Major coon issues! Help?

[centrarchid]

The funny thing is that we have a dog. She's in the house at night though. And we aren't in a neighborhood, actually. We are on 63 acres of farmland. I didn't catch anything last night, I think my traps are old or something, because they took the bait, and the trap had set, but no coon. Those dog proof traps seem pretty cool. My geese will be able to keep them away once their larger, correct? Because we are looking into another dog, but during the nights I don't know that I would trust it to 'free range' our property. And yes, I think a hat would make a good trophy.

Raccoons will adopt a foraging route that will be maintained so long as it provides good eats and drink. They constantly experiment with little side tracks but may not make a major shift if foraging pattern for month then all of a sudden you have coons visiting a new location. If trap going off with now catch, then play around with positioning of bait.


A goose will not be able fight of a raccoon after dark.

Dogs probably most important against coons and oppossums after dark. It is after dark that my dog tends to be tightest on property around coops. His wider ranging is restricted to daylight hours. My dog is not confined by fencing and has potential of going anywhere he wants but as he has matured roams much less. Each dog is different. You will have to determine by observation how your dog operates with respect to ranging.

 

[Clay Mudd]

You blast a coon with a 12 gage , what would you make a hat out of.

how much do them shells cost now?
I have been reading some good reviews on them traps. wised they work for possums, my dog has killed 4 young ones in the last week

They do! At least, I've caught a couple of possums in them.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

So I just got back into the chicken business this year after a few years of not having any. And coons managed to undo the latch on our coop and kill all of our 6 older chickens. After this, we tried to coon proof everything. We securely locked up the brooders, or so we thought. The other night I saw a mother coon and 3 or 4 babies IN MY GARAGE. Our goslings had been in a rabbit hutch for probably a week, and the chicks were old enough so I threw them in an identical one, figuring that since the coons couldn't get the goslings, the chicks were fine too. Well, tonight was their first night in the hutch and a coon managed to kill one through the wire! I was almost asleep, and heard the fuss. Well, I have everybody inside now, including my farm cats. I feel like nothing is safe anymore... We are having someone come out this weekend to try and shoot some, but any advice on how to clear them out? We have one live trap, which is currently set with the dead baby as bait. Morbid, I know, but I'm fairly certain it would work. Any advice on how to clear the problem up would be greatly appreciated. I'm down to 12 SLW and 2 goslings out of the 26 chickens I had a month ago.

There are not many predators that can be effectively trapped with a cage trap, but coons can be taken in quantity with this method of take. If you choose to live trap the coon...do not relocate them. Take of the problem on your property, don't make it someone elses problem.

Don't use the Havhart traps, they are not very sturdy and are cheap. If you catch a big boar coon in a havhart trap, the animal will most likely force its way out. If that happens you won't be able to return the trap to its original structural integrity, every coon after that will escape from the trap...and all your doing is educating coons to avoid live traps. If you have a person come out and trap and they start to get out havhart traps, or traps of that style, thank them for their time, send them on their way and get a real trapper.

Here is the cage trap that you want to use for trapping coon:



This trap has a welded wire frame and uses heavy duty wire ring washers to hold the trap closed. There is not a coon alive that will get out of the trap once they are in it.If you have a non-target catch that you need to release, just roll the trap over, the heavy duty washer will slide down the wire rod and the trap door will flop open.



Marshmallows work and have eye appeal, I'll use them if I need to draw an animal to the trap. But I want that coon to be drooling and wanting to get in my trap. I make up my own bait for use in the live trap when I'm out to get coon. Start with a clean 5 gallon bucket. Fill the bucket 3/4 full with dry dog food. For the next step I wait till my wife is GONE shopping and won't be back soon, so that I can get it done and clean up my mess before she gets back home. Take a can of sardines and blend the contents up in the blender with about 3 cups of cheap cooking oil, mix this slurry into the 5 gallon bucket with the dry dog food and stir well. There is not a coon on earth that will pass by this offering.

Best results wil be obtained if you can set the cage traps along the animal's route of the travel. When you set the trap make sure that it sets firm and level on the ground. If need be, used a shovel to create a level location. The fresh digging will further serve as an attracttant. When the trap is in its bed there should be no wobble. Drive a stake on either side of the trap to keep the animal from rolling the trap over and to keep the trap from moving. If the coon is able to roll the trap they will simply force their way out of the trap. A big boar coon is an amazingly powerful animal. If you are sure what type of animal is getting your poultry, then smooth the ground in front of the trap door, maybe evenadd some soft dry earth so that you will be able to get a look at the tracks that this predator is making.

After you have located a place for the trap(s) and they are properly set, camouflage the traps so that 2 legged types don't walk away with you trap. Well made cage traps are not cheap traps. Wire the doors of the trap open for a few nights and bait with your bait mix. You'll know when they have found the traps, all the bait will be gone every morning and the ground under the bait location infront of the treadle will be dug up, through the trap wires of the cage bottom.



You may even have to re-camouflage the trap. They really like this bait. After a few nights and the coon have made your traps a regular stop on their travel routes, set the traps and start catching the critters.

