How do I trap a racoon? It's gotta go

[Germaine_11.20]

Hi, I just found out that I have racoons. I thought we did not have them. Fox, hawks, owls and now racoons!

How can I trap or kill it? Do live traps work on them. My son went outside and he saw one sitting on the wood bin eating the catfood.

I really need some advice, thank you to any and all for your help

 

[jqs birds]

Live traps will work fine. Just use the cat food he's been eating for bait.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Thanks, I have looked a little and noticed different sizes. Any one better than the other?

 

[cowdogcadillac]

Get a live trap at home depot,feed store etc....about 35 bucks,,,, bait with marshmallows or any scraps you have laying around. Raccoons should be caught in 1-2 nights. I shoot em all since I have tons of em around and they recently got in my coop and beheaded all my layers in one night. Keep trap active year round. Good luck.

 

[jqs birds]

12 x 12 is a standardsize that works fine

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Thank you very much! Here I am out of town. Now I am worried sick! As soon as I get home it is going down.

One more question. If there is one, is there usually more?

 

[HLAC]

Cage traps will work for raccoons. Unless they've been trapped in one before and released and then they may avoid them completely. I have better luck with bigger cage traps. (12" x 12" x 36")

Since it's eating catfood, I'd bait it with catfood.

You may want to try putting the catfood someplace where it isn't available to wild critters tho'. It will be a magnet to the next raccoon in the area.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Yes you are right. I have lived there 10 years and never saw any racoons. Just my luck. Along with many of you too it seems!

Thank you!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Oh just wondering... I lost a young goose and 2 ducks. I thought it was a fox. Could a racoon get them

 

[RonB]

I'm using two big traps to try and catch one too. I have tried dry dog food (chicken) and sardines but no luck so far. should I use dry cat food or the wet stuff? I have caught the same white leg horn six times though:/
I have just finished running electric fence ALL away around my pen. One foot up from the ground and one foot down from the top. My coop is inside the barn but I even ran fence around the top half which is wire. on the ground outside my run I have chicken wire buried 1 1/2 ft down and 1 1/2 ft out with BIG tree limbs and rocks on top of that!
If a raccoon gets one of my chcikens, I'm going to start raising raccoons and feed them day old chickens!!