Raccoon Eradication

[P1ZombieKiller]

I need some help.... I need to eradicate some pesky varmints, but I do not want to sit out all night long to let my 12 ga or 223 take care of the operation. I have picture after picture of these guys eating all my protein and corn night after night.

What I want is some type of poison that I can lay out for them that will not harm the deer, turkey, or birds. I'm not worried about the livestock,cows) as all our feeder pens are fenced off, and the cows can not get in them.

We have tried traps, cages, and even trip wires… but we only get 1 or 2 every now and then. They seem to be too smart for those kinds of things. Last year I took some rat poison, and crushed it into fine powder. I sprinkled it all over raw hotdogs, and set it out in bags. It was gone in the morning, but I think the rat poison was only made to kill a 6oz - 16 oz creature, not these 10 pounders like I have. Any suggestions????

Or is there anyone in Texas,or wiling to come down here) that wants a "FREE VARMINT HUNT"? I have plenty of room for 4 hunters at a time.

not to mention you might run into a cat or two...


******************* ADDED 2/16 as an edit *********

the property is 4 hours from my house. I do not make it down there every month. So even if I do get down there, I only have 1-3 nights of setting up traps.

 

[HCarleton]

You may wish to try and contact an idividual in your area that traps, that would be one solution. The problem with poison,,besides legality and it may be legal in your case, I don't know the laws in your area),is the "non-target" species will likely be affected also. A trapper that has "raccoon specific" traps such as "Duffer's" or "Lil Grizz Getter's" should be able to solve your problem. If you have traps yourself you may try a "commercial lure" that will target 'coon. Just plain marshmellos,sp?) works sometimes in box traps or the raccoon specific traps. You may also want to visit one of the trapping websites and pose the question of how to solve your problem. Lots of trappers visit those foums and you may be able to find one working in your area.

Good Luck
-H

 

[RJinTexas]

We feed protein the year round out of on demand feeder, darn coons were getting up on the feeder and scooping out protein on the ground by the bags full sometimes we'd find better then 100lbs on the ground under the feeders. We put out live animal traps, the ones with spring doors and baited them with cheep caned cat food or sardines. We caught 103 coons last year off of 3500ac. We put 2 traps at each protein feeder and we very seldom failed to catch at least five per week. It also really help the turkey hatch getting rid of that many egg stealing critters.
Good luck
RJ

 

[vpexp]

We have had very good success trapping them by using Griz Getter Coon traps. They are basically a tube that you sick in the ground. You bait it and the coon reaches in and is caught. We put a marshmallow in and top it with a little grape or strawberry jelly. If we set 10 traps in the evening we will catch 5 to 10 coons by morning depending on the night. It is a little work, but they are not hard to catch at all.

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

We have had very good success trapping them by using Griz Getter Coon traps. They are basically a tube that you sick in the ground. You bait it and the coon reaches in and is caught. We put a marshmallow in and top it with a little grape or strawberry jelly. If we set 10 traps in the evening we will catch 5 to 10 coons by morning depending on the night. It is a little work, but they are not hard to catch at all.

can you post some pics as well as instructions on how you use them, and the set up process?

 

[JLDakota]

12x12x30 or 36 cage traps are your best bet. Put what they are already eating in the cage along with anything sweet mentioned in previous replies. Coon has a sweet tooth so give it to him. The lil Griz traps do catch coon and I use them alot in my nuisance control business and in trapping fur but they are hard to get and rather expensive,,about $21 each) when you can find them. Marshmellows work well as white is an attractor to ooon and satisfies the sweet part. Stay on them and you will get on top of them sooner then you might think. Jim

 

[fc2a]

ZombieKiller,

I live in Lubbock Texas!!! Go Red Raiders!!!

I would love to help you out. I dont have any days off until march 14-15, but I would love to spend em' killin coons.

Also, you might check into a liquid poison called Racumin.

I don't believe it will be a very practical choice for you though.

Large risk of killing other things, unless you know of a water source only used by the coons.

-Joe

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

I should have said this in my original post, but one issue I have with using cages and traps is that the property is 4 hours from my house. I do not make it down there every month. So even if I do get down there, I only have 1-3 nights of setting up traps.

I am not interested in ANY POISON that may impact other animals. This is why I choose meat to place the other in. Only the coons, skunks, aramdillos, and the occasional cat will eat the meat.

 

[12man]

Alaska natives have used a baited medium treble hook on light steel cable hung high enough to make the animal reach up and bite it and get caught. Make sure no dogs are around & the cable is strong enough. Popular for fox, coyote and wolf in the villages where it is difficult to get alot of traps or ammo

 

[jamesh]

I would try to find someone in the local area who is interested in trapping them.

