Raccoon Box Trap

Sawdust

Sawdust

Jim from Kentucky
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I started out ripping some old pieces of 2x4’s for the frame. Top and bottom some old 1x6’s I glued together but didn’t use. I only had a small piece of 1/2 hardware cloth so I covered it with the 2x4 mesh fencing then covered the bait area with the 1/2”. I have a hinged treadle trip right before the bait tray. When that gets stepped on it pulls a wire connected to a barrel bolt the holds the trap door.

I had to change the door three times. First I used 3/4” plywood which took too much pull to trip. I then went with 1/2” which worked good but warped and failed to drop all the way down because of so much dew overnight. Carol in all her support told me he had a buddy that held the door up . My trail cam was placed too high and the trap wasn’t in the pics at all:mad: Yesterday I made a metal door using some 1/16th sheeting. This works really well and actually is no heavier than the 1/2” plywood. This morning nothing caught but the bait was still there. Im using peanut butter with a few mini marshmallows for bait. I can’t use any meat because of our cat.
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Liking that trap Jim..
I'm dealing with couple racoon too. I have one of those wire traps which works ok . BUT along with the coon I have a couple skunk too which I can't select which one goes in .. Not sure I want to deal with them..I can but just gets ugly and stinky...
 
My big white dog takes care of any critters that we have come around. If I happens to catch one before he doe and hears the crack of the rifle he come a running. This time of year have to keep him shut in at night. To many fawn deer moving around and he is not selective.
 
Well this thing must have brought his Sawzall last night. He chewed up the wire mesh and some of the framing. I was worried this would happen because of the mesh being too large but it’s all I had. Now to another plan and back to the bone yard. The good thing is it worked and he only got the marshmallow leading up to the end of the treadle.
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When trapping skunks approach the trap slowly and cover the trap with a blanket. They will not spray in a confined space. I had the city animal control guy trap skunks at our facility and that's what he did. He then picked up the trap and put it in the back of his van.
 
Cvans said:
When trapping skunks approach the trap slowly and cover the trap with a blanket. They will not spray in a confined space. I had the city animal control guy trap skunks at our facility and that's what he did. He then picked up the trap and put it in the back of his van.
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Yeah I read that before for some reason they won’t spray when covered up. Getting the blanket over the trap might be interesting :eek:
 
I’m pulling all the fence staples out and getting rid of all the wire mesh. I found some of the old metal wire closet shelf panels that I salvaged several years ago. While looking through my bone yard I also encountered a wasp nest and got stung before I could get out of the way. I almost lost a croc :p it’s a good thing I had them in “adventure mode” that means strap around the ankle not loosely on top which is “ comfort mode”:thumbs:
 
Your trap works a lot like a trap I borrowed from my cousin about a year ago to trap a bunch of cats living at an abandon trailer house next door. It was all steel but functioned quite similar. The door hinged rather than coming straight down, but the trip worked the same. Took them to a shelter. Ended up catching 5 kittens and 4 adult cats. 4 of the kittens were in one shot!

DAC

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I’ve had the box trap in the shop redoing some things. I still had the trail cam out to see if it came back. The raccoon tore the trap up the morning of the 14th came back at 12:40 am on the 15th then again at 12:23 on the 16th. A good size buck at 6:03am on the 16th. No raccoon on the 17th but a bobcat at 6:05 that morning. The raccoon is still rooting around the same area so I’ll leave it in the same place. We haven’t been home much the past few days spending time with our new grandson (posted in another thread). I found some metal wire shelving I cut up the other day. I’m going to try and get that done today. If he bites through this stuff I’m going to sit out there with a gun and wait.
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Yesterday I took some old wire shelf panels and replaced the wire mesh. I thought I was done but walking by it headed up to watch the race I realized although much stronger now a raccoon could still reach in at the bait area without going through the door. After the race I took some 1/2” OSB scraps and covered the bait area. It poured down rain last night and this morning I found out it works great. Problem was it was a cat. Our neighbor down the road keeps a few strays around and he was one of them. So much for cats won’t eat peanut butter. I let him go and sure enough he bolted across my field and down the road to home. I checked the trail cam footage and he was the only activity out last night except a couple of deer again. F6F5527B-DB3C-40F1-8158-65BDFB3650AB.jpeg194AD304-4B9F-4AA6-B2E9-D63656D42891.jpeg6DC88212-7EE0-49A9-B982-9BBEB29264B6.jpeg4CCCC68C-B501-4FA1-BB96-1CD9249A77C9.jpeg
 
Sawdust said:
Yesterday I took some old wire shelf panels and replaced the wire mesh. I thought I was done but walking by it headed up to watch the race I realized although much stronger now a raccoon could still reach in at the bait area without going through the door. After the race I took some 1/2” OSB scraps and covered the bait area. It poured down rain last night and this morning I found out it works great. Problem was it was a cat. Our neighbor down the road keeps a few strays around and he was one of them. So much for cats won’t eat peanut butter. I let him go and sure enough he bolted across my field and down the road to home. I checked the trail cam footage and he was the only activity out last night except a couple of deer again. View attachment 56177View attachment 56178View attachment 56179View attachment 56180
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That 'coon will be back! Looks like you are ready to get that rascal once and for all!

DAC
 
One less raccoon not the biggest one that I’ve been seeing. He was fighting and biting at the cage when I walked up. I can’t believe folks use these as pets. It looks like one was trying to rescue it. The ground around the cage was dug up and a lot of dirt and grass inside the cage. From what I’ve been seeing I’m thinking they are three. He also chewed my trip wire into so I have to repair that today. No footage on the trail cam. This was a gift a few years ago and I’ve never liked it. It’s not reliable.
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Another catch this morning that’s two and maybe one more. This guy came out early at 11:06 pm and got caught at 12:26am. The field cam showed him wondering in and out of view twice then inside the trap. I don’t understand why it never shows them going into the trap. The same thing with the other one. A half hour in the trap he was really trying to tear things up. He was biting at the cage area then had the treadle pad flopped over biting at it.
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