Raccoon control...

[royal0014]

Tools needed: Bait, Havaheart Trap, Garbage Can, Water
Step 1: Bait Trap
Step 2: Fill Garbage Can With Water
Step 3: Trap Coon
Step 4: Submerge Trap & Coon In Water & Cover
Step 5: Discard Carcass In Regular Trash
YMMV - save your ammo and your neighbors
Same formula works on squirrels, woodchucks, opossum, cats and fox.

I'm certainly no bleeding heart tree hugging liberal by any stretch of the imagination, but this seems kinda cruel to me.
I have no problem with a quick death via a .22 to the head. Death by drowning is just not right.

Agreed. I can be a cold heart sob when it comes to strays and pests, but that's too much ...

[1967redrider]

I'll tell you what varmint burns my @$$ is the groundhog. They really tear the heck out of dirt floors inside of barns and sheds, and try driving a tractor through the field after they've set up a mine field. Not fun.

[Colonel26]

I'll tell you what varmint burns my @$$ is the groundhog. They really tear the heck out of dirt floors inside of barns and sheds, and try driving a tractor through the field after they've set up a mine field. Not fun.

Whistle pigs aka groundhogs are under a permanent death sentence on my place. This one dared move into my barn. The shockwave made quick work of him.

[1967redrider]

I'll tell you what varmint burns my @$$ is the groundhog. They really tear the heck out of dirt floors inside of barns and sheds, and try driving a tractor through the field after they've set up a mine field. Not fun.

Whistle pigs aka groundhogs are under a permanent death sentence on my place. This one dared move into my barn. The shockwave made quick work of him.

96E58A40-8A37-4140-ADB8-31565E8275B8.jpeg0852EE80-CB0D-4B64-ACC1-396D647F0CEE.jpeg

[bestgear]

I’m sorry if my post offended anyone, that was not my intended outcome of providing a low-cost legal and lethal dispatch option that wouldn’t disturb the urban neighbors to the OP, nothing more, nothing less. Sorry

[Mumbleypeg]

Tom I actually have a squirrel trap designed to drown them. Picked it up in a box with some other stuff at a garage sale. It has a plastic tub that came with it into which the cage may be submerged. I’ve never used it - took me a while to find out what it was, until a neighbor told me. After I knew what to look for it didn’t take long to find similar contraptions online. https://squirrelinator.com/

Don’t mean to offend anyone. Having seen nature at work, predators and prey, I’m not so sure drowning is the worst outcome for a squirrel or other wild animal.

Ken

[Colonel26]

Tom I actually have a squirrel trap designed to drown them. Picked it up in a box with some other stuff at a garage sale. It has a plastic tub that came with it into which the cage may be submerged. I’ve never used it - took me a while to find out what it was, until a neighbor told me. After I knew what to look for it didn’t take long to find similar contraptions online. https://squirrelinator.com/

Don’t mean to offend anyone. Have seen nature at work, predators and prey, I’m not so sure drowning is the worst outcome for a squirrel or other wild animal.

Ken

I’m sorry if my post offended anyone, that was not my intended outcome of providing a low-cost legal and lethal dispatch option that wouldn’t disturb the urban neighbors to the OP, nothing more, nothing less. Sorry

No offense here.

Ken, I’ve never seen one of those things, but it doesn’t surprise me they exist. Squirrels are a huge nuisance here and cost folks quite a bit in chewed wires, etc…. It seems hardly anybody hunts them any more and even folks that don’t allow any other kind of hunting will beg you to come shoot the squirrels.

We now have the black mouth cur and hope to put a huge dent in the squirrel population this fall, maybe some coons and possums too.

Squirrel and dumplin’s anyone???

[Mumbleypeg]

The ironic thing is, living several miles from the nearest town I have no need for the contraption. At least not the drowning tub part.

Ken

[eveled]

I thought about getting a Ruger 10/22 with a Silent-SR/ISB...but that would be quite expensive, even before the paperwork. Though my neighbors probably wouldn't get too panicky over gunshots, a firearm may not be the best option. I'm definitely not trying to get myself in trouble with the law.

Nor am I going to take a 400-mile round trip to relocate them, only to have them pester the country folk. A compromise will have to be made somewhere, and I believe "good compromise" is an oxymoron.