You do not want to just go out plop down a trap set and expect to start catching animals. They are not stupid, they will notice that this thing is new and they will be very cautious when they first encounter the trap. The reality is that any coon that sets off the trap and gets away is now an educated coon; making them much more difficult to trap...catch them the first time. Don't give them a second chance to evaluate your trap. Never relocate a trapped coon. After a few nights the group will start to thin out, and your catch rate will drop off. They are getting cautious and may even start to avoid the trap...no problem....wire the traps open again for a few nights, bait 'em and check each morning, When they start hitting regularly again, unwire the trap and start the process over again.

Enjoy.

 

[Twizzlebee]

thanks so much I actually caught a mom in our live trap last night. It isn't like that one, but similar. I had it baited with pizza. When I woke up the babies were huddled around the trap next to her. We didn't relocate, we took care of the problem. Last night there was a whole slew of coons on my porch. Probably 8, 6 babies with 2 adults. And there is another adult that tends to stay around the front of the house. We're making progress xD. I think I'm too soft for this job, almost talked myself out of shooting it. I also discovered that my lab would be a very good guard dog. She went after them and would have got them had they not jumped 15ft off of the porch

 

[sharron]

ok, this answers my questions aboout catching coons, now what do you recommend for fox's taking my chickens during the day?

 

[Messy]

We have had a horrible coon problem here. The thing is, we live right in the middle of town! Why do we even have coons? The live traps are not working. We actually have a coon dog, but she kills chickens so we have to keep her away from the bird coop and pens. And yeah, our goose cannot fight off a coon either
So, we are putting up a few strands of hot wire. It is the only thing we can do. It will then keep the coon dog out of the bird pens as well though... But the coons are persistent critters. We had one that was no problem for about 5 years. She ate and slept with our dogs. Well, then she had babies. We had to shoot her when one of her sons attacked our elderly pitbull. CRAZY!!!
Might I suggest that if you are trapping coons to contact your local coon hunters club and offer then critters to them? We give ours to friends that coon hunt and in turn they help train our coon dog (which was one of theirs!). But then they can be of use...

 

[Larry82052]

Get you some 220 Conibear Traps,at a trapping Supply house,Google Conibear traps and you will find them they are quick and deadly,and easy to set,when you set them leave the locks on the spring that hook over to keep trap from springing on you,then after you set it undo the wire hooks from the springs so they fire effectly when coon goes thru it to get bait in back of box,here is a picture of a Conibear box for 220,throw some chicken from supermarket in back so they get what they are wanting,they work very good and dont miss at all.Larry

 

[Rock Home Isle]

ok, this answers my questions aboout catching coons, now what do you recommend for fox's taking my chickens during the day?

Foxes and Coyotes are a little bit more challenging than a coon. They are much more cautious of changes to their environment than a coon would be. Some give the fox attributes that would rival Einstein...no they are creatures of habit, just learn their habits and you'll be fine. I've caught the occasional yearling fox in a cage trap, but that is the exception, not the rule. The #1 1/2 or #2 foothold is traditional fox medicine. The dirt hole is a bread & butter set. If you learn how to set a snare...a whole new world will open up for you. I like a snare...it is fast, invisible, and if a trap thief comes along, your out maybe $2 or $3 dollars, not $20 or more dollars.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Get you some 220 Conibear Traps,at a trapping Supply house,Google Conibear traps and you will find them they are quick and deadly,and easy to set,when you set them leave the locks on the spring that hook over to keep trap from springing on you,then after you set it undo the wire hooks from the springs so they fire effectly when coon goes thru it to get bait in back of box,here is a picture of a Conibear box for 220,throw some chicken from supermarket in back so they get what they are wanting,they work very good and dont miss at all.Larry

This is an amazing set to use on coon. It is essentially a portable cubbyhole. But it is a killer set...it will take coon & dogs & cats....anything that puts its head into the set. USE WITH CAUTION.

I've used the same set, but with a 5 gallon bucket....works awesome; kills everything.

 

[smilingcat]

There is a second half to the coon problem which people haven't addressed yet.

don't leave feed out where the coon can get it. Store it in a secure place where the coon can't rip off the lid or tear into it. Sliding bolt latch on a lid is no protection at all. And if you have that many coons running around, use a electric netting around your coop/run.

My coop/run uses 1/2" hardware cloth. I'm not having any "chicken wire". They are great keeping pullets and hen in but not good at keeping weasels and coon hands out of the coop. also protect minimum of 12" of the ground around the coop/run. This is to discourage them from digging underneath to get in. And they WILL!

Kill excess coons in your area. Don't have any food or water for them. No food and no water and they'll stop dropping by for nightly snack. Full grown male coons are really dangerous. I've seen a big husky whose side was ripped open. Dog survived but only with emergency vet care, surgery to stitch up his skin back in place. My dog is a Pyrenees mix 80 pound dog but he is there for deterrent not necessarily for him to fight coons. Pyrenees are great at checking the perimeter of your property. If something are amiss, they'll let you know. And in the evening, he'll be barking to let other living creatures know that he is on a patrol.

A few month ago, a young coon drop by our property. Found him sleeping about 40feet off the ground in blue spruce tree. My dog and my neighbors Australian border collie made sure that the coon didn't stay around. Next day, he was gone. Pyrenees isn't the best breed if you live in an urban setting. they can annoy your neighbors with all the barking.

AND DO NOT RELOCATE!! If you release a coon in my area. I'll be very angry with you!!