Here in TN, the laws are much more reasonable. Raccoons are a nuisance animal and can be trapped by a property owner with no hunting license or permit of any kind. Once trapped, TWRA says to euthanize, preferably by shooting (I use a very high-power pellet gun as I live in the city). If you trap something by mistake, you must release it ON YOUR PROPERTY; moving wild animals, particularly over large distances, is how rabies gets passed around. At least in TN, rabid raccoons have not yet been found in all counties, so they are particularly worried about moving them. Skunks are less of an issue because rabid skunks are found everywhere, but here moving them is illegal anyway.
I have a traditional havahart and found that I need to put a heavy rock on the trap door so it crashes closed forcefully enough that it is secured. I only use one of the two doors so I can put the bait at the far end, well beyond the trip. I also put concrete blocks on both sides so they can't reach in and steal the bait. It's a ticklish operation to put the rock on and then carefully adjust the linkage so it doesn't trip by itself.
I agree that marshmallows are the bait of choice.
Bob LaufOak Ridge, Zone 7
On Saturday, June 27, 2020, 10:26:41 AM EDT, Ernie DeMarie via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote:
Raccoons are a real menace here as they get into the pool and eat fish. But of course the thing that really ticks me off is that they chew up waterlily flowers and go dig up the rhizomes so roots end up floating on the surface. So they must be trapped and removed but the havahart traps are not consistent in trapping them, either they have some clever way to get the bait (marshmallows and or peanut butter work well) or they perhaps dont scoot end all the way and are able to back out. We've also had them bend traps (their newer traps are not as sturdy as the old ones were) and in one case they took off the handle while inside and we never found where it went. That trap has to be carried by my wife and myself both when it gets a raccoon. Most often the raccoons are afraid and remain quiet till release (very far away--best to go 15 or more miles as they are supposedly good at finding their way back) but occasionally we get an aggressive one that hisses and carries on. Those can be quite scary at times. Grace breaks down any large cardboard boxes we get to make flat pieces of cardboard to put in the back of my car as they are needed. Why? Because the disgusting raccoons tend to crap and otherwise make a mess of the bottom of their cage and this prevents getting the back of the car dirty. We keep several layers of cardboard in there at all times, so we can throw away dirty pieces as needed. Transporting them is not fun either, they stink and windows need to be kept open. I don't know how to set up an electric fence, especially around a pool with brick patio on one side and a cement walk on the other. For the root problems, we have recently started taking the bird mesh and tying rocks to it, placing it over any roots floating on the surface, and sinking it to trap the roots and bring them back down. We are hoping that the mesh will confuse future raccoon efforts to dig up waterlily roots and rhizomes. This year the chipmunks decimated the crocus more so than usual. This in spite of frequent trapping and removal. For some reason their population was extremely high this spring but it seems to be coming down a bit lately. If it werent for certain mammals, gardening would be a hell of a lot easier....Ernie DeMarieZ6/7 border NY where Alstroemeria aurea is making quite a show and is self seeding a bit. Buds on some agapanthus, lilies beginning to open with more to come, earlier season hemerocallis blooming nicely, and some dierama still in flower. Weather has been oddly dry and sunny for weeks but rain is coming today. Overall this kind of weather is very good for most of what I grow.
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