coon trouble!

Coonskin cap ?? Back when the TV series Daniel Boone was popular with kids I knew a guy who bought real coonskin caps for his kids instead of fake fur.
His kids complained about birds attacking them .The father wondered about the cap.He put it on and went outside - he was immediately attacked by bluejays !!:D
 
just kill them i got five off my front porch last year, three in one morning(a momma and her two babies. she got it first and they kept coming back to her body) before school. yeah put a flash light on your gun cause they stop and stare at it makes shooting them in the head real easy
 
tmlynch

I’m down river from the spillway. The river is just across the road from me. It got up to the top of the levee here, but once the spillway was opened it started going down a little at at time. Finally going back to normal in about 6 to 8 weeks.

Not as many coons here as there once was. Of course that seems to run in cycles of about 5 years. Plus over the years I’m sure that many wound up in somebody’s oven. Even fewer mules, haven’t seen one here in years, everyone owns a John Deere, or two. now.

I’m told that’s progress, but I’m not sure how good a thing that is.
 
My second post on this. My live trap is an off brand I have used regularly for about 10 years, still in excellent condition. I use smoked bacon for bait. Often catch possums also but let those go. I think it is pointless to relocate racoons. You are just moving the problem elsewhere. I kill them all and let the buzzards eat. Racoons kill whatever they can, often just for the blood lust of killing. I once raised chickens and 'coons killed many-many and did not eat them. As for neighbors cats. Cats kill songbirds by the thousands. They also kill small critters that keep insect population under control. If I catch a cat, it is dead. Feral cats are becoming a huge problem. People and people property are more important than 'coons and cats.
 
The coon thread was shut down :(

I caught a racoon the night before Thanksgiving in a Hav-A-Hart LARGE trap especially designed for racoons.

Seeing how smart they are and how they grab everything. When I picked the trap up by the handles, the racoon immediately copied what I did, and he was grabbing the carry handles through the bars. I will tell you that you need a double door on your trap. The inner door has to be smaller mesh to keep the racoon from getting his hands on the latch mechanisms in the first place. You should have 2 latches for more solid latching of the door, and, it is harder for a coon to open both latches at the same time should they find a way to get their fingers on the latches.

If you are dealing with a racoon that has been trapped before, you'll have to anchor the trap to the ground, otherwise they'll just tip the trap over to get the food. Or tip the cage to move the bait to the side and eat it through the bars. So you'll also have to have the bait in some type of container and anchor that container to keep the coon from just tipping the trap to slide the bait container to the side of the cage.

I will probably add another handle to my Hav-A-Heart cage because just one handle in the middle is too unstable. When the racoon moves around in the cage the whole thing sways and you risk dropping it. I think I'll attach 2 cables to the 4 corners of the cage, and conect them in the middle with a velcro strap.

My experience was that the racoon really liked Friskies brand cat food - the salmon flavored Friskies. It's something like 44¢ for a can.


Also if I were you, I'd check the laws.

In Illinois racoons are categorized as a fur animal. There are some specific nuisance laws that were passed concerning them but I found out that if I were going to turn him into a hat - I'd need a trapper's license. If I didn't get a trapper's license and I attempted to convert him into a hat - I'd be poaching.

Also, as far as removing a racoon as a nuisance, I needed to contact my Illinois Department of Natural Resources District Wildlife Biologist to request an animal removal permit. And their literature says "If the situation warrants the removal of the animal, the biologist will issue you an animal removal permit."

It just pays to know what you are doing and what charges you may be facing - fees & fines and so forth if you violate the regs.
 
Countzero,

you are absolutely correct, I have been building my own traps to combat the skills of the raccoons.

They are very sturdy so I can weigh them down.

I have about 7 traps half of them I built myself. The store bought ones usually need some adjustments after housing a raccoon.

Just about any food item will work especially pet foods. However, I prefer to use marshmallows because they limit the chances of catching undesirable critters, namely, the skunk. The skunk is better left un-captured LOL.
 
I get coons over the fence in the back during the fall. They like the grapes that grow back there.

I have two Jack Russel terriers. So far the coons have always stopped by at night and the dogs haven't run into them yet when they go out there.

I've been thinking about getting the airsoft out just for fun:D

You'd think they would stay away just because they smell the dogs. Guess those grapes are just too tasty.
 
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