Need Help with Racoons

[wickett]

I have had trouble with racoons getting into our dog food. We bought a body trap and have been setting it up with tuna fish in it. Every night it gets the tuna and sets the trap off but we have no racoon in the trap. I don't know how it's setting off the trap and getting out. Last night we put a real fish in there it still set off the trap but didn't get the fish. it did pull down my garbage can with the dog food in it. So far it hasn't found the chickens. I know the longer this goes on they will soon find the chickens. Any help?

 

[Attack Chicken]

Try to hold the food to the back of the cage with a string. Tie it to the back of the trap.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Quote:
I agree with Attack Chicken. You need to anchor the bait somehow so that the coon has to really work at getting it.

 

[JanieMarie]

They are devious little devils! I got 3 of them on my place last summer. I used wild bird seed for bait. they apparently loved it. Definitely anchor the bait and scatter some on the floor of the cage so there is more reason for it to hunt around in there. Or sit outside with your gun and watch for it. Good Luck!

 

[Mikeeeeeeeeee]

22 Rifle.
BIG spotlight (for your friend to hold)
Be quiet and hidden.
Wait.

If youre not a good shot...............swap the rifle for a shotgun.

 

[k0xxx]

Coons are surprisingly tough. If it does come to shooting it, they are hard to kill outright with a .22 without a very well placed head shot. A .22 magnum would be the least that I'd recommend for a quick kill. A twelve gauge shotgun with heavy shot might be better.

Of course a couple .22's into will give it a chance to run off and die elsewhere, so that you might not have to deal with disposal, but it might just die in a very inconvenient and hard to get to spot. It's also not very humane. Just my two cents.


*Added a little later... If you plan on relocating the coon, check with you state wildlife agency. A lot of them , mine included, do not allow certain animals to be trapped and relocated.

 

[Fudgie]

When we aniliated the 14plus population from our area, we used a medium size coon trap and put a lid with the feed they were going after in there, shove it clear to the back of the trap so they have to step on the trigger to get to the food. Even if they move the trap around the food is not theirs till they go in. They have to enter the trap to get the food. DH also put some wetted down chick feed on the step mechanism and it was harder to lick off so it snapped the trap. We captured 2 per day with this method and probably could have gotten more if we were not lazy and would go out at like 2 in the AM to check the trap.

then DH shot them and hauled them to the back 40

 

[wickett]

Thanks for your help. I thought about setting my boys out there at night with the .22 but it's getting cold to sit out there. We may have to resort to that if the other doesn't work. Thanks for the help.

 

[TexasVet]

I've had pretty good luck trapping varmints around my coop. For bait I either tie a piece of chicken above the trip plate or I pour dry dogfood on the other side of it.

Another tip is to cover the trip plate with straw before putting the bait on it, and then loosely cover the whole trap with straw. Critters are bolder about going into the trap if it looks like a den where another critter stashed its food.

I think we're headed for a very cold winter this year, because EVERYTHING is after my chickens. I trapped two coons and a possum in three days, and I'm still finding fresh cougar tracks. (I'm gonna need a bigger trap for that one!)

Check out my trapping skills here: http://www.countrychickens.com/country_chickens_4_006.htm

Kathy in Texas

 

[deerman]

I use eggs that were no fertile from the incubator, place in back of the trap,also break some open. caught over 20 coons this fall.