How to Make Trapping Lures at Home

Trapping scent lures are essential for drawing animals to the trap set. Lures are specifically formulated for each animal from animal parts, glands and food extracts that they feed on. Lures fall into four categories: gland, curiosity, passion and natural. Lures need to be properly balanced with each ingredient. If they aren't balanced, they would scare more animals away than they would attract. Natural lures are made from food, such as apples or fish. Dried beaver castor is an excellent lure for all water-based animals. These natural lures are the type that can be made at home.

Things You'll Need

  • Rubber gloves
  • Beaver castor, whole dried glands or powdered
  • Apples
  • Fish
  • Glycerin, liquid
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Boil new glass jars in clean water to remove any odors. Let them cool and then cap them with screw-on plastic lids. Store them away from food or petroleum odors until ready to use.

    • 2

      Grind whole dry beaver castor glands into a powder or purchase dry ground beaver castor from a lure manufacturer. Fill a clean jar half way with beaver castor and then gradually mix in liquid glycerin until it forms a thick paste. Cap the jar and use the lure as is at trap sets.

    • 3

      Smash apples in a press, collecting the juice into clean boiled jars. Add glycerin to the pure juice until it thickens.

    • 4

      Place chunks of fish in large clean jars and leave them in a warm place outside to ferment. Keep the lid loose on the jars, so the expanding gas from the fermenting fish does not explode the jars. Leave like this until the fish has turned to liquid.

    • 5

      Pour the fish liquid into jars with the small chunks of fish still mixed in. Pure fish oil can be obtained by straining the liquid through a screen or cheese cloth into smaller jars. With or without the chunks fish oil is a good attractor for raccoon, opossum and skunk.