Hunt or live trap?

[B-Logger]

Seeing the thread about the anti hunters and writing made me consider this thread. I also recently answered a post on another forum about this same thing. The poster was asking for tips so he could live trap a woodchuck so he could "relocate" it.

In our area we are constantly bombarded with live trapped animals that are released in our area. We are also constantly finding abandoned dogs and cats, but that is another story. It is mostly the folks who live in towns and cities who live trap animals and release them out in the country where "they won't hurt anything and that is where they belong." Yet, I recently talked to a neighbor and learned they were live trapping coons and taking them a mile or 2 down the road.

This really riles me because what they are doing is trying to give their problem to someone else to take care of. Or if they think that little animal is going to be good where they take it, they are totally wrong!

Our worst pest in the past several years have been all the coons. Naturally some of it comes from the local population of coons because they don't just have one, they come in litters. We end up with lots of folks killing lots and lots of animals because of damage they are doing. For example, one neighbor has beef cattle (small herd) and does some feeding with shelled corn. Talk about a natural attractant for coons! Last summer he had got rid of over 20 of them then one afternoon his renter called and said there were over 20 in his yard which is just across the road from him! I believe the final tally was around 60 coons....and that is just one neighbor. We get our share too and usually get over 20 per year. I've talked to several neighbors and most get 20 or more every summer.

Our worst case was one time we had been gone and when we came home found where a coon had ripped a hole and gotten into the house! What a mess that was... They also had got into one barn that was closed up and even had young in there. They really are a pest and you should see the corn fields! Lots and lots of lost corn. We do battle every year just trying to raise some sweet corn for the table.

So, what is the answer to this problem? Perhaps I am all wrong and I should be live trapping or just letting the little animals do what they want. Let the wood chucks keep digging holes, making a bad situation for equipment and people and also eating the hay meant for other animals. What do we do?

Personally, I'd rather use them for target practice.

[Dereck]

The farms I hunt ask me to shoot any I see as they are pests and can be very disruptive to live stock and equipment so I do as he asks and dispatch any I see.

[wvjason]

B-LOGGER JUST WONDERING WHERE YOU LIVE? I LIKE TO COON HUNT.

[B-Logger]

We are close to M-57 west of Chesaning. If you want to hunt coon, come on out!

[VixChix]

I was having this conversation with a farmer just this afternoon. They are trying to deal with their coon population and they have a problem with people dropping off all sorts of animals. It's a really dilemma for them.

[wabi]

Hate to be blunt, but live trapping and releasing the animal elsewhere isn't helping the problem or humane treatment of the animal.

Odds are high the animal will suffer from the re-location, either by hunger or being treated as an "invader" by it's own kind.

I might use a live trap to capture the animal (especially if the trapped animal could be viewed by the public), but I would discreetly and humanely "put it down" ASAP, and in a location where it could be done without the public viewing it.

[Pydpiper]

The environmental impact of "relocation" hasn't even been touched in this thread yet, I wont get in to it but I will share a recent "extraction" I did, one of about 20 a week I do this time of year, photographed this one for my website.
I caught the mother outside of course, typical house in the middle of the city. The pictures are all of a spam ceiling.
Once I had the mother I looked for any heat discrepancies in the ceiling to locate the pups, I knew they were there from signs of nursing on the mother.
Once I found them I penciled of the perimeter of the pups to keep the hole to a minimum.
In this case the was an 11 degree difference.





Cut a hole around the heat source.









Removed 7 pups much to the delight of my customer.

[Pydpiper]

Here is another. (I love my job!!)
This is an industrial setting, I took the pictures for liability reasons. No babies involved, these had to be taken with a pair of gloves then crammed in to the waiting cages. I see more raccoon damage in a day than most see in a lifetime, some pretty crazy stuff sometimes too.

Before.



After.

[the elf]

I think that Wabi has the best solution.Relocating just passes the problem on to
someone else--and the resident animals in the new territory will not tolerate any
new arrivals in their territory.

[VixChix]

Pyd, I love your posts! Makes me sooo glad it's not my place though.

Tim often had to trap squirrels out of his Mom's storage spaces (under the roof off the bedrooms in a 1 1/2 story home). He would "e-test" them. The live trap would go into a plastic bag, then using a shop vac pipe leading from the bag to the tailpipe of his mom's car, he would "e-test" them. They all failed.

[Allan]

Re-locating is NOT the answer, in fact it can be destructive to the species. If the re-located animal is sick or diseased, it can infect animals in the new location.

I really like the e-test solution. Painless, quite humane, better than drowning.

[Limbs and Sticks]

A friend had to put a cow down last week because of a broken leg, we think a ground hog hole was the cause, here in VA. coons and ground hogs get shot when seen, the holes tear can mess up farm equipment, the coons carry rabies along with fox's, no traps this time of year

Wes

[awshucks]

I felt like Edison and the light bulb when I discovered .22 CB caps. Wal-mart usually has the .22 short version, but I used to get .22 Long at gun shows, both made by CCI, same power but better accuracy in guns chambered for .22 LR.

Pyp, got the same watch!

[roly]

Pyd when someone in your line of work has a live trapped animal
what are you do with it?

I have that watch too.

[N8tr Boy]

As a Trapper also myself and started doing some ADC, we are instructed to ask customer what is their wishes. By law if they are to be kept alive they can only be release within 1 km from where they were caught or taken to a wildlife sanctuary. Dispatching is the other option. Our hands are tied. The problem/s are several, homeowner have pets and dishes are left on porch,deck, steps, etc for pet to use but at night they are left out still with food( dishes I mean). Free meal for wildlife. The garbage is set-out the night before, again free meal. We need to rethink what we do as a society so we can live in some harmony with wildlife as we grow into THEIR home ranges.

I have been in conversation with Pyd about a problem with a "skunk" in a small town near a bakery and grocery store. We are taking it slow as it might be something else but Skunk is being blamed as they tend to "smell"

Vix
The "e-test" or drowning as some say is more humane is false. If caught doing any of the above is against the law and stiff penalties are available to anyone caught. The most humane is to shoot or dispatch via a conibear trap at the opening of your "live " trap as you release them.

Pyd
I am not sure how you are to handle you animals as you work arms length with MNR.