can anyone identify this paw print?

[cheeka]

trap is still empty... but on the lighter side... I've seen no more weird tracks, and no unusual scat.

 

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

You said there was no food source near you for coons but don't forget...you have provided one with your chickens.

 

[cheeka]

oh no, i haven't forgotten... my neighbor has been luring predators to our hilltop for decades with her pet ducks and geese... and i've lost 3 cats in the past 12 years to coyote. my coop and run are more than fairly secure... and there they will stay until this creature is trapped. i do give them a short free range time in the evening, when i am outside with them, and then they just go coop themselves back up... good lil birdies

 

[okallthis4eggs]

oh no, i haven't forgotten... my neighbor has been luring predators to our hilltop for decades with her pet ducks and geese... and i've lost 3 cats in the past 12 years to coyote. my coop and run are more than fairly secure... and there they will stay until this creature is trapped. i do give them a short free range time in the evening, when i am outside with them, and then they just go coop themselves back up... good lil birdies

I let Roger free range (actually he escaped) and he ran clean out of sight thru the woods but he/she is not mentally stable.

 

[cheeka]

before the critter escapade began, i would let my gang free range from the time i got home from work til they cooped themselves, sometimes, i would have a really early day and they could be out from a little past one... they have 3 hang out spots besides their run. the enormous communal dust bath under the big low skirted blue spruce, the center of the "small" lilac bush (about 20 feet around, maybe 12 feet high) and the "big" lilac (dense and huge, probably 60+ feet around and 15-18 feet tall) from all these spots they come a-perpin' to feast on orchard grass and yummy bugs, they don't leave the property at all, they very rarely go to the front yard... only if they hear me, but i don't want them by the road so i shoo them back... i wonder how long it will be before they discover the "big" woods...(there is a "small" woods, a grouping of pine including the bath area) the other day, my BH and i were strolling the property out back, looking for predator scat and while we were snapping twigs and crunching leaves underfoot in the woods, Barney heard us and came to investigate... he actually entered the woods, I think he was hoping it was us... but that's as far as he's gone, and the rest haven't ventured in at all... i'm hoping that they will remain satisfied with the lilacs and pine bath... i'm also hoping that they continue being good lil birdies that come when i call them!
i still feel bad about curtailing the free range time even tho i know it's for their safety and well being.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

before the critter escapade began, i would let my gang free range from the time i got home from work til they cooped themselves, sometimes, i would have a really early day and they could be out from a little past one... they have 3 hang out spots besides their run. the enormous communal dust bath under the big low skirted blue spruce, the center of the "small" lilac bush (about 20 feet around, maybe 12 feet high) and the "big" lilac (dense and huge, probably 60+ feet around and 15-18 feet tall) from all these spots they come a-perpin' to feast on orchard grass and yummy bugs, they don't leave the property at all, they very rarely go to the front yard... only if they hear me, but i don't want them by the road so i shoo them back... i wonder how long it will be before they discover the "big" woods...(there is a "small" woods, a grouping of pine including the bath area) the other day, my BH and i were strolling the property out back, looking for predator scat and while we were snapping twigs and crunching leaves underfoot in the woods, Barney heard us and came to investigate... he actually entered the woods, I think he was hoping it was us... but that's as far as he's gone, and the rest haven't ventured in at all... i'm hoping that they will remain satisfied with the lilacs and pine bath... i'm also hoping that they continue being good lil birdies that come when i call them!
i still feel bad about curtailing the free range time even tho i know it's for their safety and well being.

I wouldn't worry too much about free range. If you get a visit from the coon it will most likely be at night. They for the most part are nocturnal and if your out there with them I don't think you will have any problem. Besides even if you catch a coon there are plenty more to take its place. Its still a slight risk coon or no coon but you have to decide if its worth it.

 

[kitten6566]

i dont think its a coon. look on google images. i think it is the front paw of a skunk. a raccoon has a full print and doesnt have that little half moon like on the back of the print.

 

[cheeka]

well... whatever it is... it's evasive and apparently not hungry enough to be trapped...

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Here is what I would do. Prop the door to the trap open so it will not close. Wire it open or a good stick that won't fall out. I know you have cats. Start feeding the cats their regular food next to the trap and put food inside the trap as well. You won't catch them with the door wired open. At the same time your feeding the cats at this location keep the marshmellows around and inside the trap. Always make sure there is left over cat food in and around the trap and marshmellows as well. Now sit back and observe. When you see the marshmellows start to disappear (the cats won't eat them) then you have a coons attention and he has learned where the easy meal is. He will also not fear the trap because he has been in there before and ate marshmellows. At that point remove the cat food and just go with the marshmellows. Set the trap so the door will fall when tripped baited only with marshmellows. Enjoy your new coonskin hat.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

If possible put the cats up when you set the trap for the coons. They may wander in there just out of curiousity and habit from finding food in there but if you do catch them its no big deal. They won't be after the marshmellows. All of my cats have been in a trap at least once.