Here in Indiana we have trapping seasons for everything. BUT if you are a landowner and the wild critters are doing damage on your property (raiding bird feeders, eating your outdoor cat food, etc.) you can trap and remove the critters 24/7/365. Check with the local CO and ask them about nuisance furbearers.

DP (dogproof) coon traps work great, pre-bait the area with fish food, cat food and you will attract feral cats, coon, possums and maybe skunks. I have caught all 3 in the Havahart style live traps. I will put a 1/2 can of sardines in the back. DP traps were made for coons but will also catch cats and possums. I am seeing more turkeys and rabbits after trapping hard. If you use DP traps, make sure you tie them to something strong or use long enough stakes. Don't use a single or even a double strand of rebar tie wire to tie the trap down. Coons can twist enough to break them. I like putting a spring and a swivel on the chain in addition to the swivel that comes with them. See the next post for what I use.

I've had a directional feeder that had a rubber thrower flipper destroyed by coons trying to get to the feed. Whole bags of Optimal in cardboard boxes tore open by critters that got into the building.

I don't relocate - why bring my problems to someone else? Besides, coons will return to the same area unless they are moved over 7 miles from where they were trapped. Critters have their own home territory, and know where to find food there. Dropping off a critter that is unfamiliar to the area is more cruel (I think) than dying from lead poisoning. They will be fighting with the occupants, will be struggling to find food/water or become a PITA for someone else.

A neighbor that is about 3/4 mile away from here as the crow flies loves coons. He can sit on the back porch with dog food and they will climb up in his lap to eat it. He has Critter Control drop off the coons that they catch at his place. Two years ago my next door neighbor (with my help) trapped 33 coon, 7 possums and 4 feral cats that were trying to get into his chicken pen/coop. I caught 28 coon here that year, 4 possums and 2 feral cats. Last year I was having a feral cat whizz on things inside an outbuilding, and I saw 1, maybe 2 cats roaming around. The chrome wheel on the ATV rusted because a cat sprayed it over the winter and I didn't see it until I went to use the ATV in the Spring. So, I put out a Havahart trap with either fish food or sardines as bait.

I caught the 2 cats that I saw and said to myself, lets leave the trap set to see what else is around. I ended up trapping and removing 30 feral cats (when I mean feral, I mean cats that try to run out of the cage and hiss snarl and growl at ya if you are within 10 feet of the cage). I am up to 3 cats this year so far and 1 possum.

I have trail cam pics of coons keeping deer away from the corn that I was throwing. Deer walk up, coon looks at the deer, snarls and the deer turn around and walk away. Last year I lost track of the coon that I caught, it was over 20.

Hey. vultures have to eat too!