Bait for coons

[kybeagle]

If all the above suggestions don't yeild you a coon, go to an outdoor store and ask for coon bait in their trapping department!

 

[plumberroy]

peanutbutter and honey mixed is good bait in areas you don't want to catch cats , if cats aren't a problem sardines or mackeral are my bait of choice
roy

 

[pringle]

When I was trying to get a coon I threw some bread and cooked chicken in to the live trap and got him.

 

[popgun3d]

chickens in the live trap if you got a cull

 

[max13077]

Put this stuff in the trap

http://www.fntpost.com/Products/Hawbaker's+Lures/Hawbaker's+Raccoon+Lure+(1+oz.)

It's the nastiest, sweetest stuff I've ever smelled. If that doesn't attract them, nothings going to.

 

[dchickenman]

Sardines are great, jack mackerel even better. You can find it in the grocery store, next to the canned tuna & salmon.

You WILL catch neighborhood cats, though. Try this method- it's a little time consuming, but it will reduce your cat catches after awhile.

Level a spot for your cage trap on the ground. Put the trap in place & mark where the pan (the part the animal steps on to fire the trap) is on the ground. Remove the cage & dig a small hole in the ground about where the pan will be when you set the trap. Hole should be about 2 or 3 inches around, 5 or 6 inches deep, and more or less straight down. Dump a couple of big chunks of fish in the hole, trying not to cover it with dirt. You want that smell as strong as possible. dribble some of the fish juice around the top of the hole, place your cage & set trap.

This works better than just throwing bait in the cage. If a coon can see the bait, he may well reach through the wire to get it, probably setting off your trap without getting caught. If your bait is in the hole, he can smell it but not see it. Chances are he will enter the cage to investigate.

Of course you're gonna catch cats at first. But if you let them go, you've educated them. If they can't eat the bait, most of them will avoid the cage in the future. Let them get a bellyful of fish, they'll come back time and again, and you'll keep catching cats and not many coon.

Another thing- as the weather gets warmer, and time goes by, the fish will REALLY smell bad. That's ok; the worse it smells, the more coon, possum & skunk you'll catch. As the bait rots down, just add more fish on top of the old. Cats prefer fresh bait- coon don't care so much, and the stronger smell will really pull them into your trap & away from your birds.

Good luck!

 

[Ozark Chicken]

We use the "under the trap method" have used everything from whole corn, like we use in the deer feeders, to table scraps. Also used cheap cat food from the dollar store. We do set a couple cinder blocks on and around the trap. Try to set in an area that at least on side is against something solid like a big tree or better an outbuilding or garage. We catch countless coons and several opossums, a few armadillos and skunks. Any cat around here is feral so we don't worry bout that to much

 

[dchickenman]

Yup, I like to stake my cages down. Sometimes you run into a coon that seems to know all about cages, and will just roll them over to get the bait. Glad you brought that up, Ozark

 

[Frosty]

I have also used eggs for bait... and caught one of my cats repeatedly before I got the coon. An interesting note for those who also have a garden - we planted that red variety of corn one year, and even the coons wouldn't touch it! If you have your birds penned, something that works for protecting corn could also protect penned birds in the summer. Plant squash or pumpkin plants around the pens. Coons don't like to go through it.

 

[mxpres]

I stake my trap down and use biscuits packed full of grape jelly,works for me.