Yes, after using or after a catch has been made, you may need to wash the Victor Easy Set Gopher traps, do so by simply using water and scrubbing clean and air drying.

Over time the mechanisms or springs on the Victor Easy Set Gopher Traps can stiffen up, a good way to solve this is to use a non-stick cooking spray, but never use products like WD-40 as the smell will deter the gophers.

The metal plate at the back of the Victor Easy Set Gopher Trap is called the trigger and the hole in the trigger or plate is to put a string or wire through to secure the trap so it cannot be drug off by another animal.

The number of Victor Easy Set Gopher Traps you will need depends on the amount of gopher activity you are dealing with, but in general always set 2 Easy Set Gopher Traps together in each active runway.  The runway looks like an upside-down T, so set one trap to the left and one to the right.

There is an instructional image on this product page.  This will show you how to set gopher traps.  You will want to make sure you put a trap in each direction of the tunnel, so you will need at least (2) traps.  Make sure you tie a long string to each trap so you can pull the trap back out when you need to.  Insert the set traps in the active tunnels, making sure you sure up the trap so the gopher isn't allowed to push the trap.  

The directions are in the image gallery under the product image.