James

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

This probably sounds silly, but I've grown to enjoy watching the raccoons when they hang out under my feeders.

Your right... it does sound silly.... I have only seen coons during daylight hours,legal hunting time) a few times, so I do not care if it's a good sign, I want those buggers gone.

Most of the coons come out at night, and I have pictures of as many as 13 at one time under my feeder. When your paying $12 a bag for protein, and feeding 3-5 pounds per day, it gets expensive to feed them. Not to mention what they are doing to the turkey and quail eggs. I have seen our turkey population go from hundreds to hardly seeing them the last few years.

I think I am going to take fc2a up on his offer to come down and have a eradication party..... Heck even Preacher said he would drive down from NY to help me get rid of those dang pests.... NOW THAT's a friend indeed!!!!!

 

[vpexp]

Wes, I can't post a picture as my traps are at my ranch. You can go to www.trapperman.com and search around in their forum, lots of info on coon trapping from guys that really know what they are doing. They are very easy to set, make sure you get the setting tool as it really makes it easy. Also, google Lil Griz Getter and you will quickly find pictures and info. The coons look cute but they can really be a pain and cause lots of damage.

 

[Rustystud]

Coon problems solved:

coni bear 220 traps

Take a 1x12 make a tube 12inches long, like a rabbit gum. Cut two notches on one end on the sides for the trap springs when it is set. Put some heavy screen on the end opposite the trap. Now go to he pond or fish bait store and get some shiners. Put your bait,shiners) in the tube up against the heavy screen on the inside of the tub. now set the trap and stick it inside the tube. You can catch every coon, bobcat, skunk, weasel,otter, opossum in the area. Up the size to a 330 and catch coyotes, woves, and dogs.

You are lucky to have troubles with coons. I'll trade your bears for coons any day.

Nat Lameth

 

[chomondely]

My 14 yr old has volunteered to help. We too have raccoon issues at the lease.
Are you in Texas? Where?

 

[Ron_of_Va]

Get a couple of medium sized dogs, the kind that tend to bond with livestock,,and not harass them), build a couple of doghouses and have the person who feed the cattle, feed the dogs. You can probably find them at the pound. Make sure you put collars on them, so they don't get shot as feral.

 

[Clark]

It is mid March and I have raccoons mating on my metal roof at night.

I have screens on my chimney to keep them from nesting in the chimney.

Where I used to live, raccoons would eat my chickens and ducks.

I would stand naked in the snow with only a shot gun and a flashlight, shooting raccoons as they came out of my chicken coop.

Then I wised up and put electric fences around everything I did not want raccoons to get into.

 

[rsquare]

I have heard that a dry fly bait called 'golden malrin', available at feed stores, will take care of coons. Mix 1# with 1# ground meat and place balls of the stuff wherever you want. Since it's meat, only varmints will eat it. I've never personally tried it but been told by several customers that the coons will only get 20-30 paces before they won't be bothering you any more.

 

[huntall]

I have trapped coons several times to train young coon dogs. I used the largest Hava-Heart live box trap. To consistently catch only coons I used only sweet stuff that was white or had white icing. The coons seem to be intrigued with it since they are highly curious. The little pre packaged cakes and large marsh mellows worked wonders. Sardines and any type of smelly fish parts work great but seem to catch lots of house cats, possums and skunks. I was only wanting to catch coons. That was why I used the white stuff exclusively. You need to set the trigger on the trap light. The small cuff type traps are the stuff for only targeting coons also. You dig a small cylinder type hole, place the trap and bait with some type of coon lure. The coon will stick his paw in to find his treasure and is trapped. You may also find coon hunters in your area and let them hunt these coons on your property.

 

[varminater]

I have tried just about everything, including using blue streak fly bait with varying degrees of success, but in the spirit of this forum being a shooting forum, let me offer another trick, where you can have some good target practice too.

Set up a motion detector near your problem area, in our case it was our poultry pen being harassed by coons. Run a return lead back into your house to your bedroom and plug in a radio and load your 22LR. Have some type of light to illuminate the area near the motion detector--in our case, a flood light off our rear sliding patio door. When the radio starts tooting, you start shooting.

We have often made multiple kills in the spring and summer months this way. I would not suggest this idea but to people with ongoing problems as there is a little more work involved in the setup, but once you have your setup, you can be selective and shoot only coons/possums and not have problems like trying to take a skunk,dead or alive) out of a trap, or your neighbor's cat or dog. Bait might be used where legal. Maybe not best for everyone, but worked well in our situation.

 

[benlow]

Try to find a hound man in your area and go coon hunting with him. Take the kids. It will be a new experience for all if you have never done it. A good pack of hounds could possibly catch 10 or 12 coons a night in your area.