How to Bait a Trap?! *Update on Size!*

[edb]

I've been trapping for many years. The very best bait I've ever found for raccoons is a cheap honey bun. If you put bait too close to the side or back the will reach through the wire. If they turn your trap over put a large rock on top or anchor it down. Coons have little hands and know how to use them. I usually tie bait like meat to the bottom if I can.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Alrighty, when I head back on Wednesday...I will take a picture of the piles of poo...

I can't find leg-hold traps anywhere though?? any ideas where to get one?

 

[cutrite]

Mika you could try Southern States or a local hardware store. Yep you need to show pic. of poop. Sounds alot like owl pellets to me. Cose up pic too as we need to see just whats in it.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

hardware store is an option...I think all they have are mole traps though.

I tried the local Atwoods but all they had were those Hav-A-Hart traps!

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

OK.

This weekend I went and got some quail. I got 5 of them. 2 males, 3 females. I predator-proofed the cage they were in and guess what...something still got them!!!!

3 were missing and 1 was missing a head. I only had 1 male left in the cage that was left unharmed. The ONLY way the thing could have gotten in was through a 2-4" gap that fluctuated with movements through the cage door.

I "think" I have narrowed it down to a mink, weasel, rat or ferret.

Anyone agree with this assumption? I have triple-proofed the coop. Covered every small hole with chick wire and extra wood. If something is missing now...I give up!

Anyway...thoughts are welcome!

 

[cutrite]

The three pest's you mentioned surely couldn't have left the huge dumps that you mentioned earlier. Where's the pic.'s?

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

APPARENTLY Dad decided to wash off the top of the coop with a power sprayer. Since then, no poo has been left on the coop. The poop on the coop was HUGE and had major clumps of hair in it, but sorry, no photos of it.

I have seen no signs of poo, tracks or anything other than silkie fuzz that shows an animal has been by. (Other than the dead quail I found in the rabbit hutch).

I'm wondering if I don't have several predators coming around?

 

[mmwb]

If you are using a holding cage for live bait, it needs to be stout enough that it can't be crushed, and there can be no openings large enough for predators to get through. Your probably looking at some stiff welded wire, covered with nothing larger than 1/2" hardware cloth. If there is flex that allows a door to open even a wee bit, a coon would be able to work its paw through to your bait. Odds are it would be able to bend the door at that point to create a larger opening. People often underestimate predators. I don't agree with some that they are exceptionally smart, but they are tenacious and amazingly strong.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

The live-bait thing...there's no possibility of it being moved, crushed or mangled. It's a Hav-A Heart trap that's been pegged into the ground.

Nothing was killed last night!!! EEEE!!!

 

[mmwb]

That will likely be sturdy enough, but a coon can reach through many of those traps, often robbing the bait without entering. Many will line the bait end with hardware cloth to force them into the trap to the bait.