Coon Attack...What is the best food to put in a trap...besides chicken

[Shared Acres]

Sorry to hear that!

We got a cat trap from the pound for a refundable $40 fee and put tuna in it.

Don't tell them you are after raccoons though as you aren't allowed to move them in Florida.

 

[chickenman11]

p-nut butter on bread

 

[chickenpicken]

Banannas!

 

[kartking22]

I'm really suprised that no one offered a second choice to killing the racoon. I, personally had 15 birds killed in one night. Ripped several holes in my netting. I did dispatch the racoon a few days later but I also put up an electric fence around the outside of the enclosure. I haven't had a problem with them since.

 

[Ginger Chic]

Canned cat food works OK, but has a tendancy to get a little RANK smelling. I've found that 1/2 a honey bun works great and doesn't smell at all.

 

[the1much]

with honey buns,, ya might catch a 2 footed pred.

 

[Poohbear]

Sardines in a live catch trap. Be sure and tie a Loooong string or rope to the trap in case you catch a SKUNK! 2 traps are better than one. Keep setting the traps until nothing gets in them. Racoons travel in packs usually and could be as many as eight in one family. Really bad for chickens, little birds and small pets. Good Luck!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Does anyone else have trouble with ants getting to the bait? I'm reading all these suggestions & picturing them swarming with fire ants in my traps. It doesn't matter if it's sugary, meaty, or savory, any food, especially moist items, are ant magnets here.

When I do have a raccoon I'm trying to tempt, I must place the container of smelly bait in a slightly larger container of soapy water, creating a moat around the food. Which is a pain, since the water evaporates and the ants get in anyway, or the flies start their maggot families in the cans.

Right now I'm keeping my traps set with old whole eggs, they're one of the few things the ants will ignore.

 

[cakkleberrylane]

The raccoons here (just outside Tampa) seem to like cat food.

Speaking of predators, I had a very large rooster killed last night (15-20lb). I heard a noise, nothing dramatic, just a fussing kind of sound, but got up to check anyway. The first thing that hit me was a smell, kind of an animal smell, not raw meat or blood, but maybe fur and some kind of chemical - adrenelin maybe? Similiar to the way the cat smells when she's scared, but different. I heard something running, not fast and only a few steps - it sounded like 80-100 lbs. but at night things like that can sound heavier than they are. I checked the hen house, which the chickens abandoned after a coon attack a couple of weeks ago (they are roosting in the trees and won't use the hen house anymore), and heard running again. I'm thinking that whatever it was tried to wait for me to leave - it had already killed the rooster but hadn't had a chance to eat him yet.
There were a LOT of owl sounds across the road, very excited sounds. Then this morning I looked more carefully at the dead rooster, there was one hole 3/8" in diameter in the back of his neck. When I went to bury him, I found poop in the yard, much larger than any animal that lives here, kind of spherical shaped, about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.
Does anyone know what this might have been? It doesn't seem logical that there could be 2 different predators at the same time and the owl sounds, the small hole in the neck and the poop are really not consistant as coming from the same animal.
Thanks for whatever opinions anyone may have!

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Dry cat food usualy does the trick. Racoons are part of the feline family anyhow. Keep your working mom cats put up for a few days so they will no occupy the trap.

I am so sorry to hear you loss some of your chicks.