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[eggcited2]

5Leepy! :

I'm surprised no one has suggested doing a stakeout. Sounds like you're Rural, do you have a rifle? That'd probably be a good way to go.

Rifle and shot gun. Rural yes, but in subdivison. So can not shoot off gun in any general direction. Could hit someone's house. One on each side of us and one in front of us.

No dogs are running loose, covenants do not allow it.

We all have five acres for our land, but some lots are long and narrow so neighor home can be close.​

 

[MetalSmitten]

i'm sorry

it sounds like you may have coons that have been previously trapped and released, so they're smart to the traps. i also worry about drugging the bait though - you don't want drugs that powerful getting into your groundwater (via decomposing predators) or getting anywhere near where your gardens or where chickens might find a scrap (such as a coon dragging away a mesh bag and leaving crumbs, or a vulture dropping a bit of coon, or whatever) have you tried a larger trap? an extra-large trap means they wouldn't be able to reach in through the sides to grab the bait, and they're usually heavier duty to where a coon might not be able to re-open it. you might also be dealing with large/fattie coons who don't fit all the way into smaller traps, and hence the door doesn't close all the way on them. i would try a larger trap, and maybe even set up a web-type cam near it so that you can check periodically from inside and be alerted sooner that it's been sprung.

we had our first loss this year to a raccoon also, never seen them around the property at all before. a month later, we've caught over a dozen coons and one possum that we never knew we had. good luck to you.

 

[MetalSmitten]

ps - we also use a skinny metal fence post through the bars of the trap, near the back corner, hammered deep into the ground. it steadies the trap, so the coon inside can't drag the trap around or turn it upsidedown or anything else that might help release the door.