Mt Dew will kill coons

Twogun, we always use cat food (a strong-smelling one - not the cheapies) when we trap coons. Cat food works for both coons and possums.

Paula Wrote

You guys just don't get it. You can't fence raccoons and possums out.
I'd wager your bleeding-heart attitudes would change right quick if the only food you had was what you could grow.
What do you think farmers did in the old days when the above was true?
If it comes to my family eating or the varmints, guess who wins?



YOUR DERN RIGHT, KILL THEM COONS NOTHING MORE THAN GARDEN EATIN TREE RATS
I do not bust my but to feed coons come August, I want to eat my own corn.

Twogun,

Check how much pressure has to be applied to the trip plate to drop the door, first.

Then, I'd get a plank (like a one-by-twelve) and put that down on the ground. Set the live trap on top of this and any animals you catch won't fill the trap with dirt from digging.

Take a small can and poke two holes in it, run a wire through these holes and wire your bait can to the bottom of the trap. Some of these devils seem to be able to reach through and get at the bait can. We just use a bit of dry cat food, works real well.

Take an electric fence post and push it in along side the trap and wire the trap to this. This will prevent the animal from tipping the trap over. Some of the old live traps with the washer "sliders" will release the door when animals tip them over.

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"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." Gen. George S. Patton Jr.

as much as i love reading the posts from the bleeding hearts i have to go. there is a bald eagle circling the sted and i must so shoot it now before it gets into the free range chickens

Good Tips!

Our live trap is a homemade large box trap built from scrap lumber and 1/4 hardware cloth so it is much heavier than live traps you can buy. Takes two adults to lift and move. There is a long, heavy rope tied to the back of the trap just in case we get a black/white critter in there and we need to drag the trap away to dispose of the skunk. We've used canned catfood and raw chicken - both have caught raccoons in the past, but they'll also catch skunks. If we know we've had a skunk around we put a tarp over the back half of the trap "just in case" we catch the wrong animal.

Haven't had to worry much about the trap this year because the electric fencing, in combination with the wire fence, is working pretty well.

Oh and Paula, no bleeding heart here...this is a one income family - my income and the food from the garden is VERY important. I don't have a problem disposing of problem animals but won't risk my animals, family and non-target animals with poison that isn't intended to be used the way it is labeled. I'd rather take the time to learn about what works (which is fencing) - and yes, done right - you can fence them out!

(farmers in the "old days" trapped or shot raccoons)

More tips on trapping from a Wildlife Damage Handbook:

Raccoons are relatively easy to catch in traps, but it takes a sturdy trap to hold one. Traps should be at least 10 x 12 x 32 inches (25.4 x 30.5 x 81.3 cm) and well-constructed with heavy materials. They can be baited with canned fish-flavored cat food, sardines, fish, or chicken. Place a pile of bait behind the treadle and scatter a few small bits of bait outside the opening of the trap and just inside the entrance. Traps with a single door should be placed with the back against a wall, tree, or other object. The back portion of the trap should be tightly screened with one-half inch (1.3 cm) or smaller mesh wire to prevent raccoons from reaching through the wire to pull out the bait.

Why would they go in the trap when they have your yummy corn to eat??

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I can't believe I deleted it!

well you can add a small coon and a big fat possom to the list of dead varmits here

but not before i lost a guinea

I don't think they meant they were going to release them.

Why resort to poisoning when you can just put up a decent fence? And YES..there are fences that keep out coons and oppossums. Besides, it is like fighting a losing battle..there is no way you will put a dent in the coon or oppossum population. You will spend more money in poison and crap to attract it, when you can just save yourself some grief and put that money into decent fencing. Best believe there are about 50 more coons and oppossums where those four came from

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A WOMAN AND HER DOBERMAN.........ITS A BEAUTIFUL THING!

I Live With A Doberman....And I Vote.
ABOLISH BREED BANS

I don't poison I SSS

Fence out coons????, where the heck are you from and have you ever even grown corn before? We are not talking about a city garden here are we??? and I can't dent the population??? I will bet the farm that my neighbors and I do considerably. And those fifty coons you mentioned most of them have already been disposed off, I believe 61 last year between 4 neighbors. This year we have had almost no problems so it can be done.

When people talk about trapping them, especially when they mention live traps or Haveaheart traps, I worry they are just going to release the coons somewhere else. This is a very bad thing.

