Add a timer that comes on once a hour for 5 minutes and connect the power leads to the cage. That should solve your breakout issues.
Raccoons are expert escape artists. Here’s a few trap modifications to impede them.
They can bend the sides of traps to escape so a metal bar reinforcement can help:
Some are clever enough to pull the lock bar and open the trap so this crude latch stops that:
When they are strong enough to destroy and rip out the step-on trip plate a wire or string attached to the latch on one end and a baited hook on the other can work as a substitute on the damaged trap:
I notice you dangle marshmallows from the back. I also started dangling marshmallows at the back. I think it works better for trap shy coons. We get lots of coons that people catch and dump out here, so they can be a little reluctant to go back in a trap. Dangling a marshmallow off a piece of wire at the back of the trap seems to help.
I used a wire to dangle a walnut
When setting a havahart type trap for squirrels I like to wire a peanut butter coated peanut to the trip mechanism. I think it delays them for a flash when they grab it and helps ensure that the trap springs quickly.
I took out one coon a day for four straight days. The biggest issue is getting rid of the remains without stinking up the neighborhood as they set in the dumpster. Now my trap needs repairs. They’re stronger than one might think.
Yes dangling in the back works well. In my case I was also forced to do it since a raccoon ripped out the step on plate and destroyed it so I need to use a different trip mechanism i.e. the dangle piece attached by string to the door drop piece.
Any dead fish & animals I bury close to my fruit trees, good fertilizer why waste it.
Nice work thinning the herd BTW.
Gotcha. I use a piece of wire to dangle a marshmallow. It seems like the marshmallow right at the coon’s eye level works better than tossing marshmallows in the trap (although I do both).
We do our best fence coons out, but possums dig under the fence and sometimes the coons find their way under from the possum digging.
I find that burying a carcass is just temporary as something always comes to dig it up, following the scent.
My main garden/nursery area is fenced off, so that’s not problem. If you don’t have a fenced area, then ya critters can cause you headaches. Although, if it’s in an area where it’s not too unsightly, placing a 2x2 ft cut off of plywood and a heavy object (cinder block, rock) on top of the plywood is usually enough to keep the scent concealed. If it’s in area where you mulch, then the plywood won’t even be visible with some wood chips on top.
I often bury kitchen scraps in my garden, and these attract raccoons that dig them up. A simple solution that works for me is to put some chicken wire over the buried scraps. Some rocks or bricks at the corners of the chicken wire will keep it in place. Other types of mesh material should work as well.
Burying the smelly material at least 10 inches deep helps to limit its attractiveness to raccoons.
They tunnel under the stones I put over the hole
The stones would have to be pretty large to discourage raccoons. You need to cover all of the ground within a foot of whatever attracts the raccoons.
The boar living in the fir across the street weighs at least 30 pounds. Strong fella.
They are nice. But cant use them here. Too urban and the coons can make a mess of the ground / grass. They are more for farm or field. I use cages, peanut butter and bread.
I usually grow Carolina Reaper peppers and chop them up and mix a spray, dash of soap, and apply to anything I need protected. Be careful while you make it though, because the vapors are powerful. And if you have pets, make sure they cant get to the area.
How long will the reaper’s effects linger? For example, if I spray apples or pears or tomatoes with it will it affect the taste of the fruit? How about kale and lettuce?
I had some raccoons killing chickens this summer. I typically use a cheap can of sardines or fish flavored canned cat food for bait. I caught several with this bait, but I had one that I could not catch. After some research I found a bait that was a mixture of cherry koolaid, baking soda , sugar , a little flour and some water. It caught the problem raccoon. I also liked that it didn’t spoil in the heat and stayed fresh for days , I put it in a paper cup in the trap and a little rain didn’t hurt it either, I also didn’t catch any of my cats with it which can be a pain until you train them not to go in a live trap
I once saw a raccoon in Hatchie bottom that was big as a black bear. I left him alone. Was afraid that if I missed him, he would have wrapped my bow and arrow around my neck.
By the way “Hatchie” is the Indian word for “little river”.
Edit: Oops I got that wrong. “Loosahatchie” is the Indian name for “little river”. “Hatchie” is the Indian name for “river”. Chickasaw, I suppose. Or was it Cherokee. Maybe Choctaw. Okay I give up - I don’t know.