Best Bait for Raccoons?

[Howard E]

Don't think of coons as "a" or "the".....as in singular. They are always in the plural (many of them).

But if one has taken up residence under your porch (which likely means in or under your house), that is a candidate for relocating from the category of living to no longer living. Also odd to see one during daylight hours........mine are 100% nocturnal.

 

[neo71665]

Generally they tend to be nocturnal but being a creature of opportunity if it's easier for them to feed during the day they will do so.

 

[Howard E]

PS: If you do trap it and turn it loose......mark it with a shot of spray paint before you turn it loose.........and let us know how long it takes before it finds its way home. We had neighbors who did that.....hauled it 5 miles away and it beat them home.

 

[neo71665]

Coons will naturally have a home area of around 20 miles they will travel to look for food. Five miles away is just a drop in the bucket.

 

[Mtnboomer]

I will take all that into consideration. My husband wants to kill it if we trap it, I just am not into that. My main concern with leaving it is that I have my backyard fenced in now so I was going to plan on this year just having a secure coop, no run, letting them “free range” in my backyard and work in the fall at building one to switch them to. If they are wandering around my backyard I’ve learned they really like to go under porches and if the raccoon is under there won’t it just pick them off one by one during the day?

A fence won't keep out a raccoon unless you put a roof on it. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Secure your coop. Prevent chickens from going under house. Lock them up at night.

I have no fencing and a ton of predators. I designed it with bears in mind. So far, nothing has gotten in yet despite frequent efforts.

 

[Punkybrewster]

Predators will always be around whether you see them or not. A secure coop and run is top priority.

 

[HippieAtHeart]

Don't think of coons as "a" or "the".....as in singular. They are always in the plural (many of them).

But if one has taken up residence under your porch (which likely means in or under your house), that is a candidate for relocating from the category of living to no longer living. Also odd to see one during daylight hours........mine are 100% nocturnal.

Yeah the only times we have seen it/them? Is on really overcast drizzly days. I’m starting to think I don’t want them to just wander our fenced in back yard and build a run instead.

 

[HippieAtHeart]

A fence won't keep out a raccoon unless you put a roof on it. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Secure your coop. Prevent chickens from going under house. Lock them up at night.

I have no fencing and a ton of predators. I designed it with bears in mind. So far, nothing has gotten in yet despite frequent efforts.

That’s a good photo. So do you not have a run?

 

[HippieAtHeart]

Couldn't have said it much better. We don't relocate. I grew up hunting, trapping, and selling the furs. I also like BBQ coon.

I'll only add to keep them away you have to make sure you don't give them a reason to be there. Hard to do with a big cage of an easy meal but main thing to do is keep everything clean. Coons look for easy food. Keep lids on trash cans and don't throw scraps out in the yard. Limit an easy food supply and they will go elsewhere to look for it.

The hard part with limiting food supply is that our “crazy cat lady” neighbor leaves cat food out all the time on her porch. I’m thinking a run may be best even though we wanted to take advantage of our fenced in 1/2 acre.

 

[HippieAtHeart]

Coons will naturally have a home area of around 20 miles they will travel to look for food. Five miles away is just a drop in the bucket.

Wow I did not know that