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Thread: Need help catching a raccoon

  1. #61
    Join Date
    May 2008
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    Peshtigo,WI
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    1,395
    Quote Originally Posted by Myk Rian View Post
    And now you have to wait till they start stinkin the attic up, only to find you have to tear the floor up to get them.
    Trust me with the proper dosage of fly bait they won't be any more than four feet from where they ate it. Only problem is the stuff is non-selective, but hey we've got a captive audience here.
    Confidence: The feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation

  2. #62
    Whatever you're going to do, I'd do it quick....they're not going to be happy stuck up there, and will find a way out, whether it's through the eaves, or through the ceiling drywall and into your house.

  3. #63
    I'm trying to figure out how to tame it and teach it to do things for me. I went home a little early last night, decided I'd take the extension ladder home and instead of me trying to go into the attic, I'd go from the outside, take a board and jam it through the vent to break the wire mesh and the screen back loose so it could get out. I thought that was much more logical and safe for me I threw the ladder up, put my flashlight on my head, went up the ladder with a board. Got to the vent and saw the little critter had beat me to it. I guess it yanked on the wire mesh and screen until it pulled the staples out. It was all peeled back enough for it to get out.

    That's one smart animal and a hard worker at that

    I think this is about round 36 that it's won and I've lost.

    I've been working crazy hours, along with being sick, so I'm sleep deprived at the moment and not setting the trap, because I have a feeling I'll catch it next try around and last thing I want is to get woke up at 2:00am by the thing screaming and not shutting up, which would mean I'd have to get dressed and dispose of it before getting some sleep.

    I didn't try trapping it in the attic because it's just a small trap door in the ceiling and if I put a 6 ft ladder up, it's 2 feet from the opening, so I'd have to manage to get me and it out that trap door, while my feet dangle, looking for the ladder, and I felt sure with my luck, it would poop while it's over my carpet

    I'll get it in the next few days.
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    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  4. #64
    Join Date
    May 2008
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    E. Hanover, NJ
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    443
    You could always lower the trap down from the attic with a rope. And if you do manage to catch one and you are worried about it defecating on the rug, put down a tarp first and then you can wrap the trap with it as you flee the house and drive it down the road to release.

  5. #65
    I have a Havahart live trap that I have used for years to catch coons, skunks, and possums ... uh, oh yeah, one very mad stray tomcat. I have caught at least a hundred animals and have rarely missed or taken more than a couple hours. My record shortest time is under a minute for one very hungry possum. Forget about peanut butter unless you are wanting to catch a mouse. Also, racoons need water with their meals so you need to have a bowl of water next to the bowl of dry cat food -- if you don't provide water, you may just be spinning your wheels. Dry cat food is the universal food of all critters including cats if they aren't too finicky. Cats might not like being caught, but they will usually forgive you if you give them some treats to make up. Make sure that the trap is adjusted for a hair trigger or otherwise you might just wind up feeding stray animals. Usually when you buy a trap, the trigger is pretty stiff and might require something like a bear to trip it -- properly adjusted, even a mouse could trip the trap door. I used to take the critters to a local lake and release them, but now it has been all developed and folks might not like me releasing wild animals in their front yards. Fortunately, our city now will pick up the animals and take them somewhere (I don't ask and they don't tell) and they have my trap back to me within the hour.

    Try to figure out the racoon's routine and place the trap at places that it frequents. Try to use places that cats are not likely to go like an elevated platform attached to a tree trunk or underneath some shrubs. Cats will usually stay away from the regular haunts of wild animals. Set the trap just after dark and check it every half our or so, but without going too close to it. It would be best if you can see it from a window. If you can manage to stay up late, if nothing has been caught by about 11:30 PM close the trap and try again another night. The odds of trapping anything after about midnight are pretty slim.

    The main reason that critters come around your home is availability of food. If you have pet food, bird food, or garbage cans outdoors, they are all reasons that animals come around. I recently watched a young skunk and young possum work together to get the seed out of a bird feeder. The possum went up the tree jumped on the feeder and shook it until all of the seed had dumped on the ground. Then he ambled back down and joined the baby skunk in devouring the bird seed.
    Bill

  6. #66
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Panama City FL
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    72
    +1 on the fly bait. Wicked stuff, you'll find them lying right next to the bait most likely. Not sure how legal it is but it is VERY fast and effective.

