Iv got the racoon blues!!! Help! *UPDATE* caught the coon! W/ PIC

[bufforp89]

I have been having racoon issues for a few weeks on and off now. It has gotten a RIR pullet, ripped up a duck pretty bad, fought a momma hen that strayed too far from the coop and took her 3 babies

It comes almost nightly and gets into the garbage (there is now no more garbage outside as of yesterday) last night it was munching on my flock block Im pretty sure (will not be leaving it outside again!) and is just plain annoying.

All along I have been setting a humane trap to try and catch it and dispose of it. It has gotten into the trap numerous times and eaten the bait without springing the trap, at first I though that trap was broken but I have tested it not to mention the numerous cats and chickens I have caught! Now to top it off that stupid racoon got into the trap last night, took a crap

sprung the trap and still didnt get caught!!! Didnt even eat the bait! Its like its mocking me!

I am at my wits end with this stupid thing!

I am seriously debating getting rid of all my animals! I have to go take care of a 18 stall horse barn everynight fron 7-9 or a little later and there is no one to shut the animals in and thats when it strikes

So I was wondering if there is a better way to use the trap then throwing a few eggs in the back and leaving it cuz that is obviously not working. What do you use to bait your traps? Do you have any special ways of using it that have been more effective? Thanks all for any imput!

 

[midget_farms]

I bait my trap with dog food - hasn't failed me yet - they have to monkey around more to get the food that drops out the bottom. This usually springs the trap.

Could use poison too - but be careful neighborhood dogs etc. cant get to it.

 

[chicmom]

I am proud to say that my husband and his friend couldn't trap a tricky possum in the garage, but I, the prissy house wife, figured it out!

Here's what I did. I had boiled a chicken, and I saved all the yucky skin, bones and stuff. I put it in one of those rice cooking bags, which is plastic and has holes in it...and I tied it to the back of that trap very securely.

That possum really had to work on that bag to get to those chicken scraps, and he finally sprung the trap! My idea worked the very first time!

So you could use a can of tuna, which is really smelly and yummy to a coon if you don't have any chicken scraps. Or you could use canned catfood. If you have a box of that boil in the bag rice, boil the rice so you don't waste it, and then carefully open the bag, but safe it to put your bait in.

Be sure to tie that bag to the back of your trap very securely! And WA-LA! You will have your coon!

GOOD LUCK!

Sharon

 

[Sunny Side Up]

A clever BYCer mentioned this idea and it works here. Set the trap up on parallel 2X4s and put the bait in a bowl UNDER the trap! Set something heavy like a cinder block on top of the trap so it can't be tipped over. Block access to the bait from the back or front with more boards or blocks, so it must enter the trap to find the bait. Use something especially tempting, sardines in oil or smelly canned cat food. Some folks prefer sweet bait for raccoons so they don't catch their cat or chickens, marshmallows or jelly donuts.

Here I must set my bait in a container and put that container in a larger one filled with water in order to keep the fire ants out of the bait. When there's been activity I maintain cans of fresh bait, otherwise I use eggs because they don't attract ants.

Let's hope that this raccoon has gotten complacent about the danger of the trap and can easily be caught with the right bait. Until then try and figure out a way to either put your birds in the coop earlier or find/beg/pay someone to do it for you.

 

[texasgal]

Quote:
Excellent .. we're having the same issue .. Raccoons getting to the food without going in and tripping the trap ..

I hate raccoons ... aaaaarrrrrrggghhh!!

 

[jimmythechicken]

if you have a big garbage can fill it half way with water then dump so scraps in the water the smellier the better lay a board against the trash can he will jump right in an drown or he will swim till you come out an it is like shoting fish in a barrel.

i hate coons and anything else that will hurt my little chicks.

 

[Chickiemama1010]

OK, some of you will think me terrible for even mentioning this, but save it. In most states it is ILLEGAL to live trap a coon and then let it go. If you trap it, you gotta kill it, or call anim controll an they will kill it for you. So either way its dead. I use this method cuz usually when a coon gets trapped once, it figures out how to get the food and NOT get trapped again.

Step 1: get a disposable pie tin and a plastic spoon
Step 2: get a can of fruit flavored soda - orange or grape work best
Step 3; get some "blue death" fly bait. it comes in a can like comet cleanser or parm cheese and can be bought at any tsc or farmers exchange type store
step 4: mix up 1/2 can of soda and a few heaping spoonfuls of fly bait. put this "soda of death" near where you suspect the coon will lurk, like near your trash bin etc. it doesnt hurt to put out some tasty treat like a bit of cat food near it too. Coons need a drink as they are eating usually.
step 5: pick up a dead coon within 6 feet of the pie tin in the morning. The soda is sweet. they like it. they will drink every bit of it. they will die in 10 seconds
step 6: this is the important part bury the coon at least 3 feet deep. if you just toss it, and a buzzard or the neighbors dog or whatever eats the carcass, then it will die too. no sense killing a vulture or a neighborhood dog with the coon you no longer have to worry about.
Step 7: Have a drink and celebrate your lack of raccoon


Too bad this didnt work on groundhogs, the bane of my existence

EDIT: golden marlin fly bait, and blue streak fly bait are both readily available brands at most farm stores. Either will work. Its round about $5-$6 for a 1lb can. You can kil a million flies, and at least a dozen coons with 1lb of the stuff. wear gloves, and toss the spoon and pie tin unless you plan on mixing more up tomorrow. Its very VERY toxic, and you dont want that getting into the wrong hands. Also be sure to use soda, as coons and opossums will drink it up, but not cats. They dont like orange soda! Your chickens will drink it tho, so put this out at night after they go to coop for night, and lock em in till the morning when you can remove the coon, or the pie tin if your coon didnt visit that night

 

[Rammy]

That sounds great for the toxic mix, but what happens if a cat or dog licks it? I wouldnt want to use that if another innocent animal happened along and drank it.

Rammy

 

[vaiger]

I thought I had a racoon and had tried everything to trap it (fish, sardines, misc. produce, marshmallows, etc.). After several weeks and 15 dead chickens, a little old lady said to use a Honey Bunn. I put that out and had my critter within two days. It ended up being a possum, but the lady that told me about it swears that is the ideal racoon bait. I don't know if Honey Bunns are just a "southern thing" or not, but if they are available where you live I would give it a try! I had a second possum come up a few weeks later and quickly caught him with the honey bun in a live trap as well.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:
Raccoons are awfully dexterous and can pick up bait with their hands without stepping on the bait pedal. It helps if you put the bait in something like a mesh bag or sieve so its aroma can escape, but tie/wire it to the back of the trap so it takes some maneuvering to get it out. Be sure to block the back & sides of the trap so there is no other way to get near the bait except through the front trap door. I favor the under-the-trap method because I have the additional challenge of setting out bait in a way that the fire ants cannot reach. I know some folks insist that sweet baits are best, but I don't think I could keep the ants away from them.

Let us know if you finally catch this critter!