Fast Food

[jimmyj]

You fellas have got me shakin in my boots. Our garden is just coming into form and there are coons all over the place here. So far, no problems but......

Try canned cat food in the trap, coons love it. Although so do cats.

 

[Bird]

The best bait I ever found for cats and skunks is sardines. I'll bet it would be good for the coons, too.

 

[jimmyj]

Yes, sardines sound like a great bait. I might catch my one neighbor though He loves them.

 

[Bird]

Yes, sardines sound like a great bait. I might catch my one neighbor though He loves them.

I like sardines with crackers, maybe a little cheese and onion to go with them, and my wife doesn't even like the smell or want them in the house.

 

[jinman]

The best bait I ever found for cats and skunks is sardines. I'll bet it would be good for the coons, too.

Now wait just a darn minute! This coon is already relaxed after eatin' all the cantaloupe I put in the trap. If I give him sardines, I probably won't be able to get him to leave when I open the trap.

 

[Bird]

Yep, Jim, it looks like you used the right bait.

 

[TBDonnelly]

I got skunked last night.

Well, not literally skunked. The cage was empty again this morning.

Don

 

[jinman]

Don, I've been finding an empty trap for several mornings, so I sprinkled 1/4 cup of deer corn into the trap around the trip lever. Sure enough, yesterday morning I had the big payoff. I caught a big fat raccoon factory. This momma coon has or recently had little ones. She looked like she had been nursing. I hauled her off to the grasslands yesterday morning. I actually seem to be winning this battle. . .unless the deer get really hungry.

BTW: My little kitty, Punkin, was happy to see momma 'coon in the cage.

 

[TBDonnelly]

Your capture percentage just went up! My cage has been empty for the last couple of days also. I'm going to add some fresh corn and make a trail into the cage.

Using deer corn? That would be pretty funny if you found a deer crammed into the cage with corn kernels stuck between the teeth.

Don

 

[jinman]

Using deer corn? That would be pretty funny if you found a deer crammed into the cage with corn kernels stuck between the teeth.

I caught another one last night. This one was a big male, and he hissed and growled at me like he was big stuff.

I too thought about what might be going into the trap and considered it could easily be a turkey. Wouldn't that be a hoot? I think corn is really good here because the 'coons eat it all the time at my deer feeder.

 

[TBDonnelly]

I too thought about what might be going into the trap and considered it could easily be a turkey. Wouldn't that be a hoot?

No, that would be fowl. What's for dinner?

I picked up some fresh ears of corn from the neighborhood farmer ($4.50/dozen this year). The 'coons seem to know when it ripe and ready. I'll bait the trap this evening. When I first noticed the carnage there was eleven ears on the ground -or- I should say 11 husks on the ground.

jimmyj, have you invested in a critter cam by chance?

Don

 

[jimmyj]

Don, is that "cornage" or "carnage"

I have a game cam actually, and live traps, and a .22. But, the reason I think I've been lucky is that the garden is carved out of some pasture and as such has electric fence on 3 sides, then the pasture, and then the other side of the pasture is electric fence. It's 5 strand starting at 6 or so inches, maybe 8, off the ground.

Our area is thick with coyotes and coons and skunks, and they come up to the house and stuff but we've never lost anything in the garden except to birds and squirrels. Oh yes, and a dog who loves cantaloupes.