I do a lot of spring time and summer trapping. My preferred method is trap saturation over short durations - usually only three or four days. I am speaking of doing this mainly for predator reduction in reference to reduced predation of turkey nests or growing fruit.
Most recent, I set ten or a doz traps within 100 yards of my 50 tree orchard where I had pictures of coons and possums eating the fruit. In three or four trap nights, I caught eleven coons, two possums, and a skunk. I pulled most of the traps on Jun 4. I might also add there is a year round corn feeder 50 yds from the orchard
This feeder was also visited by coons. i left two traps at each end of the orchard. I rebait them once a week with a mix of corn, dry cat food, and catfish food. I have not caught anything in those two traps since jun 4. I have got pics three times since Jun 4 of a coon. I got pics of a couple possums and set a live trap and a dirt hole set with a 1 1/2 coil spring and caught two possums. I have not got a pic of a coon or possum since catching the last possum about two weeks ago.
My anecdotal observations. Animals do learn and develop a fear of the dog proof traps. That is why I like the saturate trap over short durations so hopefully, not to train the animals to avoid the traps. I have seen trap avoidance displayed in the past.
Too be honest, I expected migration of new predators into the area much quicker than has happened. It has been two months, now with ripening muscadines and fifteen trees with apples, pears, and figs. I even wonder if the presence of the few traps remaining is a deterrent.
The end of Mar, I put out nearly 30 traps over about 160 acres and caught about 30 coons and possums. This orchard location is an acre of the 160 acres.
To me, this brings up about as many questions as it answers. The big positive, two months later, there is still no coons and possums in my orchard or at the nearby feeder. I do have squirrels, which is another problem. I have two other feeders on this 160 acres that do have a coon presence. I pretty much removed them back in march, and there are now half as many as there were in march. There are also no traps in those areas - which leads me to believe the presence of traps in the orchard is still some type deterrence. I have caught as many as 80 coons and possums over four months in the past - eight or ten years ago. I used to have a dozen to as many as 18 coons in a pic at a feed location. Four is max number, now. I own 62 acres, eight miles away - untrapped - and had over 15 coons in a pic several times last fall at a feeder.
I know I have fewer coons and possums than I used to have. I know my untrapped property eight miles away has coon numbers equivalent to what I used to have. I also know I have had a few turkeys around my home ground the last five years.
These findings bring up more questions than they answer