As to getting rid of coons, the best solution is dogs. They love coon. Our livestock guardian dogs have cleared the are of coon and other pests. The actively hunt mice and other vermin all day long. They love doing it. The dogs, who have their rabies & other shots, are also our first line of defense against rabies and other disease coming into our herds and flocks.

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Uh no...our garden is on a farmstead (80 acres) and the only farmstead on 640 acres, surrounded by woods, and field crops.

You have to use an electric fence for fencing to work. We use a four-foot wire fence, outside of the fence we string two strands of electric fence. The lowest wire is about 6 inches off the ground, the top wire is about a foot off the ground and strung above the bottom wire. You don't need to have "juice" in the wires during the day, turn it on at dusk and off in the morning.

If coons are hanging from trees and dropping into the garden, trim back the branches or put a hot wire on the top of your fence.

It's not like there aren't coons in the area, they show up at the bird feeders at night and have caused havouc there because they can't get into the garden because of the fence!

Well that sounds like good start but that is pretty dern expensive, what do ya do when they dig under, no it wasn't a hog doing the digging.

I've tried the fence method, perhaps not to the extent earlier described. For me, it failed miserably. Not to say others don't have success, but in a river bottom more drastic measures are called for, at least in my case. I went to the expense and labor of electric fencing one of my 1/4 acre sweet corn patches, thinking I'd move fence to the next patch as harvest approached. Wrong, one entire 1/4 acre virtually ruined in one night. Not to mention headaches of harvesting what little remained OVER the worthless fence. Seed, fertilizer, diesel, labor and fuel to market make it tough enough to see any return, the $$$$ it would take to fence out coons would really put the bottom line where it doesn't need to be. I doubt any of us here poison indiscriminately all year long. Rather, we have a specific need that can only be addressed by the methods we employ. Perhaps not all situations are as dire as mine. I respect that others may have so little problem that a fence can handle it. Please respect that situations elsewhere can be much worse.

Twoguns, I stake my traps to prevent rollovers. I also secure my baits so that the target critters cannot readily remove the bait. Fish and catfood both work but I prefer peanutbutter and marshmellows for bait. It greatly reduces the nontarget catches. I drive a 30inch 3/8's stake on the bar side of the trap this works not only for stabilizing the trap but also forces the animal to the opposite side of trap and that greatly reduses trap misfiires from the accidental bumping of the trigger bar. I like the peanut butter smearred into a small cloth that I tie to the base of the trap with fishing line. This is done behind the twendle and then I spinkle a few miniture marshmellows on the rag and near by it. To entice the animal in I put a couple more on the outside and trail them into the trap....dont over do it a few goes a long ways. Hope this helps.

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Over 50 yrs. trapping, if I can help answer any question, just email. Served Wisc. as Pres., V.P. and on the Trapper Ed. Committee. On the National level as a Director. Director of the year in 1992.

Our situation is just as bad as anyone else who lives in an area with a high raccoon population. We have perfect raccoon habitat and plenty of raccoons - no different than anyone else who has to deal with them. This has nothing to do with respect - just common sense and what works.

We don't have problems because we've worked hard to keep them out of where they don't belong. Put fences and other barriers in place BEFORE you have a problem with pest wildlife. Don't assume they won't ever come to your garden or chickenhouse - they will, eventually.

If you plant a garden, they'll be there. You have a chicken house that isn't protected, they'll be there. Why wait until you've lost your produce before trying to solve the problem?

If you put a fence in right the first time, all you have to worry about is a bit of maintenance. When we put up the fence, it wasn't expensive. We used existing fence from the farm and electric fence we already had on hand from having cattle on the place. But we did it right and didn't mess around - this is a large garden near woods and corn fields so it has to be protected. We also have a good dog and use a live trap to catch raccoons (and then eliminate them - not just move them) that hang around or make it into our barriers.

We'll have to try the marshmellows - I hard someone else like using those for raccoon bait. Forgot all about it. Thanks for the reminder

Hhhmmm, if my neighbors are found dead, I will be the first one that is blamed for it. OR, do you mean the neighbor's pets?

I have had troubles with coons and possums, but this sounds too cruel for me to do. I do not want to risk anything beig poisoned by accident either.
What if a child found the tempting treat?