Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Lifelong trapper, ask me anything

Been trapping for over 40 years. Not as an occupation. I worked in a power plant for 33 years for a living.

Hopefully, I can answer any question about trapping problem animals you may have. Almost anything that moves.

Disclaimer: I would never condone doing anything illegal. It is up to you to know your states laws.

Hey MSC, thanks for the offer to share your many yrs of experience. Now, do you know if ducks trap fish eggs in their feathers and then release them into other bodies of water?

I would say this is inevitable.

MSC -- welcome to Pond Boss.

Years ago I spent a lot of time in your neighborhood. I had an office across the "Nice" bridge on the Virginia side, but spent a lot of time in the St. Mary's area, and in Waldorf when there were just a few tobacco barns and a few taverns there.

So -- do you have any good recipes for marsh rabbits. If so, do you serve them with the head on, or with the head removed?

They don't show up in the fish markets and local diners much anymore.

Regards,
Ken

Ken, any recipe for Maryland Terrapin will do just fine.

Sorry trapping is my expertise, not cooking.

But for marsh rabbit I would suggest the same recipe you use for muskrat.

Thanks for sharing, MSC.

I have a 500 gallon decorative pond in a suburban area of San Jose, CA. My pond went unbothered by raccoons for 6 years. Then all of a sudden they "discovered" the pond and began to come regularly to try their hand at fishing. The pond is only two feet deep, so they did have some luck on occasion. So... I bought a Havahart model 1079 and baited it with cat food. On the first night, I caught the neighbor's cat. :-) Caught an adult 'coon almost immediately afterward and gave it a new address about 10 miles away on the banks of Lexington Reservoir. A week later, I caught an adult skunk and relocated it to Lexington Reservoir as well. Unfortunately, not two weeks passed when the pond was again disturbed. In spite of the fact that I keep the trap baited, I haven't been able to catch any critters for the last three months. They are still coming around, disturbing the fish and plants big time... yet I'm unable to catch them. Sometimes the trap is sprung but empty. More often, they haven't even gone near it. Any ideas for how I might get rid of these critters???

12 gauge

Try coon cuffs?? or a foot hold with something shiny on it underneath the water.

I'd box the live trap in with plywood or something similar so the only open area is the side where they enter. They are trying to reach into the box trap to get to the food.

Welcome to PB!!! MSC, you probably will be a busy man on this site. Thanks for your advice.

Akatengu, First congrats on successfully live trapping and relocating the skunk. If it did not spray There is a certain knack to that. Landowners watch me do it from a safe distance and they say it was amazing, and you are crazy.

First off. I would have set 4 cage traps all around the pond the first try. The trick is to wipe them out fast.

It is possible that the coons are educated about cage traps. Maybe when you caught the cat, skunk, and coon, several other coons came by and saw that during the night.

Anyhow, Do not despair, I wipe coons out with cage traps.

Coons will try every other option before going in, like reaching in from the sides to get the bait. And they will climb on top, and even rattle the cage. That is why sometimes your trap may be sprung but empty. Sometimes it is a good idea to cover the cage trap and sides with anything available like plywood. But I usually don't have to do this.

Make the trap level and sturdy so it doesn't rattle when it moves.

Cat food is deadly for coon bait. However, in your suburban area, it will also bring in non targets from far away, that might have not even been there, if they didn't smell that.

Put a white egg in it. I use hard boiled so they don't break as easy. White shows up real good at night and once a coon sees it... it's on and he will not give up until he has it.

Next best bait would be fish similar to whats in your pond.

I hope this helps, feel free to ask any questions.

Are you close to water, or is your pond fed by a creek? Are there otters in your area?

Best raccoon bait I have used is apple slice with peanut butter on it. Skunk and cats will leave it alone most of the time or just apple slice then.

