Help raccoon

[Got_The_Chick_Itch]

So we’ve had a racon that ate one of our eight-year-old roosters. And it’s been eating the bate But he knocks over in the trap and sets it off but he doesn’t go in it what should I do because I can’t let any of my chickens out right now and I can’t switch my little babies out like I was going to do today.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

You bought one of these raccoon traps that are being sold at the farm-store for cheap money? They won't work without some modifications:

1. Cover the area around the back-end, where you put the bait in with ½" hardware cloth, so that the 'coon cannot stick its hands in to steal the bait.
2. The bait: Something smelly, like fish in oil in a tin works best. Poke two holes into the tin and fiddle a wire through so that you can attach it to the top of the back end of the trap.
3. Anchor the trap to the ground so that the raccoon cannot trip it over to make the bait fall out at the side. If you cannot anchor it to the ground, put something heavy on top. Drive sticks into the ground around the trap. - You get the idea?

If the raccoon cannot steal the bait it will go into the trap and because it has to reach up to grab the bait it will forget about the trigger plate and trigger the trap when it comes back down with its front legs.
What are you going to do with it, once you've caught it?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I wired a piece of plywood to the bottom of my trap to give it stability. You can't see it very well but that plywood is a couple of inches bigger than the bottom of the trap all around.

Then I built this box to sit over it. The only way the raccoon can get to the bait is to go in through the front door. I put the bait behind the trip plate so it goes in all the way.

I've had a lot of success with some peanut butter wrapped in a piece of paper towel and put behind the trip plate. I always have peanut butter and a paper towel around the house. When I make chicken broth I save the stuff left after straining it and freeze that in small amounts. When I needed bait I'd wrap that in a piece of paper towel. Different baits can work, to me the key is to only give the critter one way to access the bait.

If you have one of those traps with a trap at each end, leave one closed. As far as I'm concerned that just gives the critter another escape route.

 

[drdoolittle]

The bait I've used in live traps for raccoons is peanut butter. I smear just enough on the plate of the trap to get one to go in......they have to lick it off to eat it, so most times they can't reach through the cage with their paws and get it off the plate. Another plus, peanut butter does not attract my barn cats.

 

[BugStalker]

The bait I've used in live traps for raccoons is peanut butter. I smear just enough on the plate of the trap to get one to go in......they have to lick it off to eat it, so most times they can't reach through the cage with their paws and get it off the plate. Another plus, peanut butter does not attract my barn cats.

I had raccoons open a case of peanut butter, breaking open jars if they didn't get the plastic off. In my case, though, it did attract cats. Dairy stuff attracts them, too, but maybe not as reliably. There are laws about relocating them in some places. Euthenisation is sometimes the only legal option.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

The bait I've used in live traps for raccoons is peanut butter. I smear just enough on the plate of the trap to get one to go in......they have to lick it off to eat it, so most times they can't reach through the cage with their paws and get it off the plate. Another plus, peanut butter does not attract my barn cats.

Peanut-Butter! I must try this out. I'm having a 'coon breaking into my duck's food storage every night, lost one full 50lbs bag to that b'tard because he pooped and peed into the bag.

 

[Gootsis]

I always use jelly. Raccoons love sweet suff. Plus it doesn't attract cats.