Which 'Coon Trap Most Effective?

[swampducks]

Well another duck vanished in the night. Might have heard it happen, too. The females started a loud squawking around midnight, and there was splashing. Then again, they do that on occasion anyway. Pond is too far away for the house spots to show anything.

But this morning one less duck, 4ish month old hybrid drake did not come up to the house for breakfast. No body anywhere that I can see.

None of the traps were tripped and the camera had no new photos. Seems to have happened at the other end of the pond.

I am doomed.

 

[ivan3]

You're not doomed at all. You know where `it' is feeding, and approximately what time it's feeding. Is your pond: Surrounded by woods, fed/overflow through drainages extending into the woods, or are the banks and surrounding area completly cleared?

Since `IT' is not going into the traps, I'd grab the rifle and look for sign along the most likely approaches to the pond. If it is a raccoon, and it has been feeding pretty regularly at one location, you should find scat and, if you find where it's hanging out, feathers, etc. near the tree where it's sleeping (in general they like a specific tree and don't move around unless the food runs out).

Probably the easiest would be something toxic mixed with a can of catfood, set out at the far end of the pond at 10pm and picked up, at 1am if nothing eats it. I prefer to retire them on the instant and would park myself in a comfortabe location near the feeding zone at 11pm with the .22,, a spot, and an undoctored can of stinky cat food as an aiming point.

We had a Royal Palm hen working on a nest no more than 60yd. from the house. She hadn't gone broody (still laying an egg a day) and was flying back every evening to roost in the shed. We found her in the run (she'd fly in and out over six ft. fence like it wasn't there) mortally wounded one afternnoon. Went out to check her nest and found eggs broken and scattered around. Set HAH trap, at nest location, and caught a coon the following afternoon. When rooting around in the woods a wk. later, I found the big hickory snag where the coon had been staying (eggshells/scat/hair) about 75yd. from where turkey had been nesting.

We have three HAH's set at all times, the coon could have gone for the bait, but it was on a daytime schedule and the turkey hen, like your poor ducks, was even EASIER MEAT. And coons like easy meat.

Given your location, and the fact you don't mention having actually SEEN what is scarfing your ducks up, you might want to take both a .22 and a .307 if you decide to ambush whatever it is.

Good luck!

ed: bad `gwamma'

 

[mark3208]

my next door neighbor lost 25 grown rhode island reds last night to what i think were racoons. she forgot to close them in the coop,and somthing climbed the fence and killed them all,didnt hardly tear them up though just ate the heads from four of five of them,sound familiar?

 

[ivan3]

Head eating and indiscriminate killing can be indicative of coons/foxes/dogs etc. Have seen fox attack where every duck at a frozen over pond was killed, but one of the two foxes was shot while clearing off with nothing but a head. A BBB turkey hen completely torn to shreds on her nest by a raccoon. Assuming, by pattern of kill and wounds, without actually seeing tracks, identifiable scat, or other sign is (minks being the exception) is, occasionally, not going to result in id'ing the varmint.

How high a fence 4', 6`? Lots of raccoons in the area? Other predators? Any sign at all?

 

[hippiehen]

Quote:
You mean:

Holy Coon Carcasses Everywhere Batman!

No one has lived at the ranch we work at for a looooong time but all the corn and protein feeders have been running soo... yah, FAT coons everywhere!

Quote:
Sounds like a cat, maybe a bobcat? Sometimes they eat the heads off birds. They do that to turkeys here.

....perhaps a neighbor meddling in the black arts? (didn't have time to come back for the feet...)

 

[mark3208]

there is a six foot chain link fence.some of the hens were pulled partially through the fence from the outside,like there were several predators there,thats why i thought it might be coons,i looked for tracks,but found none. thanks for your reply.

 

[mark3208]

Now very worried about mine,only a hundred feet away from that massacre.i am going out to run some electric fence around my chicken pen.and possibly look for some good coon poison recipes. Dont want these girls gettin hit with the coon hammer.

 

[swampducks]

I live in a swamp, really, the pond is totally surrounded by swampland on 3 sides, the house on the other which has swamp behind it. Except for the south bank that the ducks use to get in and out, the pond itself is also surrounded by a 10 foot thick section of raspberry bushes, goldenrod and other assorted weedy growth. I can only walk around 2/3 of the pond, the north end has the growth going right into the swamp.

But things have become worse. I put the rowboat in the pond today and went looking. Found the duck, body in the water, it's neck draped onto the bank. All that was left of it's neck was vertebrae and the head was gone. The body was untouched.

According to the local trapper I talked to yesterday, that would be mink sign, hard to trap and kill, they have a 10 mile range. A raccoon would have been easier.

I have managed to catch 2 of my favorite ducks and put them in a pen. I want to catch my other favorite before dark too, but the others all ran to the pond. I am hoping my FIL will agree to take them till we can "fix" things, if at all.

I am so glad the chicken coop is well wired against minks.

I'll probably start a new thread about mink trapping.

Thanks again for everyones' help and sympathy.