Kevin,
I have used ripe peaches (credits go to @SMC_zone6 for his suggestion). I got both opossum and groundhogs with ripe peaches. I remember @alan suggested marshmallow but I did not have it on hand.
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@AndySmith ,
We can commiserate and empathize with each other. My feelings are alternating between depressed and murderous.
These animals are called groundhogs and woodchuck here. I call them s.o.b.for now.
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The cost of the plant is just the down payment. Less whining and more countermeasures please.
Richard,
I am not sure what you mean.
Also, you may call it whining but I call it commiserating. A talk therapy.
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So … you are commiserating a lack of countermeasures?
Marshmallows for coons and possums. Peaches or apples work great for groundhogs, or some cabbage.
Coons eat a wide range of food, but skunks aren’t that crazy for marshmallows, although during drought they will go for them. Trapping skunks is inconvenient, especially if the trap doesn’t have a nice safety trap door that opens easily without risking getting sprayed.
Hey Richard, you are talking to people that have sprayed, fenced, netted, bagged (to a fare-thee-well) traps of all kinds and we still have incredible animal problems in the NE. I am now spoiled with your climate and lack of critters and insects and diseases, so ease up on those suffering to see such a loss after so much work. Thanks! Mrs. G
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I am not sure if you realize that calling someone “whiny” is rude esp. when you don’t know that person’s situation and restrictions the person is facing.
Half of the times people commiserate in the forum. Advice has been given and appreciated, even though it may not be taken or applied for all kinds of reasons.
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I may need to buy marshmallow. Using fruit, I often get skunks instead of opossums or raccoon as intened.
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I only use 6 medium sized marshmallows. Two to draw them into the trap and 4 in a sandwich bag staked to the ground in back of the trap. Mice don’t like them either so they don’t disappear overnight when you fail to trap something and they don’t go bad after a couple of days.
Good point. I don’t think we need to stake the bag, do we? . Raccoon is quite heavy. It will trip the trigger anyway.
I’ve had them pull the bags out of the traps without going inside if they aren’t staked down. Damn things are clever.
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My husband uses smelly hard cheese to trap mice and rats. So far he caught over 20+ mice/rats.
When I was live trapping raccoons with marshmallows and putting a couple near the trip mechanism,they reached in from the outside,pulling them through the cage.So,I hung one above the trip,on a piece of string.It worked much better.
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I think I’ve been lucky that my troublesome chipmunks don’t even need bait… occasionally I toss in some sunflower seeds. Last year I had hoards of squirrels and needed peanuts.
As for the woodchuck from last year, adding chicken wire around the garden 3-4 feet high protected the squash.
@Bradybb
I hope raccoons around here are not that clever.
@Brace - I have a large trap for large squirrels/raccoons/opossums. A small trap for small squirrels has not worked out too well because a squirrel can fight hard and flip it over and get out.
I need a new chipmunk trap. Chipmunks can get in and out of squirrel traps easily without tripping a trigger.
I use this one and chipmunks and squirrels do not escape when placed on pavers. They will bang around but I’ve never seen it flip over. I found on grass sometimes it wouldn’t trigger. Loose kernels of sunflower seeds seems to make the chipmunks move around more to set it off. Last year I would attach a whole peanut with a paper clip to the top but most are too stupid for the effort. Field mice will escape. I have left it at night and something sets it off and its empty in the morning so either something too big or small. One time there was a flying squirrel at night but it peacefully waited for assistance. Earlier this year a rabbit was caught that barely fit though I released it.
Caught it this morning, smaller than the previous one.
@SMC_zone6 this one I used a very ripe cantaloupe. The number of these destructive (to fruit) animals in my orchard is high this year.
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They can’t resist it. Good catch!
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So sorry! That is AWFUL!
I feel your pain. I know it is an ugly solution . . . but I’m seriously considering putting up a chain link fence around my stone fruit. And bird netting over the top.
We didn’t have much damage other than bird pecks this summer . . . but other years we had deer and raccoons take a toll. We saw groundhogs last summer - but not this one. In fact - one burrowed into the dirt floor of a shed we have! Huge mound of dirt where he dug! Oddly enough . . . he never found my vegetable garden. ?
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I think I found the culprit that ate my watermelon.
It’s a shame they are so damn cute!
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