Escaping Raccoon

[The Moonshiner]

Is your coop predator proof? Is so I think the raccoon will move on. They are opportunist and won't hang around if there isn't an easy meal. Last year I had racoons climbing all over the coop for a month, but after they couldn't get in I haven't seen any since (trail cam)

A month? That kind of sounds like hanging around to me.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

A month? That kind of sounds like hanging around to me.

yes but have not come back in over a year now, so they've moved on for sure

 

[DukesDucks]

I was having the same problem with trying to trap a raccoon. The trap would be sprung, door down, but empty. Using a game camera I was able to see that it was able to reach in to take the bait without actually going in.
The solution was to take a small can, like cat food can, and punch a couple of holes in the bottom. Then I wired the can to the inside bottom of the trap in a spot where the raccoon couldn't reach it without going in.

 

[townchicks]

Remove your bird feeder and replace the chicken wire with hardware cloth and you won't have to worry. Even if you catch this raccoon and remove it there will be another, and another etc.

 

[Folly's place]

Stop feeding the wild birds for at least three weeks, add hardware cloth to every coop opening, well secured, and get a bigger live trap. Bait it as recommended, or chicken scratch, or marshmallows. Tie it down so it can't be moved. Only trap if you will then shoot it!!! If relocation is your plan, just don't.
Raccoons come in family groups, it won't be only one, and having an unsafe coop and run for your birds will be a disaster at some point, no matter how much trapping you do.
Mary

 

[SamLockwood]

It's getting at the food from outside the trap. You need to have the trap secured so it can't be moved and the bait area needs to be covered so the racoon has no choice but to enter the trap to get the bait.

 

[Gone]

Is your coop predator proof? Is so I think the raccoon will move on. They are opportunist and won't hang around if there isn't an easy meal. Last year I had racoons climbing all over the coop for a month, but after they couldn't get in I haven't seen any since (trail cam)

My coop is predator proof except for a duck that is in an open pen of her own during the day. The chickens bully her and peck at her eyes even though she is a full grown white pekin. I put her inside a crate at night inside the coop.

 

[SchwartzLakeFarmNC]

The way we trap ours is to install a tuna can in the back of the trap but not where their little fingers can reach it. We drill a hole in the can and fasten it with a nut and washer. Next we add a stick across the inside of the trap, this make the racoon step over the stick and onto the plate to set off the door. For food, I use a large marshmallow with peanut butter and put a sardine on top of it, it never fails. Cover the trap with a tarp or dark towels and place it in an area where they cannot drag it off, you could attached a chain to it as well to keep in place, but you want it dark, the stick and tuna can placement has allow us to dispatch many a racoon and possum.

 

[Krugerrand]

Stop feeding the wild birds for at least three weeks, add hardware cloth to every coop opening, well secured, and get a bigger live trap. Bait it as recommended, or chicken scratch, or marshmallows. Tie it down so it can't be moved. Only trap if you will then shoot it!!! If relocation is your plan, just don't.
Raccoons come in family groups, it won't be only one, and having an unsafe coop and run for your birds will be a disaster at some point, no matter how much trapping you do.
Mary

I'd suggest stop feeding wild birds all together. They can only bring problems.