I recommend Ruger's 10/22, I'm more than tickled with mine and the aftermarket options are almost limitless.

I don’t have a 10-22 anymore, but in my pile of 22’s the hands down quietest (and one of the most accurate) is my old Stevens 87 (also known as a Savage 6). Even with lr it is crazy quite to shoot, but with CB shorts (which a 10/22 won’t shoot) it is quieter than an air rifle.

They can usually be had really cheap in the used gun rack. If you run up on one, pick it up. They’re a lot of fun.

You can get CB longs the 10/22 will shoot those. You just have to cycle it manually. Not much different than a bolt gun at that point.

Instead of drowning caged animals my old neighbor would put them to sleep with carbon monoxide. He’d attach a hose to the tail pipe of his lawn tractor run into the trap and cover it with a blanket.

He also would stick the hose into any holes in his lawn or rock wall to euthanize chip minks in their home.

[royal0014]

my old neighbor would put them to sleep with carbon monoxide.

Interesting . . . .

[bighomer]

20 gauge worked pretty well a couple of months ago.

[Colonel26]

I recommend Ruger's 10/22, I'm more than tickled with mine and the aftermarket options are almost limitless.

I don’t have a 10-22 anymore, but in my pile of 22’s the hands down quietest (and one of the most accurate) is my old Stevens 87 (also known as a Savage 6). Even with lr it is crazy quite to shoot, but with CB shorts (which a 10/22 won’t shoot) it is quieter than an air rifle.

They can usually be had really cheap in the used gun rack. If you run up on one, pick it up. They’re a lot of fun.

You can get CB longs the 10/22 will shoot those. You just have to cycle it manually. Not much different than a bolt gun at that point.

Instead of drowning caged animals my old neighbor would put them to sleep with carbon monoxide. He’d attach a hose to the tail pipe of his lawn tractor run into the trap and cover it with a blanket.

He also would stick the hose into any holes in his lawn or rock wall to euthanize chip minks in their home.

I’ve heard of that. And somewhere I believe I saw a contraption from days gone by that you could buy that was made to go over the tail pipe and do just that.

I’ve seen CB longs before, but you sure don’t see them often here. They would definitely do the job.

[Colonel26]

20 gauge worked pretty well a couple of months ago.

Yes sir.

[Mumbleypeg]

20 gauge worked pretty well a couple of months ago.

Yes sir.

Firearms work great for varmint control for us country folks. The OP lives in town. Needs a different solution and unfortunately his local government isn’t helping him. Anyone surprised?

Ken

[Dan In MI]

Firearms work great for us country folks. The OP lives in town. Needs a different solution and unfortunately his local government isn’t helping him. Anyone surprised?

I'm not surprised in the least. So far, the only 100% legal way to rid myself of them (that I've found) is to trap them and pay a wildlife removal service to euthanize them. I'm not about to burn 18-20 gallons of gasoline, never mind what Michigan roads do to one's vehicle, to relocate them and have them become someone else's problem. Trapping and dispatching them myself could work, provided I could find an effective and legal way to dispose of the carcasses. Perhaps some sort of repellent that would make them not want to return to my property would be a better solution? Frankly, with the way people drive around here, I'm surprised I've yet to see a roadkill raccoon.

Living in the city is a real pain sometimes.

[Colonel26]

Firearms work great for us country folks. The OP lives in town. Needs a different solution and unfortunately his local government isn’t helping him. Anyone surprised?

I'm not surprised in the least. So far, the only 100% legal way to rid myself of them (that I've found) is to trap them and pay a wildlife removal service to euthanize them. I'm not about to burn 18-20 gallons of gasoline, never mind what Michigan roads do to one's vehicle, to relocate them and have them become someone else's problem. Trapping and dispatching them myself could work, provided I could find an effective and legal way to dispose of the carcasses. Perhaps some sort of repellent that would make them not want to return to my property would be a better solution? Frankly, with the way people drive around here, I'm surprised I've yet to see a roadkill raccoon.

Living in the city is a real pain sometimes.

Dan, I think someone earlier mentioned this, but coyote urine sprayed around the perimeter of your yard may deter them from coming in the property. Here’s a link to Home Depot’s website. Evidently they sell it, although you might want to check the prices of some of the trapping supply companies. It may be available at a lower cost.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Just-Scents ... 143378-_-N&

[Dan In MI]

I think someone earlier mentioned this, but coyote urine sprayed around the perimeter of your yard may deter them from coming in the property.

