Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Trapping Coons - Need a Nudge

Raccoons have been ravaging my land for some time. They dig into my outbuilding and rip open my bags of AM. They dump nets and 5 G buckets into my pond. They chew on any and everything - I've obviously got a population of coons with destruction on their minds. Granted, I realize they are doing simply what they are wired to do - but when it started making an fiscal impact I decided to start trapping.

Few weeks ago I set out live traps and baited with their favorite snack - AM LM formula. Got 8 Raccoons in two weeks - verified they were the culprits getting into everything looking for an AM meal. Been a week and while the food is taken every night, they have learned to escape capture. At first they would roll the cage around apparently to trigger the latch they they would reach in the larger holes of the cage and grab the pellets. When I staked the cage to the ground to avoid any movement, they have now apparently learned how to enter the cage, reach in and grab the pellets, but avoid stepping on the release platform! I'm guessing they just back out with the pellets as my cage is always open. I've tested the trigger - it's still functioning fine - so that's not the issue.

So - I have a population of Coons that have taught one another how to circumnavigate my efforts to capture. The only solution I can think of now is to place a piece of plywood that sits on the bottom of the cage. The front edge of the board would be about halfway in, the other half would lay over the trigger mechanism. This way, when the Coons enter the cage and step on the board in an effort to reach the pellets, it would trigger the cage enterance. Not an impressive modification, and I don't know it will work - so I'm turning to you guys for some help.

Please let me know if any of you have had any experience with trap thieving coons, and what you did to resolve the problem. Also very grateful for any solutions - I can use all the direction possible!

Thanks in advance, boys...

Not a boy but I do have a suggestion. Don't use pellets as bait and try to secure your bait down to the cage so they have to work to get it.

Get you an "aig suckin dog" like Old Yeller. But then again, he may like the AM also .

Did you try using peanut butter as a glue to hold your pellets in place

Try getting a Duke coon trap and bait it will marshmallows also good for possum.

TJ,
When I trap coons I use leg traps, but I make the coon work for the bait. You could put a stick through the cage so he has to work to get around it to the bait, not just reach in and steal the goodies.
Also when using trail sets I put a stick in front of the trap so they will step over it onto the trap. Same principle with the pan they step on in your live trap.
Securing the bait in a small burlap bag tied at the back of the cage would help too,that way he can't just pick it up and run.
Good Luck!

All good ideas. They might be reaching thru the wire on the back/sides of the cage too. Wire or zip tie smaller mesh wire to the outside of the cage so they can't do that, or make a bait holding container that is easily removable (for you). Be warned, they'll probably destroy it once caught so make it easily replaceable. I'll buy sardines in oil, poke a few holes in the top of the can with an ice pick and put the whole can in the live trap at the back.

The next time you are in the big city, stop at a large bookstore. Buy a copy of Fur-Fish-Game magazine. There are many trapping supply houses that advertise in it. If I remember, I'll throw the latest issue in the car and bring it to the conference.

I like the newer dog proof coon traps. Duke, Lil' Griz, Coon Cuff, etc., are a few. You can use AM in them too. I caught a feral cat at my feeder with one once.

Thats what I like about the dog proof coon traps over the leg traps. Also make sure you secure them good. I thought I did and lost one. There is a coon out there with a big problem.

For coons I like using a cheap can of cat food with a couple of holes punched in it with a church key or a chicken neck tied down works good too. Maybe a small fish from the pond.

TJ luckily I have never had a coon problem on my pond,although I did have a coon that was fond of a bird feeder we kept just outside of a atrium we built onto our house.I was guilty of watching this bugger feed when i knew i needed to move the feeder away from the hand rail but for a while it was fun to watch the tenacity of the thing as he clawed his fat behind up that railing.Like i said it was all fine till one night,I heard some ruckus on the back 40,well when i opened the door that poor coon was as scared as I was,and he decided to run right between my legs.Between my cats flying in all directions,me half asleep and my dog on the coons trail,it was a eye opening few minutes to say the least.Now my loyal pooch had the poor thing corned and he wasnt about to move which was a good thing,the bad part was I only had 2 choices of weapons to dispatch my friend at that point.

Now in my house I keep two firearms for defense,one is a Ruger .44 mag and the other is a Wells Fargo replica 10 gauge(I bought it when my daughter was born ) My choice of firearm for coons,yotes and general property pests was safely locked in a gun safe between said coon and my dog So I called off my dog and closed the door and it was just me and the coon (thank God no one else was home)I took a bead on the poor fellow and said my goodbyes.By the time my ears stopped ringing i had a heck of a mess to clean up,along with some explaining to do to my wife.Luckily for me I could hardly hear her.

Anyways I thought I'd share this story because I knew better then to let that bugger eat there,but I did so anyways.All too often I read on here of people culling fish and feeding them to the critters,just in turn to ask on how to deal with said critters.

While it isnt directed at you it is also food for thought.

Thanks for the input all. I tied the AM LM pellets in pellet fly fashion and tied the panty hose directly to the cage frame WAY in the back of the trap. It will require some ingenuity to figure out why the pellet isn't coming free, hopefully by that time they'll inadvertantly trigger the trapdoor. Will let you know how I make out - I think securing the bait will be a solution. Much obliged!

('till they figure out they can sneak the bait bag up enough from the outside of the cage to bite a hole in it, and then suck each pellet out of the bag. ;)) Whatcha bet that it'll happen at least once?

Now THAT had to be a mell of a hess! Not to mention LOUD.