    EDIT: Actually it's not legal at all, but who's going to know.
    Last edited by ben searight; 03-09-2012 at 2:04 PM.

  7. #67
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Woodlawn, Illinois
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    338
    I had the same problem with a coon on my roof and the fear of if I was successful, how to release it without bodily harm. First thing in catching the coon was to give him a free lunch to make him feel comfortable. I placed the cage on the roof secured with a rope so it would not slide off the pitched roof. I did not set the trap door open the first day but did spread out sardines around it...free lunch and made the coon not fear the trap. Second day set the trap, added a couple of free sardines outside of the trap and the remainder inside. Boom...caught a big sow coon.
    On my way to the country to release and hopefully not get bite in the process, I passed by a sporting goods store. I pulled in and asked the owner if he knew of anyone that would like a live coon. He called a friend that has coon dogs. This guy had a couple of young dogs he was training so he wasted no time coming to retrieve the coon. He even offered to pay me for my troubles. I said I didn't want any money but if he had any deer antlers he could get rid of, I could use them to make pens. Once I got the antlers, I turned him a pen.
    Win, win, win. Got rid of the coon, made a new friend, happy dogs, happy trainer, lots of free antlers and most of all HAPPY WIFE
    Who knew your could have so much fun with such a small chunk of wood

  8. #68
    Scott,

    Greetings from one hour up I-95 in Stafford County Virginia.

    Please be aware that "in Virginia it is legal to trap raccoon on your property outside of the trapping season within the incorporated limits of any city or town and in the counties of Arlington, Chesterfield, Fairfax, Henrico, James City, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Roanoke and York (4VAC15-210-51)."
    Also please be aware that "In Virginia it is illegal to transport, release, or relocate a raccoon anywhere other than the property it was caught on 4VAC15-30-50, and poison any animal (including raccoon) other than rats and mice on your property 4VAC15-40-50."

    The best and legal way to get rid of the coon once you have it trapped is to submerge the trap in a trash can full of water.

  9. #69
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
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    mid-coast Maine and deep space
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    Quote Originally Posted by Roger Bullock View Post
    I had the same problem with a coon on my roof and the fear of if I was successful, how to release it without bodily harm. First thing in catching the coon was to give him a free lunch to make him feel comfortable. I placed the cage on the roof secured with a rope so it would not slide off the pitched roof. I did not set the trap door open the first day but did spread out sardines around it...free lunch and made the coon not fear the trap. Second day set the trap, added a couple of free sardines outside of the trap and the remainder inside. Boom...caught a big sow coon.
    On my way to the country to release and hopefully not get bite in the process, I passed by a sporting goods store. I pulled in and asked the owner if he knew of anyone that would like a live coon. He called a friend that has coon dogs. This guy had a couple of young dogs he was training so he wasted no time coming to retrieve the coon. He even offered to pay me for my troubles. I said I didn't want any money but if he had any deer antlers he could get rid of, I could use them to make pens. Once I got the antlers, I turned him a pen.
    Win, win, win. Got rid of the coon, made a new friend, happy dogs, happy trainer, lots of free antlers and most of all HAPPY WIFE
    Hope you aren't also posting on the Raccoons On Line forum. They might have a different view of your "win, win,win"
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
    WQJudge

  10. #70
    It's been a while since posting. For a while I thought it was gone and freaked out from getting caught in the attic that one time. I didn't see or hear it for about a week or 10 days. Then, just after I finished telling some friends how it hadn't been back because it was freaked out about getting caught in the attic, it came back. Since then, maybe 3 weeks ago, I'm guessing, it's made me feel as stupid as my first days in Algebra class.

    It's taken me to school, repeatedly. A few nights ago, I took a paper towel roll and smeared peanut butter inside the ends and tossed it inside the trap. It sat for two days. I checked it before bed, it was there, I checked it the next morning about sunrise, the trap was open and the paper towel peanut butter roll was gone. What the heck? How in the world did it get that out of there without springing the trap?

