Live Catch Trap Warning!

M

MeekAndMild

New member
Warning! If you have a coon sized live catch trap, it needs to be tied down with wire or staked down.

I put one of these out behind my chicken yard last week. Over the last 2 years I've caught maybe a half dozen coon this way, resettling them down by the lake some miles away.

Friday the trap disappeared and this weekend I searched for it in the yard and the woods. Today I found it down in the ditch by the road, where the coon had dragged it a long long way before dying, probably of hunger and thirst. What a terrible way to go. Not even a chicken thief deserves to go that way.
:(
 
I trap and would agree that all traps need to be staked. Poor coon, wrong place, wrong time. It could have been sick though and died of exhaustion from his disease. The can have either kind of distemper, feline or canine. I caught one once with feline distemper. It's a sign of their overpopulation in my area, among other things.

Don't feel too badly about it, wildlife control requires a certain amount of heartlessness when populations get out of hand.

Also, be careful handling the carcasses, raccoons can carry a parasite that is neurotoxic to humans, Baylisascaris procyonis. Really gross. I handle the carcasses with disposable gloves and burn the gloves with the carcasses so the intestines won't be eaten by dogs and give them the parasite too.:eek:

Edited because I forgot to mention to make sure that in your state relocation is legal, some places it isn't because coons are such a bad disease reservoir.
 
ya when snaring you need to make sure to use a hefty anchor point. I like to get the electric fence posts (rebar looking ones) and drive them deep into the ground. on the ends I weld eyelets to attach the snare to. Also it sure does suck to snare a skunk or pissed off bobcat. I always carry at a minimum a 22 mag pistol or rifle for a quick clean headshot from a distance. With bobcats it is a bit tricky because they are a protected species where I live. I ended up getting a game warden who is a friend of the family to shoot it with a tranquilizer dart and then a vet took care of its leg (I paid for the vet bill) then it was released. I am one of the few that would have called the warden, most of the idiots (that is what they are plain and simple) would have shot it. I am all about conservation and reintroduction of endagered species, but most are just like wow I wonder how that would look stuffed in my living room.
 
I use Duffer's traps so I am not bothered by catching the wrong species. I could never use snares where I trap because of the land owner's dogs and cats.
 
Havahart

I have coon troubles here in town. I have two havaharts to get rid of them. I check them every morning when I set them, so nothing dies in there. No place for them to drag a trap, either. I got the larger trap as I had been useing the smaller one for coon. A really big one must have triggered it halfway in, one morning I found the empty trap tossed over about 6 feet from where I set it, on it's side. SO now I use the larger one and transfer the coons into the smaller one to put in the trunk for their trip to happyland. I removed the clips on the closed end of the trap and install plastic ties to hold it shut. Then when I release, I cut the ties and the coon finds out how to escape while I do from a distance, therefore I don't have to get my hands down and open the trap end to release. Too close for comfort. I have caught alot of coons here in town. Caught two in one trap, twice. I hate 'em. Firearms related portion: .22 shorts in a bolt action are quiet and will take out a coon if it appears dangerous. I guess in the country you can use your 12 guage on them!
 
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