Patent Application
20120152173
The present invention relates to apparatus for feeding wildlife, especially deer, and particularly for mounting or supporting a body of animal feed where and when desired for feeding, observing, animal husbandry, harvesting, and/or other wildlife control applications.
Animal feed has been provided in various shaped bodies and blocks to facilitate feeding. A description of such blocks and the apparatus for fabricating them may be found in Lush et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,943, issued Jan. 5, 1999. Wire cages have been used for supporting blocks of feed as for example shown in Wilkins, U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,541, issued Oct. 27, 1998. Such feed bodies have been nailed or otherwise hung and attached to structures in the woods, such as trees, or elsewhere where the animals feed. See for example Weil, U.S. Pat. No. 1,009,361, issued Nov. 21, 1911 and White, U.S. Pat. No. 1,092,314, issued Apr. 7, 1914. Other attachment methods have been by means of special hangers on tree limbs and the like, as shown, for example, in Hume, U.S. Design Pat. No. 194,610, issued Feb. 19, 1963 and Schneider, U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,342, issued Oct. 1, 1991.
It is desirable to locate the animal feed bodies easily and rapidly at desired locations, as in clearings, and without the need to find a tree or other mounting structure. Then, the animals will be attracted in proximity to where they may be observed or where they may be fed for animal husbandry, harvesting, and other applications in the vicinity of hunting blinds or away from populated areas.
To achieve flexibility in wild animal feeding and especially the feeding of deer and to locate feeding sites as where and when desired, the present invention provides a wire cage receptacle for holding a body of feed which can readily be mounted on a stake for which can be provided as an assembly with a stake. The stake is received in a stake receiving receptacle on the back of the wire cage which holds the body of feed. This receptacle may be another wire cage open at the bottom and closed at the top and having a cross-section complimentary to the cross-section of the stake and extending the entire length of the animal feed block receptacle cage. When the stake is in its receptacle, the cage is held above ground level at a desired height to facilitate animal feeding, observation of the animals, and access to the animal while feeding in a location, which is necessary or desirable for animal husbandry and animal harvesting purposes.
The present invention also provides a method for holding a body of animal feed which comprises the steps of providing a member, such as a shaft, having two opposing ends, providing an assembly having a first receptacle for receiving a body of animal feed and a second receptacle, coupled to the first receptacle, for receiving a first end of the member, and mounting the second end of the member into the ground in which the length of the member is sufficient to locate the first receptacle at a desired height above the ground.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from a reading of the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to the drawings, there is shown a wire cage or receptacle 10 made up of criss-cross wires of steel. The wires form a back 12, a bottom 14, a top 16, and sides 18 and 20. The top 16 is a lip extending towards the front of the receptacle 10. Wires extending upwardly from the bottom also form a lip 22. The sides 18 and 20 may be extended by wires 24 and 26, respectively, which taper towards the front from the top 16 towards the bottom 14. If desired, a wire loop 28 above the bottom 14 may be provided. This loop 28 is a U-shaped brace extension for securely holding the block 30 of feed as shown, for example, in
Into the ground 32 as shown in
Double wires for additional strength may be provided along the edges of the bottom 14 and the back 12, if desired.
The stake 34 may be made of wood, metal, or plastic, and preferably has a lower end 34a pointed to facilitate mounting in ground 32. Although the term stake is used, the stake 34 may be any rigid or substantially rigid member (e.g., shaft) having a length between its opposing ends 34a and 34b to locate receptacle 10 at a position (or height) suitable for feeding one or more animals when end 34a is fixed into the ground 32, in which the upper end of such member is a cross-sectional shape and size to enable engagement along the interior of receptacle 36. The ground 32 being the means for supporting the assembly of stake 34 and its receptacle 36 coupled to receptacle 10. Alternatively, the end 34a of the stake 34 may be fixed to other support means as needed based on the environment of use of the receptacle 10, e.g., between rocks or other natural features that may be above, at, or below, ground level, or attached or extending from a post. The receptacles 10 and 26 are preferably of wire coated or layered with another material, e.g. plastic or rubber, but receptacles 10 and 26 may be made of other material, such as of plastic. In operation, the end 34a of stake 34 is mounted in ground 32, and end 34b of stake 34 mounted or received in receptacle 36, such that receptacle 10 is held with a body of feed 30 above the ground 32 at a desired height to facilitate animal feeding, observation of the animals, and access to such animal(s) while feeding in a location.
Variations and modifications in the herein described holder and assembly of holder and stake, within the scope of the invention will undoubtedly suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the foregoing description should be taken as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
