal

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SHOW NOTES

KEY IDEAS:

There is no question that I am going to become a trapper by necessity. Foxes have absolutely decimated my chickens on multiple occasions. We have lost our entire flock before, replaced it and lost several more chickens after that. We started hatching our chicks as replacements, and after we had 12 chicks hatch another fox came in and killed several of our chickens. After that, all of our eggs had to go to customers, so we haven’t put any in the incubator since. Then, a fox killed our rooster. So, now we are waiting on those 12 chicks to start laying and for the rooster that is in that bunch to start fertilizing eggs so we can start incubating more.

I have been relying on catching the foxes when they are hunting our chickens and shooting them. To that end, I have done alright. I have shot about ten fox in the last two years. But, there is a fundamental problem with that method, and that is I have to wait until the fox is hunting the chickens. Usually I only find that there is one around when a chicken or two comes up missing. So, I’m not very fond of this method.

Trapping is my next step. I need something that can control the fox when I am not looking. A trap seems like it is going to be the best method to accomplish this. So, I sought out today’s guest very selfishly. I need to learn more about trapping fox so I can protect my chickens better. Well, it turned out that I interviewed the exact right person!

On today’s show I am speaking with Peter Dalton. Peter owns the company, “Hunt Country Wildlife Removal” in Loudoun County, Virginia. This is a side business that kind of started by accident. Peter taught himself how to trap, and along the way started trapping for friends and neighbors when they had nuisance animals. Pretty soon he was doing a lot of trapping, and he finally started charging people for the service.

Through word of mouth the business has grown and grown. Peter is very busy with this side business these days, and he and his wife are also developing their farmstead. He has a lot of great advice on equipment to use, how to work in urban areas and what you can do in rural areas. I learned about a method of trapping foxes and coyotes in the episode that I never heard about, and you will benefit from this as well!

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Telephone: (703) 581-9146