Well I had finally had my fill of the damage that the raccoons have been causing in my yard. I borrowed a Havahart trap from a friend and set it last night. I had 2 1/2 grown bandits in it this morning. They are big enough to take care of themselves, so off we went on a 4 mile drive. I let them out in a soybean field near a creek, so they should feel at home in no time! A little bit of dry cat food in a small dish was just too tempting!
Do you think 4 miles is far enough away Capt? LOL I hope they don't find their way back! Do raccoons like soybeans?
good day all, it has been a while . well we got one too last night, it was not intentional,he did try to miss the little guy but....one less coon to worry about getting in the garden. hitting one with ones car is not my ideal way of takeing care of coons or any other animal.......sorry we all said at the same time. melissa w.va.
It should be far enough. Coons are territorial, but at that young age they probably haven't staked out their territory yet. The soybean field is next to a creek and they were headed in that direction. They don't necessarily like soybeans, but it's good cover for them on their trip. I'll wait a day before I set out the trap again. Monday evening will hopefully see a couple of more caught.
Did you take any piccies of your bandits for us CK? Sorry for being a pain but I'd love to see one of your racoons.
I didn't think of it until after I had turned them loose. My camera was here at home. But I am sure I will be catching more and will try to get a pic or two ofthem.
Our local DNR wildlife guru says to take coons 10 miles and cross two major roadways to ensure they stay away. I bet if you would have painted one orange that you may see an orange coon in your trap in a few days.
The coons are getting smart on me. I set the trap and baited it with dry cat food, just like before. This morning the food was gone, the trap door was closed and the cage was empty! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I bet I get at least one tonight! We had fresh sweet corn for supper, so I left a few kernals on one cob and I think the smell of fresh corn with butter on it will be irresistable to them. And if any of you people are thinking of raiding the trap, I'll be watching!
Yes, they will return just put some kind of mark them and a racoon is so smart or at least older ones can figure out how to raise the door and get out.LolThey are truly smart little stinkers.
I give up! Trap sprung, corncob cleaned and no coon in trap!! They are reaching in through the side and tripping the trigger and then chewing the corcob through the cage! On the cat food, they reached in, turned over the container and then moved the the cage to eat the food off the ground.
How about wiring the food to the middle and bottom of the cage so that they have to go inside for it? Obviously this idea wouldn't work too well with the cat food though!!
Wire the trap open for a couple of nights with food inside. That gets rid of the their trap 'shyness'.
