What keeps getting out of my traps?!?!?!?

[mud21]

Ok, something got one of my roosters last night. And I really want to get rid of it fast before it gets rid of any more of my birds!!! (or gets wise to my not-very-nice-intentions for it...

)
I had this roo separate from my flock cause Ive got another one with them. So the roo was in a dog pen-thing, and tied in there also (by a piece of twine over one foot), cause there are a couple places he could slip out. He stayed out in this during the day and I put him inside the coop at night. Well, last night I went to close up my coop just after dark, and found him dead in his pen. He was half way through the bars of the pen (the bars are vertical, about 4" apart) and most of his head was gone. I think I probably scared the predator off mid-meal. I set a box trap out with the rest of the roos head and neck in there as bait, and locked all my barn cats up so I wouldnt catch them. The trap is a heavy wire grid box trap, I think its from TSC. This morning, the trap was sprung, and.... all that was in there were the clean bones left from the bait!!! javascript:insert_text('

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So the only thing I can figure out is: either the critter went in, sprung the trap, ate the bait and squeezed out through the wire, OR it reached through the wires, hit the lever which sprung the trap, then reached through the wires and ate the bait off the bones.
SO... what do you think it was?! Im thinking raccoon or weasel/mink. Raccoon could have reached through the bars to pick the bait clean, and I think a weasel could have slipped through the wires (the biggest holes are like 2" x 1 1/2"). Any suggestions on how to get whatever it is? Ive got a smaller trap that Im going to try tonight, but the holes arent much smaller than the other trap. Actually I think Ill set them both. Any suggestions on how to keep my other chickens (including my 4 day old chicks under my broody hen) safe? They are all closed up in their coop every night, and Ive never had problems once they are locked in there.
Any help is GREATLY appreciated!!! THANK YOU!!!

 

[Uppity Peon]

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss.
Raccoon is my #1 suspect. They are extremely clever.

 

[mud21]

Ok, so I didnt get it that first night. So I have 3 traps set up now, and have set them all every night. One big wire box trap, one small wire box trap, and a wooden box trap. I baited the two smaller ones with a road kill squirrel., and the bigger one with some vegetable scraps. Nothing bothered them for a couple nights and thenn... Monday morning, I go down to find the small wire box trap sprung and dragged a couple feet, and my solid wooden box trap taken apart. The trap is a wooden box with a slot for the door to fall into at one end, a small hole in the top to stick the uhh 'trigger' thing in, and a stick with a notch in it on the top. The trigger and door are tied to either end of a stick that sits in the notch, and when the trigger is moved from the inside of the trap, the door falls into place. Well, the trigger and door piece was taken out and laying about 4 ft away from the box part.
SO what on earth did that? Any suggestions on how to get it in a trap and keep it there?! Id rather not kill it, but if I have to, I guess I will

BTW, thx Uppity Peon... and I love your avatar, I have a EE hen that looks almost just like that one

 

[danielbrown]

sounds like a coon.
you might have to use a leg hold trap.
A friend of mine had a havaheart type and it was like yours with the bait gone and trap set. The coon was pushing the door open after eating the bait. I let her borrow my trap and it caught the coon.
Relocating puts your problem on some one else.

 

[CMV]

Ooooohh, you have a trap smart coon. I am so sorry. They are the toughest kind to get rid of. You HAVE to kill it should you ever manage to trap it. It was probably re-located to your area after someone else trapped it. Don't hand your problem off to some other poor unsuspecting soul.
Poison? As in lead poison.
Good luck.

 

[Boyd]

Quote:

 

[mud21]

thanks everyone for the help!!!
Tonight on the menu I have:
the small wire trap with chicken pieces
the wooden trap, empty but open
a new weasel trap idea: a gallon glass jar buried up to the neck, with chicken in it. Supposedly, the weasel falls in trying to get the bait, and cant get back out. Worth a try I figure. (guess how I got a gallon glass jar? hint: anybody want a pickle?! I now have enough to last the rest of my life)
and the big wire trap, set with tuna, tuna juice splattered around leading to it, and a couple marshmallows here and there.
After all the work Ive gone to, I sure hope he even bothers to come get caught tonight.

 

[eggsited chickens]

use fly bait mixed with eggs. don't let pets get a hold of it, b/c it will hit them hard and they will be dead before they are 10 ft from the dish of bait. We use Golden Malrin (sp??)

 

[gypsy2621]

honestly it sounds like your traps are to small.
try a little big larger trap.
we had this issue when a coon was getting my leghorn chicks,
the buggers can get their heads in, spring the trap and back out easily. the one we were trying to capture did this the first 2 nights, the thrid night with a larger trap and we had her.

And then there was the trap smart coon we had to sit out and wait to come in to get. no matter the trap he would spring it and steal the bait,(ie: reaching through the bars.)

 

[mud21]

Well, this morning the small trap was sprung and empty, the bait was gone from the 'glass jar weasel trap', and nothing else was messed with. No marshmallows eaten, the tuna in the big trap undisturbed. Maybe I do need a bigger trap. Maybe I need to disguise it. And Im about ready to try the poison... Im reluctant to use it though because I have cats. I lock them up every night to keep them out of the live traps anyways, and while theyve never got out once I locked them in, I still worry that somehow, someway, one of my babies would get killed.
And unfortunately, Im leaving tomorrow morning (til Monday) and my mom is going to be caring for all my critters, so I really dont know what to do about it. Im trying to make it as little work on her as possible, and setting and baiting a dozen stupid traps every night isnt going to help. Besides, I dont know what we'd do if she caught something!!!

So that brings up another question: what to do while Im gone that would be easy on her, and keep my chickens safe? Im pretty sure my coop is secure, or else something would probably have been in there by now. We already close it up as soon as it gets dark. So should I just have her do nothing OR do you think it would be smart to have her 'desensitize' the thing while Im gone, by setting out food for it every night? Maybe that would keep it full so it wouldnt be looking for ways to infiltrate the coop. And when I got back, it would be expecting chow every night, which would make it easy to poison it, or maybe easier to trap. Or should I just put out the poison tonight and hope that takes care of it before I leave? For sure Ill get a larger trap, somehow camouflage it, and maybe that will get him. Any suggestions?! Thanks!!!!!