Trapping with "Trapper Bill"
Trapping Grey Fox
I remember very well my first Grey Fox. It was the year I had a trap line long enough that I used a vehicle, I was sixteen and just got my drivers license that summer before trapping season opened in November. But, the main reason I remember it so well is, unknown to me, there was a much more experienced trapper with sets about twenty feet from mine, and we both showed up at the same time to check them.
His name was Mike, his last name I have forgotten now, but he was very good about the whole thing, he showed me how to dispatch the animal in a quicker, more humane way than I was using for fox at the time. He then pulled all his sets and left the area to me, and that I was very happy about. I found out later that Mike worked as a part time skinner for our local fur buyer. I learned many useful things from Mike, but the best advice he ever gave me was, the animal is the best teacher of all.
When I started fox trapping in 1980, the Grey Fox was quite uncommon in my area, so I concentrated my efforts on taking the Red Fox, which was, and still is, the most common of the two types, here in Michigan.
But when Coyotes started showing up more and more, things started to change. Because Red Fox and Coyotes prefer similar habitat, and the Coyotes being the dominate predator, they started to decimate the Red Fox population, ( the Red Fox would either move on or be killed and eaten.)
The Grey Fox prefers a more woodland habitat, and Grey Fox being able to climb trees, ( yes, climb trees) to avoid Coyotes, it gave the Grey Fox the ability to expand its range and fill in the void left by the Red Fox. It is not unusual for a Grey Fox to sleep the day away in an abandoned squirrel's nest far above the ground.
The Grey's diet is somewhat different than the Red's, it will eat more vegetation like beechnuts, acorns, and mulberries, mulberries being a favorite. It will also take mice, rabbits and small reptiles, and with their ability to climb trees, they will often raid a birds nest for the eggs and chicks.
The average Grey Fox weighs about six to eight pounds, somewhat smaller than the Red Fox, which weighs about nine to twelve pounds. They have somewhat shorter legs and smaller feet than the Red. ( The feet of the Red Fox are five times larger than they need to support their own body weight.) As for the Grey Fox's senses, their sight, hearing and smell are all very acute.
In all trapping that you will ever do, location is 85% of your success. Your traps must be set at a close proximity to where the animal will travel, preferably right under his nose. Regardless of how good your attractor is, there is no such thing as magic in a bottle. None of the baits and lures I have ever used have ever made up for a poor location, and with over twenty years of experience, I can safely say they never will.
The most common set for the Grey Fox, in the Eastern states, is the common dirt hole. The dirt hole is a hole dug in the ground at a forty-five degree angle with a fan shape dirt pattern in front of it. The set looks like a miniature ground hog den. The trap should be set, bedded and covered in front of the hole, with the bait, and or lure placed in the bottom of the hole, so the animal has to take several steps in order to retrieve it, ultimately stepping into the trap. When placing a trap for the Grey Fox, it must be very close to the edge of the hole, because the animal has short legs and small feet, it is forced to get very close to the hole in order to get the bait. Trappers call this crowding the hole.
	This is a dirt hole set for Grey Fox, with the pan of the trap exposed to show the distance it should be from the edge of the hole.
This is the completed set for the grey fox.
The preferred trap for Grey Fox is the 1 1/2 coil spring with laminated jaws and center mounted swivels. But in order for the swivel to do what it was designed to do, you must be aware of what is around your trap, if there are alot of brush and sticks in the trap area, it could get tangled, not letting the swivel move and could cause undo injury to the animal's foot.
This article barely scratches the surface on trapping the Grey Fox, but I hope it will help out the younger trappers in the Michigan area. And also shed some light on trapping for non-trappers as well.
Happy Trapping!
"Trapper Bill"