Need advice on what to do with captured raccoons. (who caused $2000+ damage to yard)

I'd like to thank everyone who replied with great advice.

It is my sad duty to report back that as of this morning,
11 raccoons have gone on PERMANENT vacation. Thanks
to the Havahart traps I used. Yes, I said ELEVEN.
(in only 4 days) The smallest one was about 8 to 10
pounds, while the biggest one was at least 20.
I didn't actually weigh them, but my dog is 22 pounds,
so it was easy to gues the weight of coons.

I orignally thought my raccoon problem was limited to
half a dozen or so... but I was wrong. In fact, I expect
to see others, as all the 11 are females, as far as I can
tell.

These raccoons on my property apparently belong in the
stupid tribe. I obseverd a few running out from behind
the trees, following a straight line into the traps filled
with peanut butter and apples. When the trap doors
closed, they continued eating the bait without turning
around to see that they have been caught!

hmmm, survival of the smartest ....
my dad always claimed that when he came back empty handed from hunting ...
some one already shot the dumb ones, nowi got to fight the smart ones ....


wait a week or so , then trap again !
youll get more ...
sad but true !

__________________
Good timber does not grow with ease,
the stronger the wind the stronger the trees.

My dogs are trained to at least tree the coon if they cannot corner it and kill it themselves. They usually give it one shake and leave it for me. They wait fro my go-ahead to kill it and then think they are giving it to me for my dinner. This all happens in the dark of night. Sheesh.

If it is treed it gets shot by my neighbor who is a great shot and it is part of our informal exchange. Sometimes he gets a few homebrews in exchange. As he arrives home from work in the early AM, he does the deed before hitting the sack. The dogs keep it treed until morning. I have found that if we are not diligent in ridding ourselves of them we have bigger problems.

From a website:

Breeding seasons for raccoons are usually in January in southern states, and February in the middle and northern states. Young males are evicted from the dens at this time and mature male raccoons search out all available females .

Female raccoons are capable of breeding at 10 months of age, but males do not breed until their second year of life. Gestation is usually 63 days, and 2-4 young are common in southern states. Litters of 4-6 are more common in northern states.

The young raccoons are cared for solely by the mothers and mother raccoons are aggressive in the protection of their young. Ten years of age is considered old for a wild raccoon.

Year around activity and are nocturnal emerging from there dens at dusk and return by dawn. Contrary to common beliefs raccoons do not hibernate, however during extreme weather they may stay in dens for weeks at a time using up stored body fats.

I thought it was illegal everywhere to release coons?
coons aren't always nocturnal, they can be found out looking for a feed during the day.

that's exactly what I'm afraid of right now...

the 11 female coons I bagged in the last few days
may indeed be the dumb ones, which explains
why it was so easy to catch them with a trap

so far, I have not caught any male coons yet...

the smarter male coons are still out there...

here's a few trapping tricks

Run a piece of wire or clothes hanger through the trap no more than an inch in front of the trigger. Position it about halfway up so the coon will have to step over the wire to get to the bait. This will stop the clever coon from stepping over the trigger.

Firmly fix the trap to the ground so it cannot be tipped or tilted. A smart coon will figure out that he can get the food by rolling the trap.

You may need to cover the trap with a finer mesh hardware cloth so the smarter coons cannot reach in through the openings.

Throw some trash into the trap. Things like empty tuna cans, chicken bones, egg shells and maybe a wad of foil. The clever coon will learn the bait you use.

Early this spring I was called to trap a skunk at a mountain elementary school as well as to deodorize. As soon as I arrived, I set the trap by the hole under the building edge and used a small can of fish flavored cat food for bait. I went to my van and got the deodorizing equipment and got it set up in the classroom. I looked out the door to check on the trap and had already caught a coon. So, I picked up the trap and took it to the side of my van. I have never trapped a coon that wasn't really angry that it was caught except for this one. As I was carrying the trap, instead of growling and thrashing about, it was reaching out, like it was trying to touch my hand. I told him I thought he was unusual and I wouldn't kill him, I'd just take him for a long drive. When I set him down, I let him touch my finger. He didn't try to scratch, grab, or pull away. He just touched me. So I went in the building and did the deodorizing. When I returned in 10 minutes he was gone!! He figured out how to open that trap from the inside. It takes two hands to do this. First time that ever happened to me. I knew then I wouldn't ever get that coon inside the trap again. But, I set it anyway. I got a call at 6 the next morning that I had a skunk in the trap. When I showed up it stunk 10 times as bad. The hole under the building, right next to the trap, which I believe was the racoons door, was all covered up with trash and leaves. I guess he didn't like that skunk right at his door. Anyway, he moved on.

Actually they should NOT be out during the day. The wildlife guys respond right away if you report one in the daytime.

__________________
Before you marry someone, ask yourself, "Will they be a good killing partner during the zombie apocalypse?"
-someecards.com

Wonder how it would work to sprinkle some Fox urine around your yard? Courger might be even better if you can find it!
You can find it easy now that hunting season is open.My dog can smell the unopened bottle from over 100ft away.Tears her up and she has never even seen a fox,but seems to no it isn't good.Coons might figure the same and move on!

I just love teaseing my dog with a drop on the yard every now and then.

they are probably tearing up your yard getting the grubs out of the soil kill the grubs and worms no reason for the raccoons to dig.

Saturate my yard with chemicals to temporarily kill grubs/worms? No thanks.

Killing the coons stops the madness with no residual fallout. Plus kids and dogs can walk on the lawn safely.

Let me say that coons are not only after grubs, they will begin getting into trash cans unless locked shut. They can and do get into areas where feed is kept. They can harass and injure small livestock. They are simply large rodents that can easily overpopulate with few natural predators.