Borrowed a *Have A HEart Raccoon trap* Now what?

[chicamama]

So, I set the trap and guess what................ bait gone, no raccoon. Smart little guy. I cannot believe he figured out how to get the bait and not set it off.

The good news is trash was picked up today and hauled away, all dog food containers locked indoors and chickens are secure. No food, EXCEPT my big avocado tree.

For what it's worth, I don't mind losing a few avos, it's the fact that now the thing thinks my patio is HIS PATIO and wants to kill my small pets that live there (cats and 9 weeks old puppy).

I pretty much liken it to bear control, say, in Yosemite or like parks. A lazy bear with no foraging skills will pass it on to their kin. I'm trying to encourage the raccoon to move on into the parkland behind my house, not camp on my roof everynight.
A good raccoon or (fll in the blank) lives on it's own, not in my Iams kibble bin.

 

[deerman]

place eggs in back of the trap, break a few. That way he will spend more time in the trap licking up the content.

 

[chicamama]

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woooooooooooo...excellent idea!

 

[blbgp]

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Can your puppy live inside?

 

[blbgp]

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I do, quite often, in CA. Generally, if you and your neighbors aren't offering them an easy food source or a comfy place to raise their young, they will move on. Opossums I worry about because of horses and EPM, and skunks are generally placcid fellows but are big rabies vectors in CA and are stinky even when they don't spray. So I prefer to not have any of them living on my property by keeping all my food inside and garbage in raccoon-safe bins.

Feeding cats outside and easy access to garbage are the biggest lures for raccoons.

 

[chicamama]

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Can your puppy live inside?

Oh, the pup does live inside most of the time. The patio is just for her to tinkle in late at night so I don't have to walk on the road in my nighty.

 

[danielbrown]

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I think you are just misunderstanding.
We(99%) don't go around killing everything thats moves, We just remove the ones that become a problem to livestock, gardens, buildings and the like.

I have rabbits and squirrels and I don't kill every one that I see because they stash pecans in the yard. as long as they don't chew on my house and leave the garden alone, I leave them alone.

I don't shoot a deer because he is grazing on my grass. When he ate every plant in the garden before I harvested a single thing, I harvested the deer.

I don't shoot the ground hog because he's eating grass. I did shoot two because they was digging holes under the foundation.

Possums and skunks don't cause much problems so they are usually left alone.

when coons causes damage to the coops trying to get to the chickens and damage gardens they are killed. Other wise they are left alone.

I have lots of black snakes and I just move them out of the way so I don't step on them.

Stray dogs are the biggest problem around here. If they don't bother my chickens I don't bother them other than run them off.

 

[warmfuzzies]

humboldtchicken, I live in the 'real' country, you know, those places with more fields then houses, and the houses are at least 1/2 mile apart?

And, we actually have very little problem with animals, because they stay wild. They are scared of humans, and they dont come close. Because if they do come close, they get shot. They know it, we know it, and guess what? It keeps them safe.

And it keeps us safe.

To the OP, I hope you can solve your problem, it sounds really frusterating. You really may have to find someone who can shoot it for you.

OH I have a good idea! Maybe you can go into one of your local gun shops and ask around for someone who would be willing to get your number and come out and take care of it for you next time you get it trapped! They may give you some friendly teasing, but mostly I think you would find they would at least be willing to help you out.

Dont know if that will help you at all, but when I start thinking you never know what might come out....

 

[danielbrown]

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yep Critters in the cities and subs lose their natural fear of humans.
Then this happens.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Wow! It wasnt even scared at all was it! Just wait till it grows up. That is one mean little bugger in the making!