That was mentioned previously. It's probably my best option at this point, and even at Home Depot prices, it's a lot cheaper than the removal service.

On the plus side, the little varmints haven't been seen on the property for at least a couple of days.

[just bob]

I'll update my critter control. I have a Havahart trap and by using different baits within the last month have caught a raccoon, ground hog, and cat. I thought the cat was feral but took it to the animal shelter and they think most likely someone set it out. Anyway I've had an odd experience. Twice now it has happened the trap has been tripped, the tuna can is outside the trap and empty, and there is nothing inside the trap. No blood or other evidence of foul play anywhere around the trap. It is also functioning properly and there are no holes in it. I thought about this for over a week and decided there was a do gooder in my neighborhood that didn't like the trap and was going out and releasing the animal in it during the night. That was all I could come up with until I started looking on Google. It turns out this isn't uncommon at all. Apparently racoons have evolved to the point that they are able to remove the bait from these types of traps and not get caught. Amazing. I'm thinking now that the raccoon I did catch was working in tandem with it's mother to rob the bait and didn't have it timed right. Apparently a large, adult raccoon can just lay down and prevent the trap door from shutting, snatch the bait and back out without getting caught. Supposedly there are videos of this on YouTube. There is a farm about 3/4 of a mile behind my house that raises sweet corn and vegetables on a larger scale. This area is overcrowded with raccoons. You see many dead ones on the side of the road. They really don't bother me and I don't have an agenda against them. I am after a feral tom cat that is attacking other cats in the area. I don't know what to use for bait that cats would go after and raccoons would leave alone? Most likely there isn't anything. I'll probably have to wait until cold weather when the raccoons will be held up in their dens. BTW I checked with the animal shelter and asked about the disposition of feral cats. They do not kill them, but have a waiting list of people wanting barn cats. They don't domesticate them, but spay / neuter them and give them a new home.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/thread ... ns.994323/

[OLDE CUTLER]

I'll update my critter control. I have a Havahart trap and by using different baits within the last month have caught a raccoon, ground hog, and cat. I thought the cat was feral but took it to the animal shelter and they think most likely someone set it out. Anyway I've had an odd experience. Twice now it has happened the trap has been tripped, the tuna can is outside the trap and empty, and there is nothing inside the trap. No blood or other evidence of foul play anywhere around the trap. It is also functioning properly and there are no holes in it. I thought about this for over a week and decided there was a do gooder in my neighborhood that didn't like the trap and was going out and releasing the animal in it during the night. That was all I could come up with until I started looking on Google. It turns out this isn't uncommon at all. Apparently racoons have evolved to the point that they are able to remove the bait from these types of traps and not get caught. Amazing. I'm thinking now that the raccoon I did catch was working in tandem with it's mother to rob the bait and didn't have it timed right. Apparently a large, adult raccoon can just lay down and prevent the trap door from shutting, snatch the bait and back out without getting caught. Supposedly there are videos of this on YouTube. There is a farm about 3/4 of a mile behind my house that raises sweet corn and vegetables on a larger scale. This area is overcrowded with raccoons. You see many dead ones on the side of the road. They really don't bother me and I don't have an agenda against them. I am after a feral tom cat that is attacking other cats in the area. I don't know what to use for bait that cats would go after and raccoons would leave alone? Most likely there isn't anything. I'll probably have to wait until cold weather when the raccoons will be held up in their dens. BTW I checked with the animal shelter and asked about the disposition of feral cats. They do not kill them, but have a waiting list of people wanting barn cats. They don't domesticate them, but spay / neuter them and give them a new home.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/thread ... ns.994323/

I have had this problem also. People think I am trying to catch their house cats that they let out at night, instead of raccoons that do damage to their property also. And feral tom cats would see our house cats sitting in the window at night and jump at them and their claws would ruin all the screens.Do gooders would kick the trap so it would trip, they couldn't take the trap as I had it cable locked to a post. Any tame house cats I have ever caught were released unharmed. And as you say there are critters who have mastered the game of stealing the bait. I also now keep the trap within sight of one of the security cameras. I used to work with a guy that had an acreage and a big garden. He had a lot of sweet corn that the raccoons would ravage when it was ready to eat. One night he put a battery operated radio out in the garden with the volume on full blast to see if that would deter the raccoons. He had it on a country station when he left it, but when he checked it the next morning there was sweet corn missing, the radio had been tipped over, and the station on the radio was playing rock and roll!!!!! Those critters know how to party.