Skunks do not like to spray unless in an open area and will not get any on them self. A nice quiet blanket covering the live trap making it nice and dark you can take that skunk anywhere with out spraying. Just let light in the exit and open the door. Skunk will only spray you when he is looking at you. If you can see his tail as they are running away your good. If you can see his head then his ass your dinked they squirt over their heads.

Cheers Don.

MSC, regarding the egg. Peeled or not? Ass soon as the 'coons are prime around here they're getting thinned out. Not too many 'rats, but tons of 'yotes.

Got any suggestions for 'yotes? Including trap specifics as I'd have to buy them. All of mine are pre lamination days.

That's it. I just walk right up and cover the whole cage trap with a blanket. Skunks wont spray you if they cant see you. I then pick up the cage and carry it to my truck and put in in. Bungee cord that cage in or if something happens and you slam on your brakes or make a sharp turn and the cage slides across your truck bed, and bangs the side, you might have a smelly truck.

Any other suggestions on trapping coons. I have a ton of them around the property but last year I tried trapping them and never got a one. Use the handcuff type of traps baited with dog food. Wrong bait? Wrong locations? Also interested in coyotes, they woke me up twice last night not 200 yards from the house. Not to mention the one yapping last night at sunset 100 yards away while I was deer hunting

No need to peel the hard boiled egg for coon bait.

If you want coons and not your neighbors cats or dogs, here is the absolute best bait for coons, make it yourself and very cheap...

Get a jar of Kraft marshmallow creme, mix in a few drops of vanilla extract and a little bit of honey. This stuff is so sticky it will stick to anything and it takes a hurricane to wash it away. It smells very sweet, which coons go nuts over, but not cats and dogs. Smear this stuff on the cage trap pan and even some on the bottom side of the pan. When I use this, in combination with the white egg for visibility, it is bad medicine for the coons.

Personally I use Safeguard pro model cage traps. This model has a smaller mesh around the back where the bait is, to keep coons from reaching in trying to steal the bait.

OK, as for coyotes... To be honest, I have never trapped one. They just aren't around here. I have trapped a chitload of fox, reds and greys.

But I do have advice from the best yote trappers. Forget cage traps for coyotes. That ain't happening. I suggest a #2 coil spring, I have Bridgers, they are a heavy duty trap made just for coyotes, used with a standard dirthole set. If you set for coyotes like this you have to stake the trap down very good. Ask if you want specifics.

MSC, it won't be long before coyotes are in southern MD. They are all over the place in western MD and just started showing up a few year back where my dad lives at the mouth of the Potomac River. He has caught several coyotes in his area now.

MSC you are right my dad has trapped for 40 years and in that whole time he has only caught on coyote in a live trap and it was so maingy that it was almost dead. It was starving so bad it walked into a live trap. Snares work really good in kansas in trails and on fence lines.

The best skunk trap I have used is the pvc pipe ones. If the skunk can't see you or pick up his tail he won't spray you.

Yes, we have had very scattered reports of sightings. I know a turkey hunter popped one here in Calvert county several years ago. I just have never seen one here yet.

Yes, some people do real well with skunks with those type traps. I just have not used them.

I'll have to disagree with you on staking leghold traps when targeting coyotes - and most other critters for that matter.
I trapped many yotes in my youth; both for pelts and to reduce their predation on cattle during calving season (btw: cows are loners when calving - and defenseless during the act, often yielding a gruesome outcome when discovered by a pack of coyotes).
As for the traps (which I still own), I used #3 jump-springs and #3 dbl long-springs.
Securing the traps to a heavy object (or "drag", ie. 40lb+ rock or green log); versus solid-staking the traps, allows the animal to move away from the site and eliminates pull-outs and chew-offs. Rarely did they move more than 50' from the set-site, and they appeared to remain relatively calm throughout the ordeal. It was easy to follow the drag-trail to locate and dispatch the trap's tenant.
I eventually switched to sodium cyanide devices as a much more efficient, target-selective and humane means for thinning the coyote population. These devices never miss; so the yotes never got the second-chance "education" that LH traps sometimes provide.