Raccoon kills one hen while dogs and kids in yard- have trap but raccoon not in it...Ideas?

[sherburne'sFabulousEggare]

Hello everyone,
I had a very upsetting experience several weeks ago when a coon got one of my hens (our babies) around 3 pm. Heard her last sounds and all. I chased the coon out of the yard.. had alot of adrenalin going.

Less than week later, out in yard with my hens and our standard poodle treed a coon within 20 feet of us. Needless to say, sure the neighbors wondered at the crazy sounds coming from next door as I attempted to scare the ****out of the coon.

We got a live trap. Put in marshmallows and caught a rat. Set up trap again, no raccoon going on 2 weeks plus now.

Have hens on lockdown and supervised yard trips. But would really like to catch the coon.

Any ideas?

 

[jnjross]

try tuna fish

 

[PartyOnARoost]

Honestly you would get a better outcome if you posted this earlier, but wet cat food, marshmallows, tuna like listed above... Also try and put a spotlight around the perimeter of coop or game came or strobe light may scare them off... Sorry for the lost hen, good luck

 

[bigoledude]

Cage traps are my least favorite type of trap. I have had the worst success with them.

DP traps work beautifully on coons. The DP is essentially a dog-proof trap. It will not catch dogs, cats or other animals. Here is a link to 2 different types of dog-proof types. I stuff a mixture of strawberry preserves and ground up raw fish into the cylinder portion. Sardines or tuna should also work. A couple (2) of globs of this mixture around the trap gives them a taste of the bait.

http://www.rpoutdoors.com/dudpcotr.html
http://www.rpoutdoors.com/cooncuff.html

I like the typical coilspring type traps also. If there is a danger of catching neighbors pets or if there is animals around that you don't want to harm, there is an "offset" type coilspring trap. This trap makes it possible to release the trapped animal unharmed.

http://www.rpoutdoors.com/bridgertraps.html

Snares are not discriminating. Snares are very cheap to make and you can set many of them in a small area. They will catch anything. Conibear traps are a lethal trap. Best used in a "bucket-set". It is my favorite for coons. DO NOT set up a conibear where a cat or dog may get killed in it. Do a YouTube search for "Bucket Set" for more info.


Ask a hunter on Craigslist to "rent" his game cam to determine when this predator is prowling your property to kill your stock. There are also some really cheap ones on ebay you may want to purchase.

A cheap "alarm" rig that worked very well for me was a Home Depot motion sensor outdoor light. I bought a screw-in plug receptacle and put it where the bulb would normally screw in. I ran a wire into the house and installed a buzzer. So, when something sets off the motion sensor, instead of a light coming on, the buzzer in the house starts buzzing.

Assumed you can't shoot when you mentioned neighbors able to hear the racket. Would be my first choice if possible.