The coon that wont be caught.

Pydpiper · Post by **Pydpiper** » Fri May 02, 2008 9:15 am

I have been live trapping wildlife full time for 10 years, I have never come across an animal I couldn't get in to my truck. Until this week.
Last year this guy hired a company to kick the coon out of his million dollar house, they failed and will not return his phone calls. To make matters worse he recruited the help of his gardener to trap it this spring, also failed. So what I am left with is a really smart, well trained female coon who likley has pups in there, and she will have nothing to do with a cage. I have tried different cage placement, every form of food attractant and even a wonderful and expensive pheromone attractant I like to call "plan B", still nothing.
I have taken coons from every imaginable building or structure, this thing is driving me nuts! It has passed the point of profit and is now just a matter of pride, I refuse to quit but I really need to get this done with so I can move on.
I can take this animal by any means I choose, excluding a body trap, I have considered shooting it but have no intention of being there at 9pm when it comes out, but I am getting close. I figure if I put a block of wood beside the hole it will stop a .22 short if it managed to pass through the coon, or an arrow to keep it from going anywhere, my fear is that it would be able to drop in the hole, this area of the attic has no access.
Here is the hole, it is 30' from the ground and opens up to a small roof over a bathroom, 15' x 35' My cage is currently right outside the hole, facing it. It has been the most productive so far, she has gone as close as taking the temptation bait from the entrance of the cage but will go no further.
If a 4x4 chunk of hardwood were to be screwed to that wall beside the chimney it would make for a great backstop for a .22 or arrow. I could sit back up to 35' back on the same roof.
I want it alive, but at this point I am open to options. I do this 10 times a day every day this time of year, so most tricks have been tried.

Here is the entrance, very typical of a coon, very untypical coon.
The glove is there for size reference.

chessy · Post by **chessy** » Fri May 02, 2008 9:38 am

have you tried soaking corn in water till it stinks.. my buddie uses it to train his coon hounds... he puts a tire in the woods and fills the inside full of corrn then pours water in it .. coons dont hit it till the stuff has that punget oder to it... try making some and then put in a live trap.. coons cannot resist it

Pydpiper · Post by **Pydpiper** » Fri May 02, 2008 9:54 am

I haven't no. At this point I don't think it matters what goes in to that cage, the coon will have nothing to do with it. I have never seen one bypass the Pheromone stuff before, and it has brought in some pretty stubborn coons.
My issue with the cage is how quickly this animal learns, once it sees there has been a change made to it it grows Leary and starts doing more damage. However, I will keep the corn in mind for the future.
I suspect this coon has been caught (gardener) and just not moved far enough away, it is associating the cage to a really long walk home, tough in the fall to catch them twice, impossible in the spring when the mother instincts are running full tilt.

hatchet jack · Post by **hatchet jack** » Fri May 02, 2008 9:58 am

we have lots of coons in our area,we have to trap some some time i have a wire trap i use, i take a peice of wire attach it to the top inside where the trigger is make it like a fish hook put moshmellows on it,,,,,,,they love those things ,,,,works for me,scatter a few up to the trap.

h.j

hatchet jack · Post by **hatchet jack** » Fri May 02, 2008 10:01 am

marshmellows,,,marshmellows,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,cant spell

h.j.

catcher · Post by **catcher** » Fri May 02, 2008 10:08 am

Mix fly bait with water. After she takes a drink she will be no further then 3 feet from the drink dead. You can get fly bait powder from your local co-op.

DaGriz · Post by **DaGriz** » Fri May 02, 2008 10:15 am

PM on the way!

Hi5 · Post by **Hi5** » Fri May 02, 2008 10:31 am

Can you block off her access where she hides to a food access? If you can starve her a few days, then she might have to overcome her fear of traps.

sumner4991 · Post by **sumner4991** » Fri May 02, 2008 11:04 am

Maybe you need to "hide" the trap. Take some black construction paper and line the trap's inside and out. Maybe even make it look like part of the house with the entrance being just like her entrance into the house.

Coons are really, really, really smart. She knows what a trap looks like. Need to make it look like another part of the house that she hasn't explored yet.

Good luck!

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Fri May 02, 2008 11:09 am

Any chance of smoking her out when she's in there?

Pydpiper · Post by **Pydpiper** » Fri May 02, 2008 12:19 pm

Hatchet Jack, I did try marshmallows, it is usually bait #3 after the rest don't work, thanks

.

catcher, problem is that I can't take the chance of it getting back in to perish, also it is a steep roof and having it bowl over the edge isn't a good idea either, that gets messy. Too far from the entrance and I risk injuring the wrong animal. And Coke works good with that stuff too.

Dagriz, answered, thank you.

Hi5, no, I can't, the house is cedar, takes a coon less than a minute to make a new hole in or out. She is a nursing mother, food is important but in this case water is more important for hydration during the nursing process.

Sumner, I tried that the second day, I made a case for the cage out of aluminum and skirted it against a wall, all I got was aluminum with lots of little foot prints walking around it, clear around it.

Adam, this house is in excess of 5000 sq feet, the attic is massive! I believe she has her pups hidden in the Sofia, even a good smoke would have a hard time getting everywhere. Good thought though, I have done it in the past with success.

What a nightmare!

sumner4991 · Post by **sumner4991** » Fri May 02, 2008 12:57 pm

Run electrical fence lines where she climbs up the house. She can jump down, no problem. Climbing back up . . .make that a hardship. . . .turn it on at night. Have a high voltage setting . . .crank it up when the witch comes home.

Just kidding . . .you have a little monster there.

Scott

Hi5 · Post by **Hi5** » Fri May 02, 2008 1:29 pm

Pydpiper wrote:
.................... She is a nursing mother, food is important but in this case water is more important for hydration during the nursing process.
...........................

What will you do about her young ones if you do catch her? They will perish and stink up the place, won't they? Maybe the wisest thing is to wait till she moves them out, then secure the entrance?

Maybe the Noriega (sp) treatment would speed up the process. Remember the Panamanian dictator that was trying to get away from the CIA and took reguge in a church? The pursuers played rock music at ear splitting levels till he gave up or his hosts tossed him out, whatever it was. So, how about playing predator calls, coyote howling, cats screaming, etc, and see if she moves out. (I bet it would work on the householder!)

Maybe even on some of the neighbours too!

catcher · Post by **catcher** » Fri May 02, 2008 1:42 pm

Try using a 220 in a box set like you would use for a martin set. Maybe something she has never seen before will do the trick.

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Fri May 02, 2008 1:59 pm

Can you use a snare (cable restraint)?
A 7-8" loop usually works for me. I'd anchor it so she can't get back in the house.