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I'm trapping feral cats my neighbor feeds to have them neutered/spayed so they don't reproduce, and I've discovered raccoons are part of the equation.
I found a two-for-one deal on traps. One large trap for larger rodents like raccoons and one smaller trap for small animals. I'm using the large trap to trap cats and discovered that a raccoon is eating the food left out for the cats at night. We caught a mother cat a couple of days ago, and she's currently recovering from her surgery. We're trying to catch her last kitten.
MY QUESTION: If I put out the small animal trap for the kitten, will a huge raccoon try to get into it? I don't want to deal with finding an injured raccoon in the trap some morning.
A raccoon will try for any, easy, food. But, they're not stupid? They'll try and reach it as best they can, but if they can't reach it, they will test the limits of getting in to it. The bottom line is, I sought they'll get into trouble of a small live trap, but you never know.
When you say you have small traps, are they skunk traps, short in height, or are they simply smaller traps all the way around? Do you have skunks in the area and do you have a chance of catching them? If you do, I would do away with the larger traps and simply put out skunk traps. Skunk traps will catch cats, make most coons go away, but is a definite must on skunks. If a skunk can't lift its tail, it. can't spray, hence the shorter traps.
We do have skunks around here but it's super rare to see them. I'm seen a skunk maybe twice in my life. I've smelled them only a couple of times more.
My large trap says it's good for raccoons, etc.. My small trap says it's good for rabbits, skunks and squirrels. It's 24 x 7 x 7. I'm afraid it will close down on the tail of an adult cat. I think the large one measures 32 x 10 x 10. This is what I bought: Wholesale Animal Trap Set - GLW
We'll give this smaller trap a try. If it hurts a raccoon or one gets stuck in there, I guess I can call animal control.
1st of all raccoons are not rodents. Secondly if the trap is too small a raccoon will try to get the bait but will not get trapped. They are very smart omnivorous animals. At best you will find a sprung trap.
I'll just add a couple of points: (i) You'll usually only trap a raccoon in a Hav-A-Hart style trap once and (ii) trapping a skunk in a Hav-A-Hart is probably the worst thing that can ever happen to anyone.
I'll just add a couple of points: (i) You'll usually only trap a raccoon in a Hav-A-Hart style trap once and (ii) trapping a skunk in a Hav-A-Hart is probably the worst thing that can ever happen to anyone.
We trap skunks, live, all the time. Its not a problem.
I'll just add a couple of points: (i) You'll usually only trap a raccoon in a Hav-A-Hart style trap once and (ii) trapping a skunk in a Hav-A-Hart is probably the worst thing that can ever happen to anyone.
While not my first go to trap, Hav-A-Hart's will hold coons just fine.
I catch more skunks in a year in cage traps then I do enclosed traps. And those numbers of skunks are probably higher then the number of skunks seen by the average person in a lifetime!
We trap skunks, live, all the time. Its not a problem.
You're spoiling my fun... Yeah, I know about covering the traps.
My aunt, who is a bit of a cat person, took it upon herself to run a private TNR program for feral cats in her neighborhood. The first night she caught a skunk. She subsequently learned that tomato juice baths, baking soda baths and several other folk remedies for skunk stink don't work very well.
Last edited by Cleonidas; 10-17-2014 at 07:21 AM..
While not my first go to trap, Hav-A-Hart's will hold coons just fine.
I catch more skunks in a year in cage traps then I do enclosed traps. And those numbers of skunks are probably higher then the number of skunks seen by the average person in a lifetime!
First off, you're spoiling my fun too.
I agree that a havahart will hold a raccoon just fine. What I was really getting at was that they seem to get pretty clever after they've spent the night in one. Also, I'm assuming that havaharts are involved since this is ostensibly about trapping feral cats for spay/neuter and release.
You're spoiling my fun... Yeah, I know about covering the traps.
My aunt, who is a bit of a cat person, took it upon herself to run a private TNR program for feral cats in her neighborhood. The first night she caught a skunk. She subsequently learned that tomato juice baths, baking soda baths and several other folk remedies for skunk stink don't work very well.
I guess my point is that a short skunk trap will safely trap a skunk, or a cat. They are live traps and humane. You need not cover the trap (tall traps, yes). You can safely catch cats or skunks, but the chance of raccoons going in, are slim. Unless it is a young coon.
By the way, instead of tomato juice, use douche. Works a lot better, cheaper too. That's the voice of experience talking. hahaha. A few years back my brother installed a dog door on his back door. I was visiting. We were sitting on the couch visiting and we heard a heck of a commotion out the back door. Suddenly his yelping dog come busting through the dog door with a skunk in hot persuit. It was not a good night. Dog was sprayed, the three of us were sprayed, carpet, couch, wall, it was a mess. Cleaned it all with Summers Eve.
I only mention this because invariably, in your endeavor, you are going to sooner or later, deal with a skunk.
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