    Last night, I wired a piece of acrylic to the bottom of it, I smeared a big glob of peanut butter on it and went to bed. Woke up around midnight, it was trying to get in the house. I jumped up, threw some clothes on, grabbed a flashlight and ran out the front door. Nothing on the roof. No where. This thing is killing me......

    Woke up at 4:00am to a noise. Hey, that's outside, on the ground, not over my head. I listened and realized it was in the trap and caught. I went down and took a look, and it was caught.

    I laid awake until time to go to work, constantly debating relocating it. I just couldn't figure out a way to safely bend down and open the door it would be walking through when it exited. With my hands, legs, feet, and face, all within 15 inches or less, all I could think about was releasing it, having it scratch or bite me, then walk off into the woods, never to be seen again, which would mean I'd be heading in for rabies treatment. I really didn't want to do anything other than relocate it. I even thought of all kinds of places with water and woods, all great places to be a raccoon.

    In the end, I thought the risk for me, personally, was just too great. I called Animal Control when they opened and they came and got it and left my cage for me.

    In a way, I'm sad. It's been like having a enemy you battle with. You don't want them to be gone, you just want to defeat them.

    So it's gone.

    Now, if I can stop thinking about what the Animal Control Officer said to me.........."There's rarely just one......"

    At least I can button up my house now and not have to worry about trapping something in, like I did before.
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  11. #71
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Mid Michigan
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    3,559
    I have trapped over ten raccoons and never had a thought of danger to myself. They all behaved normally while trapped and were very anxious to leave the cage after the door was opened. The Animal Control Officer was correct when he said that "there's rarely just one". The important thing to remember is to never leave things out that may attract them. Pet food, bird food, and access to nice cozy places to live and raise their young. I still have visitations from them on occasion but when they don't find anything available to make their life easier they tend to move on.
    Congratulations on catching your first critter, it gets easier the more you do it.
    David B

  12. #72
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Red Deer, Alberta
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    918
    In a way, I'm sad...
    We're sad too! It's been a great story (at least for us!) as we've followed along with your efforts.

    Seriously, hope your troubles are behind you. Thanks for the great read...
    Funny, I don't remember being absent minded...

  13. #73
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Lewisville, NC
    Posts
    1,359
    "So I get the trap, I head to the grocery store and buy some bacon. While I'm cooking it (it said "crisp bacon"), I'm thinking "how come this thing has me cooking for it, and cooking bacon that was $6?"."

    This has been a great story!! The opening paragraph(above) had me laughing and hooked from the beginning.

    Jim

  14. #74
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Tobias View Post
    "So I get the trap, I head to the grocery store and buy some bacon. While I'm cooking it (it said "crisp bacon"), I'm thinking "how come this thing has me cooking for it, and cooking bacon that was $6?"."

    This has been a great story!! The opening paragraph(above) had me laughing and hooked from the beginning.

    Jim
    +1.

    I nominate this thread for the Best of the Creek.

  15. #75
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Innisfil Ontario Canada
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    4,019
    Having been plagued by raccoons over the years, and suffering incredible damage to my property, the guy is right, there is NEVER just one.. But the one thing I did discover, and it cured my problem once and for all.. Although they can do a Super amount of damage, Raccoons are mortal, and they are NOT faster than a speeding bullet! Once in the trap, a .22 rifle combined with a sub-sonic cartridge placed against the head,and fired. Even in a built up area, no one will hear the shot.. Put on gloves, dump it in the back your pickup, or trunk of your car and deposit on the side of a rural road.. Coyotes will clean it up.. Sounds cruel, but it's the only thing that will work 100%, and prevent thousands in damage to your property. As a side note, Raccoon crap is considered highly toxic, it contains a parasite that can cause you a world of grief and sickness.. I know, everyone want's to save the pooor widdle animals, but enough is enough.. their vermin, get rid of them the same way you would a plague carrying rat..
    Last edited by Bill Cunningham; 04-14-2012 at 8:37 PM.
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