Racoon bait

So I’ve lived in this house for about 5 years now and the only varmints that have been in the bird feeder have been squirrels. About 2 weeks ago my wife says she saw a racoon eating unser the bird feeder. I thought that was kinda cool. Well she didn’t want any racoons hanging around that might kick the #$%^ out of her little poodle. I thought, I know how to fix this problem. Last thursday I introduced our uninvited guest to Mr. Easton. No more racoon problem. Then a couple nights later the wife sees another racoon. This morning there were 2 of them out there. I tried getting one of them with the bow but he saw me and took off. I’m thinking of buying a live trap but don’t want to catch the rabbits and squirrels by baiting it with bird seed. Is there something that I could use that only the coons would like? Do need to go catch some crawdads or something?

sardiens in a can without mustard will work

Tuna.

This might sound funny but I learned it from my barber who raises coon hounds as a hobby so livetraps coon all over for puppy training. Marshmallows dusted with raspberry jello suck in coons like a magnet. I tried tuna (works), I tried canned cat food (works) but they “love” the raspberry marshmallows.

Buy yourself a small bag of seafood flavored dry catfood. I know the sardines and tuna sound good, but this is cheaper and does the same job without the mess. Good luck………they’re cute but can be a real problem.

I can speak from personal experience that they LOVE Chips Ahoy cookies

this post is making me hungry good luck getting rid of your intruders

The little mint candies you get at the counter of some diners. You know, the red and white ones.

I do a lot of trapping, and if you use tuna or sardines you will catch every cat around. Your best bet is to go with marshmallows. Happy trapping, let me know how it goes for you

I have had good luck with M&M cookies! You should introduce them to MR. 22 mag!! That will keep them at bay.

If you pick up the right .22 Shorts, they travel at just under the speed of sound, so you only get a small poof sound. Might be just the ticket. You can shoot them from a regular .22 gun, but on most autos, it will not feed through, so you have to manualy put in each one.

I got a bunch one time at Ahlmans gun shop in Morristown, but most gun shops should have them. They worked great for a small rabbit problem I was having

Thanks for all the suggestions. I just bought the live trap and I’ll see what’s in the house for bait when I get home. Might have to go buy some raspberry marshmellow chips ahoys! I think I might have some .22 shorts in the ammo box, if I catch them in the feeder again I think I might just have to plink ’em.

One other thought with the live traps. If you get a big coon in a live trap they can rock it back and forth and roll the trap over. Most traps when turned upside down, the door will open and the coon will get out. I always either stake them down or put something heavy on top of them. Then you can either let the 22 do the job or give them a swimming lesson. Odds are they’ll fail

The second one I saw this morning was a pretty big dude. Guess I should stake down the trap. Thanks bringing that up.

Definitely stake the trap down. Also another consideration on using cat food-you may end up with another furry little critter you REALLY don’t want to catch, Pepe Le Pew Marshmellows all the way for the masked bandits

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Definitely stake the trap down. Also another consideration on using cat food-you may end up with another furry little critter you REALLY don’t want to catch, Pepe Le Pew Marshmellows all the way for the masked bandits

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If you do get a skunk do not shoot it. It will spray all over. Throw a towel over the trap then lower it into water. They will no spray when picked up gently if the trap is covered. If you have no water near you can run a hose from your vehicle to the trap and cover the trap with a tarp.

Fish heads make a very good bait for raccoons.

A bottle of liquid imodium mixed with a can of beans, maple syrup and dry red koolaid. The racoons love it and get all sticky plus they cant shiite. I bet they never come back again.

Gator, 3 ways to kill skunks without spraying.
Gassing, which is time consuming.
A shot to the heart with a 22 short.
Or a shot to the lung area with a heavy dose of knock out drug that you can get from the vet. Same stuff he uses to put dogs down. Attach the syringe to the end of a telescoping pole, gently slide this into the trap, let the skunk smell it so he gets used to it being there with him. He’ll likely stomp his feet to scare you away, but don’t make any sudden moves from his actions unless he points his hiney at you. If that happens just drop away for awhile. Then come back and slowly get the needle to his chest area. Slowly insert the needle, and he’ll push against it also allowing the potion to enter his body, killing him with no spray. Works 99% of the time.
To keep the skunks out altogether, marshmallows is the preffered bait. But they will also draw cats and possums. To get just the coons, try golf balls. They are white, and resemble eggs with no smell to draw other critters. 99% of the coon killed in the U.S. are caught out of curiosity, not hunger.

I once discovered a family of coons in my 3 season porch. My roommates and I were using it as an overflow for garbage bags awaiting garbage day and well, the coons tore through the screen door one summer night and had a hayday! They returned 3 nights in a row before I came across this useful advice.

Bacon grease and a bottle of Chili Powder. Heat up the grease, put in the CP, let it harden, and set out for the coons.

They ate the coffee can clean…….. and NEVER returned.

As a deterent, this method is still 100% with the people I’ve shared it with. Cheaper than a trap and a whole lot less work.

Skunks….. seem to like fallen birdseed…. so I’m pretty careful around the feeders at night these days. I introduced the last visitor to Mr. Charles Daly and now Mr. Peppe Le Pu is fertalizing the pine grove out back.

If you’re looking for a permanent resolution to your situation that doesn’t involve shooting them in town, you can try Golden Malarin flybait. Put the flybait out in a dish or pan with some Pepsi in it ( at night or the dog will get into it too) coons just love the stuff, and they rarely get more than five or six feet from the pan. Used to use it to keep them out of sweet corn all the time, works like a charm, you can find it at most hardware stores.

Thanks again for all the great suggestions. The bait that worked was a jelly sandwich. At least for this one. I rebaited and I’ll see if I can get another. I’m a little reluctant to try anything that might get a wandering dog sick so I’m staying with the trap for now. If we see more of them and the bait doesn’t get touched I’ll try another bait.

Oh man, why did you have to go and show a pic of a trap with a coon in it ? Now I got the itch to get the steel out and trap some critters Of course I have to wait until late fall when the season opens.
Congrats on the catch

I caught three in one trap last year using dog food.