Burger Style?

[Howard E]

Recently ran across this guy's videos on traps and trapping. Was intrigued by his description of how to create a "fast food" restaurant to attract coons and such to his trap setups.

It occurs to me that many of us inadvertently do the same thing with our birds. We serve them up, fast food style! Look at his diagrams of a sterile lot vs. one that is baited and setup to attract varmints. Do we do the same thing?

If not the birds, we do things with feed and such that inadvertently attract rats and mice, which then attract predators that follow them. Things like weasels, coyotes, foxes, skunks (said to be great mousers), snakes, owls, hawks, etc. They arrive in pursuit of the rats and mice, but are opportunistic and easily make the transition to our chicks and birds.

BTW, if you are dealing with coons and want to trap them (I have them but don't trap if I can avoid it), he gives some pretty good tutorials on where and how to set them. Also note, if you have dogs and cats around, you have to be careful which of the "dog proof" traps you use. The double action push pull triggers can catch a dog's tongue if you use the type of bait that would attract them.

These dog proof traps are probably much more effective than a live trap, for what that is worth. And about 1/3rd to 1/4th the price.

 

[Howard E]

Here is another really good tutorial on how to mass trap a bunch of problem coons:

NOTE: Both trappers are using nothing more than .22 caliber, sub-sonic velocity air rifles to snuff these guys. Fairly inexpensive, quiet (important in urban settings) and effective.

 

[Howard E]

Just realized the link to the original video dropped out when BYC did it's conversion, plus I am no longer able to edit the original post. So here is the original video.......

and another video by the same guy explaining his views on the dog proof traps........

Note that most of his objections are from a trappers perspective. Not that they won't work......they do.....IF you set them up in the right place and the right way.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

very interesting videos.

i talked to a trapper this summer (when buying some traps) and asked about his thoughts on the DP coon traps, he likes them never heard anything bad about them (from others who have bought them from him) but he runs a trap line up north, and does not use them, as the coon is alive, meaning its out there in the elements and he may not be able to check his traps for a day or two. so he told me its more humane for him to run a conibear traps as the coon is stone cold dead. but he recommends them to us who can not run conibears due to pets and/or other reasons.

just what i have heard about them. (going to give them a try this year)

 

[Howard E]

I don't think there is any doubt the DP's work, and these guys do a good job of showing how and where to set them. Both also do a good job of explaining coon behaviors. How they travel, how they feed, etc. Earlier in the year, I had a coon trail exactly like the one shown leading from a small patch of woods directly to my horse barn. I knew they coming in nightly to steal cat food and clearly that was the route they were taking.

But that was not the only reason for posting the videos. Both show how to accumulate a high concentration of coons in one spot so as to catch them. The point is do we inadvertently do the same thing with our birds.......do we open a Burger King / Chick'n Pick'n fast food joint to attract varmints to us? To a large degree......yes!!! Just having birds around does that. If you live in an area with coons, you can be almost 100% certain they will be coming around to check things out. So it then follows that unless we want our birds to end up in a coon's belly, we have to do what we can to prevent that, starting with a tight coop no coon can get in. Where most fall short is underestimating the strength of raccoons and their ability to tear stuff apart to gain entry. They are incredibly strong and smart.

Only when all else fails do we resort to setting the DP traps, which I consider to be a short term solution to a long term problem. The long term solution is a tight, coon proof coop.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

I don't think there is any doubt the DP's work, and these guys do a good job of showing how and where to set them. Both also do a good job of explaining coon behaviors. How they travel, how they feed, etc. Earlier in the year, I had a coon trail exactly like the one shown leading from a small patch of woods directly to my horse barn. I knew they coming in nightly to steal cat food and clearly that was the route they were taking.

But that was not the only reason for posting the videos. Both show how to accumulate a high concentration of coons in one spot so as to catch them. The point is do we inadvertently do the same thing with our birds.......do we open a Burger King / Chick'n Pick'n fast food joint to attract varmints to us? To a large degree......yes!!! Just having birds around does that. If you live in an area with coons, you can be almost 100% certain they will be coming around to check things out. So it then follows that unless we want our birds to end up in a coon's belly, we have to do what we can to prevent that, starting with a tight coop no coon can get in. Where most fall short is underestimating the strength of raccoons and their ability to tear stuff apart to gain entry. They are incredibly strong and smart.

Only when all else fails do we resort to setting the DP traps, which I consider to be a short term solution to a long term problem. The long term solution is a tight, coon proof coop.

i 100% agree with you, the best way to deal with coons is a 100% coon proof coop (which i hope i have, electric fence and hardware cloth. locks on all doors/gates and covered roof with hardware cloth not cheap but it works so far)

but also i trap to remove the animals as well. i got my trappers licence so i can trap and then sell the pelts when there prime. (coon was around 15$ last year where i live and just 2 or 3 years ago they where going in the 30-40 dollar range [keep in mind this is CAN are dollar kinda sucks to USD]) but that's a bag of chicken food where i live (last time i check it was around 12 dollars maybe more.)