[zzyzzogeton]

I'll update my critter control. I have a Havahart trap and by using different baits within the last month have caught a raccoon, ground hog, and cat. I thought the cat was feral but took it to the animal shelter and they think most likely someone set it out. Anyway I've had an odd experience. Twice now it has happened the trap has been tripped, the tuna can is outside the trap and empty, and there is nothing inside the trap. No blood or other evidence of foul play anywhere around the trap. It is also functioning properly and there are no holes in it. I thought about this for over a week and decided there was a do gooder in my neighborhood that didn't like the trap and was going out and releasing the animal in it during the night. That was all I could come up with until I started looking on Google. It turns out this isn't uncommon at all. Apparently racoons have evolved to the point that they are able to remove the bait from these types of traps and not get caught. Amazing. I'm thinking now that the raccoon I did catch was working in tandem with it's mother to rob the bait and didn't have it timed right. Apparently a large, adult raccoon can just lay down and prevent the trap door from shutting, snatch the bait and back out without getting caught. Supposedly there are videos of this on YouTube. There is a farm about 3/4 of a mile behind my house that raises sweet corn and vegetables on a larger scale. This area is overcrowded with raccoons. You see many dead ones on the side of the road. They really don't bother me and I don't have an agenda against them. I am after a feral tom cat that is attacking other cats in the area. I don't know what to use for bait that cats would go after and raccoons would leave alone? Most likely there isn't anything. I'll probably have to wait until cold weather when the raccoons will be held up in their dens. BTW I checked with the animal shelter and asked about the disposition of feral cats. They do not kill them, but have a waiting list of people wanting barn cats. They don't domesticate them, but spay / neuter them and give them a new home.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/thread ... ns.994323/

Anything that will tempt a cat will also tempt a coon. You can bait traps with dried corn to catch coons and avoid cat trapping. My brother trapped over 50 coons in 2020 with nary a cat trapped. He still has a coon problem. He quit trapping coons for a while because his "coon disposal service" told him not to bring him any more coons for a while as their freezers are full.

There's a reason people with barn cats keep needing more barn cats. Coyotes. Coyotes will work in pairs (or more) to trap a cat out away from protective buildings/equipment.

My cousin and his wife are some of those folks who keep getting more "barn cats". A cat lasts anywhere from a week to a couple of months around here. Occassionally, one lasts several months but not often. When I go outside at night, I can hear at least 9 distinct packs howling in the distance.

[just bob]

I know in parts of the country that things are dramatically different. I have seen the same feral cat running loose for more than two years now. We have coyotes and probably many more than I’m aware of. At times you can hear them late into the night other times not at all. I suppose they roam. I also saw a skunk near my backyard and thankfully didn’t catch it. Do the raccoons in your area go to dens in cold weather? I feel certain they do here and that maybe my only chance to get the feral cat. In Indiana it is lawful to transport an animal within the same county it was captured in. Moving a raccoon a few miles isn’t going to help anything.

[zzyzzogeton]

I know in parts of the country that things are dramatically different. I have seen the same feral cat running loose for more than two years now. We have coyotes and probably many more than I’m aware of. At times you can hear them late into the night other times not at all. I suppose they roam. I also saw a skunk near my backyard and thankfully didn’t catch it. Do the raccoons in your area go to dens in cold weather? I feel certain they do here and that maybe my only chance to get the feral cat. In Indiana it is lawful to transport an animal within the same county it was captured in. Moving a raccoon a few miles isn’t going to help anything.

Re: Coyotes -- They do roam to an extent. After they have taken out most of the rabbits, mice, rats, etc in an area, to the point where hunting gets tougher, they move a mile or so and start devastating the rodents there, allowing the previous area to repopulate.

That is a good thing from a rodent problem perspective. However, when they hunting is poor, they will take down calves, sheep, goats, cats, dogs, whatever else they can.

