Cage trap with easy set and release mechanism

Abstract

A cage-type animal trap made of wire mesh having a roof and a front end provided with an animal access opening. A door movably mounted at the front end operates in an opened position to reveal the access opening and in a closed position to block the access opening. A hand grip mounted on a rail positioned on the roof moves bi-directionally between a first position near the front end of the trap and a second position near the rear end of the trap. An actuating cable has one end secured to the bottom of the door and another end Secured to the hand grip so that when the hand grip is moved by the user from a first position with the door closed to a second position with the door opened the trap can be set by a latch mechanism which releasably holds the hand grip in its second position. A pedal is movably mounted inside the trap with a trigger rod secured to the pedal and to the latch mechanism so that when an animal enters the trap, the weight of the animal moves the pedal from a first position to a second position for causing the trigger rod to move the latch thereby releasing the hand grip resulting in the handgrip moving from its second position to its first position and the door moving from the opened position to the closed position thus trapping the animal inside the trap. A paddle mechanism maintains the hand grip in its first position, and a door lock at the bottom of the door prevents the door from being opened by a trapped animal. Finally, the latch mechanism is adjustable to allow the user to adjust the weight sensitivity of the pedal so that only an animal of predetermined weight can move the pedal to trip the trap.