Trapping a racoon - seeking advice

[b0bbyg]

I have a raccoon (or two ) that have been hanging around my house for sometime.  Tried the big metal trap setup near the cat food that he steals often, no luck.  Would not even approach it. Caught a few neighbor cats and released.  I think they have been trapped before and are too smart for cages.

I was considering trying a hand trap, has anyone ever had luck with one of these?
Will take other suggestions to trap a raccoon that are non-lethal. ( non lethal since there are lots of cats and dogs in the area I don't want to accidently hurt.  They are around every 1-2 days based on trail camera appearances.

[DJ_Mack]

My brother in law traps them all the time with a hand trap.  He puts peanut butter in them but filed down the release to make it smoother.

http://www.amazon.com/Bridger-BRT-01-Dogproof-Raccoon-Trap/dp/B00QMSJOY2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1457479034&sr=8-4&keywords=raccoon+trap

Only animals that can reach in, grab and pull up set off the trap.  So cats and dogs are safe.

[ouchfoss]

Unfortunetly , the dog proof hand traps are illegal in Washington. They are considered body gripping.
Coons are little bastages about getting bait out of your trap without actually going inside them. What I've found  works really well is just wrap your trap totally with cardboard and way there is not any other way to get the bait without going in. Throw some cat-food, tuna, or even marshmallows in there and at some point, they will finally give in to their hunger.

[Pete112288]

You could try building a trap like this. I made a couple when I was a kid in scouts. Caught a lot of squirrels and a few opossums. Just have to make it a little bigger for raccoons. If you have the wood on hand it turns out to be a pretty quick and easy project to make.
I tried finding a picture with no avail. Hopefully you can get the idea from my drawing.

[Cougartail]

Unfortunetly , the dog proof hand traps are illegal in Washington. They are considered body gripping.
Coons are little bastages about getting bait out of your trap without actually going inside them. What I've found  works really well is just wrap your trap totally with cardboard and way there is not any other way to get the bait without going in. Throw some cat-food, tuna, or even marshmallows in there and at some point, they will finally give in to their hunger.

You can however get a special permit to use a padded foothold trap. A buried box with a hole in it you can make it pet safe.

[JakeLand]

Wait until darkness and just shoot them

[treefarmer]

I've had good luck with a live trap and wiring some convience store chicken legs into the back so they can't just reach in and grab them.    If you do catch one shoot him before opening the cage

[JakeLand]

Like Jesse said urban coons have no problem walking into a cardboard box for niblets my best bait is marshmallows with strawberry jam they love it and you won't catch cats or dogs I've been so wrap the cage in cardboard or newspapers!

[b0bbyg]

Thank you all for the ideas, Hopefully I will have some time this weekend to try at least 1-2 of these.

[lokidog]

Be prepared for your newspaper/cardboard to be in shreds. I always make sure my trap is at least two inches from anything I don't want destroyed by their little devil hands.

Good luck, the world needs a few less raccoons.

[WAPatriot]

Kool aid is a coon killer

[ouchfoss]

Be prepared for your newspaper/cardboard to be in shreds. I always make sure my trap is at least two inches from anything I don't want destroyed by their little devil hands.

Good luck, the world needs a few less raccoons.

Anything they can grab hold of from inside the cage will be tore up.