My brother walked outside one morning with a cup of coffee and looked over his cows out in the near pasture. One of the cows with a calf was near the stock pond. He went inside, poured another cup of coffee and came back outside. The cow was running hell bent northwards and the calf was no longer in sight. Then, where the cow/calf had been standing, a coyote head popped up. My brother ran inside and grabbed his rifle standing by the door, came back out, waited a bit and when the coyote looked up again, he blew its brains out.

He stood there waiting and watching and after a few minutes, another coyote showed up and soon met its demise. My brother kept waiting and within a half hour had shot 6 coyotes. Still lost a calf though.

Every farmer and rancher I know has a rifle in the truck just in case they see a coyote. I personally don't have any livestock right now, but I have a scoped 30-30 in the truck or mounted on the Gator when I'm working the pasture fences as a cattle guy does have about 40 head on our lower farm pasture.

I also carry an all-black Judge with 5 rounds of .410 for rattlers and a silver Judge with 5 rounds of 45LC in case of a close encounter with feral hogs. While a rattler buzzing a couple of feet away will get you heart beating a little faster, a 100# to 200# hog popping out iof the brush 50 feet away will give you a heart attack.

Silver vs black judges so I remember what I'm shooting at what in the heat of the moment. A .410 load will simply piss off a hog and while a 45LC will blow a rattler from here to next Sunday if you hit it, a .410 spread of #4 shot makes a hit more likely.

Re: Raccoons -- They sleep up in high tree forks during the day mainly. In bad weather or when the mother is raising kits, they will den up hollow trees, under pier & beam houses, under or in vacant buildings, in hay lofts and barns, dens dug by other animals, crawl spaces, chimneys, storm sewers, etc. I keep traps out baited with corn year round. Mostly I catch rats and coons, with the occassional opossum or skunk. Opossums get released. Every thing else gets a free .22LR.

Our house is a combo pier & beam/concrete slab construction. In the P&B section, there are ventilation holes in the concrete outer beams. The vent holes have concrete/hardware cloth rectangles in the rectangular holes. The skunks and coons will pull one of the rectangles out and make entry. When I see one pulled out, I put a ramp up to the hole and trap on the ramp, with side wings to keep the critters from slipping around the edges and not getting caught.

In the last 4 years, I've trapped 23 coons coming out from under or trying get under the house or out in in the barn or in the orchard. I've trapped 67 skunks either leaving or getting under the house, and caught 1 out in the garden amoiing the tomatoes. I have also trapped a 42.5", a 47.5", a 56", a 61" and a 66" Western Diamondback in the same trap, so I crawl under the house with extreme caution and a judge.

I have an old (1908) farm house that is two story with a small (15 x 20), 7 foot high attic room due to the steepness of the roof. Nothing is stored in the upper attic as the only access is a 2x2 hole in the upstairs ceiling.

Back in 1993, I was doing repair work in the upstairs rooms between renters. I heard some scritching over my head. Curious, I went out and dragged a ladder upstairs and carefully poked my head in the upper space. All I saw was a large dark pile of "something" in one corner. As I passed a flashlight over the pile, all of a sudden I saw a pair of glowing eyes. Then another, and then more and more. Must have been at least 20 pairs of eyes looking at me. One of the coons stood up on its hind feet, kinda like a grizzly bear and HISSED at me. Scare the bejeezus out of me. I slammed that hatch shut and nearly fell down the ladder.

I took a broom handle and beat the hell out of the ceiling with a broom. The next day, I carefully looked in again and they were gone. I threw a couple of pounds of dusting sulfer all over the room and I "renew" the dusting sulfer treatment every 4 or 5 years. Haven't had a coon or rat or mouse in the attic since then. Now, I've had the little bastards in rest of the house, but I have declined to spread sulfer all over the inside of the living spaces. I just keep traps out all over the place.

[Reverand]

We have quit feeding our cat outside, as racoons were getting all the food at nights.
Up until last year we had more trouble with skunks. They kept finding ways to get under the house. In the springtime, they sometimes spray while mating. It was unbearable.
A .410 ended our problems there, quickly and humanely (they never felt a thing). I have successfully boarded up all the ways that they were getting in, and we have had no more skunks under our house since!
But then we saw a new one in the shed on Friday night.
Here we go again...