Racoon bait

Had a family of Racoons move into the machine shed this winter. Got above the shop area and matted down the ceiling insulation. The whole area is blocked with chicken wire, but they made a hole where the overhang is on one side right by the soffit area. I am evicting them. Found dried distillers' grain from corn ethanol works good for bait in the live trap. Got 6 large racoons so far and an opossum in the last couple weeks. They have been active on the warmer days not so much on the 0-degree days. Have to crawl above the shop some day and survey the total damage and maybe add another 6 to 10 inches of insulation.

If its working, keep using it.  Stinky wet cat food in a Duke's dog proof trap, with a large marshmallow, on top is my favorite...

Trapping them on the machine shed floor not in the attic. Cats running around the shed keeping nice under control so the distillers works good in traps. Doesn't attract cats like cat food would although they have wandered in a couple times

California Proposition Whatever warns that products that contain lead or copper can be poisonous, so be careful whenever handing them... ;-)

Ron Eggen wrote: What can you use to trap Armadillos ?

We had several for a little while. I got to where I'd go out at night with a flashlight and a 12ga with buckshot. They can't see very well so if you don't point the light straight at them they probably won't know you're there. If that's not an option then you'll have to find their burrow and put the trap either on the way in or out. At least that's what I was told

We're overrun with coyotes.  When they get the chance, They'll surround and run the deer and cattle to death.  They'll keep their distance during the day, but come in really close at night.  They have a clever intrusion tactic-  You'll hear the distant ones yipping, but the close-in ones will stay silent.  My outdoor patrol cats are savvy to this, and have ways of letting me know, I'll poke a smoke-stick out the window and drop one... and the rest will run back into the fields.  Can't have toddlers out without guards at night.  A fire in the firepit does a fairly good job of dissuading them from creeping in- I suspect it's a combination of the light fouling their night vision, and the smoke overwhelming sense of smell that keeps them at a distance.


Edited by DaveKamp - 05 Feb 2025 at 7:40am

3 large stale marshmallows per live trap. Have caught 4 this past late fall/early winter. This week, I noticed some more of their foot prints in the mud, so gotta reload. Pond has been frozen, until now. Once caught, a 5 min soak in the pond relaxes them.

Edited by AC7060IL - 07 Feb 2025 at 2:23pm

Steve that's what happens to them around here also.