When my sweetcorn is getting ripe in the summer, I always set a few box traps in it. I bait the traps with marshmellows coated with peanut butter. My normal catch ratio is about 6 coons:2 possums:1 skunk. Each animal is humanely dispached with a different method. When I see the gate down on a trap from the house in the morning, I load up my .22 and walk to the trap. A coon will get a single shot, perpendicular to the head, placed at the intersection of an "x" drawn between the eyes and the ears. A possum, which has a tiny pea-sized brain, gets a shot at this location but also a second shot behind the shoulder. I once had a possum rise up and run off a few moments after the single head shot, but none have got away after also getting the lung shot, and .22 ammo is still relatively inexpensive. If I notice a skunk in the trap I return to the house for a larger gun (16 ga shotgun with #6 or 7-1/2 shot) These smelly critters get a single head shot from 15 yards upwind. I have never had one spray, nor any damage to the traps. Some say that you can walk right up to the trap and throw a towel over it, then go drown them. Maybe so, but I aint willing to take a chance, at least until I use up a bunch of old shotgun ammo I have. Also, my creek is usually dried up in the summer and it is a long walk to the pond. A lot of corn-eating critters can thank me for a quick and painless trip to that big corn-patch in the sky. Please dont transport trapped animals to someone else's property as it is anything but humane for it promotes the spread of disease which kills far less humanely than a shotgun or rifle. Since the collapse of fur-prices, driven by the animal-lovers, many furbearer populations have exploded and deseases like rabbis and distemper run rampant. How much healthier those populations were when fur prices were high. Although these folks are well-meaning I am sure, they have caused great harm to most furbearer species.
