Finally got the Raccoon in my garden this morning. Took 6 tries, a crafty bugger. He's bigger than the first one I caught on the first try three weeks ago.
This one was like Houdini the magician. I would put a half a can of cat food on the trap trip plate. Next morning I would find the empty can somewhere in the garden with the trap sprung and other times the trap would still be opened and the empty can outside the trap.
Other times the empty can would be in the sprung trap. After the first miss, I put cement blocks on either side of the trap so he couldn't reach in from the sides. That still didn't work. Finally I got my neighbors trap, which is the same one but only uses one opened end and put it next to mine with a board in between them. I kept one side closed on each trap. Then I put the bait food on the extreme closed ends so he had to reach over the trip plates to get it. Also put cement blocks on the sides.
Crafty Dude was caught in my neighbors trap. My trap had an empty bait can, don't know how he got to the food without getting caught though.
The only thing difference was my trap had a small cat food can while the other had a larger plastic container. Maybe it took more effort to get the plastic one. I was also thinking maybe he just lifted the can off the trip place without setting it off.
I took him 3 miles away in a remote area near a pond. Hopefully he won't be back........
First Raccoon I caught May 28....
My neighbor suggested I spray paint him a bit to see if he comes back. Maybe next time ...
That's two Raccoons and one woodchuck trapped in my garden this Spring..