You fired a 10-gauge indoors? In your own house? Whoa.

[quote=esshup]All good ideas. They might be reaching thru the wire on the back/sides of the cage too. Wire or zip tie smaller mesh wire to the outside of the cage so they can't do that, or make a bait holding container that is easily removable (for you). Be warned, they'll probably destroy it once caught so make it easily replaceable. I'll buy sardines in oil, poke a few holes in the top of the can with an ice pick and put the whole can in the live trap at the back.

What size wire mesh would you consider "smaller". Something as fine as a 16x16 mesh or something even finer? ( http://www.bwire.com/index.html - measurments can be found here)

I would think this wire mesh would be a good idea, I highly doubt that these little pests can break through strong stainless steel material....

no I thought the ruger was the better option at the time
Sorry to confuse you guys,90% of what i shoot are scatter guns,hence when using anything without a scope on it I tend to say draw a bead.

None the less there was a mess to clean and some repairs to be done.

Needless to say I've rotated back to using my trusty old browning auto 5 20g and the .22 for home duties,not that I ever want to fire a firearm inside my house again in this lifetime.

Robert,

Thanks for sharing. Somewhere, here on the PB forum site, there is a thread about crazy things we wish we wouldn't have done. Maybe somebody can remember where it is, or what is was called.

We all do things, that given a few moments of mindful clarity, we wouldn't have done.

Thankfully, many of us on this site are willing to share these crazy episodes. It is good for all to read them, and know that not always being fully cognizant of our brain's intentions, is just part of human's nature.

Even at the rather sane and reserved Pond Boss Conferences, we have some things that might be better thought out.



The alarm was set for 9:05. It sure got people out of the banquet hall and into the Buzzard's Lounge in a big hurry! No one, not even the free ranging skunk, was hurt in this episode. But, many of us still laugh about it.

By the way, can you still buy 10 gauge shells? I had a single shot 10 gauge about 50 years ago. It had a really long stock without any kind of pad. As a teenager back then, I just remember it sure would hurt my shoulder and my ears if I decided to shoot it. I wonder what ever happened to that miserable thing.

About that time, I also had a single-shot 4-10 with a bent barrel -- it was great for shooting around corners.

As for raccoons -- they got my last batch of chickens. I got a bunch of them -- and as I dropped their still warm dead bodies on the back of the pond dam, the vultures got them.

I've again got a flock of really great chickens, and a chicken yard/chicken coop with that has been re-enforced with the security of Fort Knox. I'm still concerned the 'coons will find a way in! It is kind of like living Spy vs. Spy and Mission Impossible combined.

Ken

Speaking of the conference, didn't we have one in the Fall so it wasn't during Tax season? Is JHAP going to attend? What the heck happened to Tom anyway?

Ken, yes, you can still buy 10 ga shells, although most of them now are made in steel shot for ducks/geese.

After modifications and setting another trap in new area, I had both holding today and have already rebaited. That's 10 in two weeks. I obviously had a population issue, and likely will for some time.

That is a lot! I trapped 8 or 9 of them one summer. What a pain. Everyday I couldn't believe there was another one to deal with. Go get em!

My sister's border collie mix killed a raccoon a couple months ago that tested positive for rabies. Cousin's dog got in on the action, and had to be put down because shots weren't current. Be careful handling these guys, cause if you have that many, then no telling how many more there are on surrounding farms.

TJ, the 'coons that you trapped could have been only 2 families - they can have up to 8 babies. Around here seeing 5 young ones following Mom around is pretty common.

The deer feeder (corn) behind my place has more raccoons eating the corn than deer. I've got pictures somewhere of 8 raccoons in the same picture - all looking like adults.

I think it's going to be a long process, and not sure how much I'm doing to impact their numbers trapping alone. However, I can't sit idly by when they are causing such frequent damage around the place. Not even my outbuilding is safe, they are digging under the door despite my efforts to keep them out.

I can always count on you for a optimistic assessment, Scott!

Esshup, as usual hit the nail squarely on the head. Whether 'coons, groundhogs, or even those wiley woodchucks, have large families that can grow pretty fast in a season or two if the have plenty of food and good cover. Their numbers will go up and down in cycles. But, at their highs, taking them out is just about the only answer. If not, things like rabies start natural control, and that just isn't good.

I am a Nuance Wildlife Trapper here in Florida. There are several Forum for Trapping as well as U tube has some good information after you wade thur the BS.

From My days of Chicken fighting (Which was legal at one time in Louisiana) Tie a Chicken out by one leg so it can roam a small area. Strychnine in low doses only makes Chicken hyper. Secondary consumption of the Coon that got the chicken can still be lethal.

This is kind of Extra Legal in the fact it is legal in most state and by Federal law to poison fur bearing Pests. How ever you must use a Product labeled by the EPA to do it. There are none for coons. You are not Killing the Chicken which isn't a Nuance Pest, the Coon is killing the chicken. Bottom line it works.

The Federal Gov is doing a study at present time on Feral Hog Control by Poison. At present time it is Illegal to poison Feral hogs. Secondary Consumption by Scavengers is one to the environmental concerns. Sodium Nitrate is the current poison being tested because it is so fast the Hogs won't go far from the Bait. the remains can be collected before scavengers can get it. Austrialia has been using warin based Poisons (A popular Rat Poison)to control their out of hand Feral Hog problem with little success. Hog Hunting is big business here in Florida. Hog damage to crops is even bigger.

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